It was nice to sleep in a real bed. Granted, it was a motel 6 bed, but having sheets and waking up with a coffee maker and a non-public shower was a bonus on our little trip. I let Bri sleep in. I checked the bike, took in the morning and got ready for the ride home. Most of it was going to be 1-15 freeway home, and I checked out the maps to see if we could see anything new before we were forced down by mountains and the great salt lake into the 1-15 corridor home. Back roads are always the best — You maybe get to see how real people live, and they’re more interesting than the sterile and un-interesting freeway.
My heel shifter broke. One thing about riding a Harley-Davidson, is you always keep zip ties and wire in your tool kit. No big deal.
We loaded up, and headed south, going through downtown Pocatello Idaho. The weather was perfect, and a killer day to ride.
I found a new side to Pocatello. I’d always traveled up 1-15 to get through this place. The freeways always take the fastest route and you miss shit up here. Old Highway 91 was a really enjoyable ride. Its a 2 lane road, that carves through some lava canyons, farm fields the local stuff that makes you appreciate Idaho. I wished now that I’d taken some more pictures. It sort of reminded me of the interesting spots you find between kingman and Seligman on Route 66.
We ate breakfast at a local Cafe I found on Yelp. A local spot, with a friendly waitress and home made bread with breakfast. She was interested in the bike, our ride and where we were from. We ate it up, paid our check and headed down the road.
Old Highway 91 has the same story as route 66. It was the main road through Utah and Idaho before the freeway came in. Businesses got bypassed and slowly closed as their main source of income got changed by a freeway system. I’m always interested in the ghosts of these old places, so we took a few pictures.
Rands – Chicken Delicious. Last Gas Stop. Get on the freeway to Blitz Home.
We got home around 3. I think Bri had a good time, and it was nice to spend some time with her. She’s a great kid — for doing a thousand miles in 3 days with no complaints I’d ride with her anytime. We need to plan another one!
I crashed late, and woke up early. I can’t hardly sleep on the road. There is too much “new” out there that I haven’t seen it seems, and the sounds of trains and traffic on roads that I don’t know the sounds of always seem to make sure I don’t sleep in. I gotta admit, I do like experiencing mornings in new places. Its maybe my favorite thing. Plus, I was travelling with my daughter, and It wasn’t very warm. If it was just me alone, I’d have loaded up the bike and headed down the road, but you can’t do that with your daughter. I found some coffee, scouted out a place to eat breakfast, and soaked up a beautiful morning…
I’ve always thought that to get the most out of a road trip, you need at least 3 days on your bike. The first just slowly but steadily drains all the bullshit out that you may have accumulated. All the petty things that you get worked up about at work, dumb situations or just life in general. Things that don’t matter. The 2nd day, you start to feel like your self again. The third day is all about pure inspiration; Fuel for the fire. We were on that 2nd day, and I was loving it.
I found a couple of cool spots I wanted to see: The first, was a roadside attraction that opened at 9 that featured Ice at the bottom of a cave. The 2nd was the worlds first power generating nuclear plant from the 1950s. We had about 350 miles to travel today, up through the sawtooth mountains. I figured it would that might get chilly, and I had no idea how long it would be till we dropped off the mountains into the warmer valleys.
Bri was cold and so we rolled out about 10ish when she was decently warmed up. She’d put her swimming suit in the tent on top of her dry clothes, and her pants were wet. More dangers of travelling with her father — If Mrs Zip was here, she’d have noticed that. She wasn’t, so we improvised. I’ll be damned if I admit that to Mrs Zip.
We rolled into Shoshone, ate at a 103 year old railroad restaurant that supposedly one of my favorite authors (earnest Hemingway) used to come to after hunting, got gas, and headed toward the ice caves. We got there about 10:30…
The next tour was in 45 minutes, and it was a 45 minute tour. We passed, but took some pictures. Next time. I already knew I’d be back this way…
It had warmed up, so we raced into Sun Valley. The roads and weather were damn near perfect.
Sun Valley was a bit yuppie and liberal for my tastes. It reminded me of park city Utah, where Rich left wingers make their utopia, not realizing there is a whole other world out there. It was cool, but I can only see so many esoteric art shops before I kinda want to vomit. There was one cool place here, we found out in Shoshone at the cafe:
Turns out, one of the greatest Authors of the 20th century lived here; Earnest Hemingway. I’ve read the old man and the sea and a few others of his books, and I’ve always loved his writing style. He made his home here not long after the fall of Cuba and eventually died here. We found his grave site in the cemetery in the middle of town, took a picture and headed on up the incline into the sawtooth mountains.
I bought a gopro this last winter. I’ve mounted it to my bike (which vibrates way too damn much), and my daughters helmet (which flops back and aims at the attention of a 13 year old). I won’t post any of that here, other than to say I’ll keep working on video and photography.
The Sawtooth Mountains are awesome. Lots of peaks over 10,000 feet, and the road and valleys have a ton of turns that just made the ride more than enjoyable. Just by typing this, I want to go back and ride them again.
We took a couple pictures at the summit:
Beautiful ride. I wished I’d have taken more pictures.
We got gas in Stanley, Talked to some friendly locals along the way, and took the twisty road beside the river on the way to Challis. Another lower in elevation, but awesome stretch of road. Got a burger in Challis, and raced to Arco to get gas again. I saw more interesting things a long the way that made me want to go back this way again. I will.
Lots of open road and a few of Idaho’s natural surprises. I opened up the throttle and really enjoyed the 75 miles toward Arco.
The first Electricity generating Nuclear Power plant was just south of Arco Nevada (EBR1). I really wanted to see it. It closed at 5, and because of our late start, we missed it by 15 minutes. It barely mattered. A) I’ll come this way again and B) this trip wasn’t about my own geeky desires to see Americas Historical Firsts: it was about time with my daughter, and at this point she was a bit tired after 320 miles and I knew she’d be stoked to stay in a real bed at a motel with a pool. After some navigational issues, we raced into Pocatello.
The pool was ice cold at the motel 6, so we just hung out. She played Pokemon on her Nintendo DS, and I watched shark tank. We had both enjoyed the day. I was proud of her– for the miles we made, she hadn’t complained once. Tomorrow was day 3, and day 3 was always the best. I searched out backroad on my laptop for the way home, a place to eat breakfast and was asleep by 10. She was asleep at least an hour before I was.
I think since the 80’s, I’ve made fun of Idaho. My only experience has been with Idaho drivers, who retire and work their way down to Utah and to drive really slow in front of me when I’m in a hurry. The little that I’ve passed through their state, its been on long stretches of their freeways, with their rounded off mountains in the distance and their potato fields. Idaho, to be quite honest bored the living hell out of me. Idaho has always been a state to get through — on your way to Yellowstone or Oregon.
I’ve said this before, but I did promise my 13 year old daughter a ride a year ago. I would have loved to take her down to Oatman on Route 66, or through Flagstaff where I know the country and we had fun options. It didn’t turn out that way, and a promise is a promise. Fuck. For my time and budget, pretty much all I had was Idaho. We’re planning a family California trip this summer, and Mrs Zip had me by the reality of her purse strings. Wellokay then… lets go to Idaho I guess.
The weather looked nice, and I got the bike ready to head north. My daughter seemed excited about the whole prospect. That made me a little more stoked. I had a loose plan to head up through Salt Lake City, over to Golden Spike, up through the Sawtooth mountains and down through Pocatello and then home. 3 full days on the bike.
Loaded up, ready to go
We headed the 2 hours up on 1-15 through Salt Lake and Ogden and turned off at Brigham City. Not being a fan of interstates, it was awesome to hit a back road and see some country I haven’t seen. We headed the 30 miles toward Golden Spike.
The weather was perfect and the road was now at least interesting. It all of a sudden felt like a riding trip now, and I got excited to ride some new roads. We rounded past the very top of the Great Salt Lake and into our first destination.
Golden Spike was a big deal. It was the first time that the country was connected by rail train. That meant travel, commerce, and communication. It was life changing to even the average person. It was the internet of it’s day. I think that type of shit is cool.
We paid our 7 bucks and saw what they had…
I don’t care who you are, even today that’s a feat.
A quick Picture by a stranger, then back on the road
We rolled out, and headed out towards Idaho. Twist the throttle, listen to some music, and enjoy the road…. Everything was getting good.
We hit the interstate for a bit, ate lunch and headed into Idaho. My daughter commented about how we were in the middle of nowhere, and we were. It was mostly farms, and open country. It was fairly awesome.
Had to get a picture at the Border…
It was noticeably cooler now, and a bit windy. A cold front with cooler weather must be coming through. We stopped in Burley Idaho and it was good to see some civilization again. Met a couple of curious and friendly old local Bikers who went out of their way to say hello. They knew what we were up to. They told us about the local weather and to see where we were from and what we were going. It was a good sign. We rode on, got hit by a few long reaching farm irrigation sprinklers and headed into Twin Falls.
It reminded me of my long rides through Nevada, only greener and not quite so hot. Harley Baggers tend to like straight and long roads I think… They’re built for American Roads like that. You kick up a foot or two and enjoy the ride. Straight roads tend to give you a chance to rubberneck and see a thing. Maybe think a bit. Take it all in. I was starting to like Idaho.
We rolled into Twin Falls and crossed the Snake River, doubled back and took in the canyon.
Snake River Canyon. I wanna come back here. There’s a road that winds down into the gorge and back up the other side. My Kiddo. She Travels like a pro. Snake River Canon.
Found a surprise: Evel Knevel was a hero of mine growing up. In the 1970’s, Evel Knevel was huge. I remember in grade school my principal was giving a speech in my class and said “you don’t want to be anyone other than yourself” (or something like that). I raised my hand, and said “I want to be Evel Knevel”.
Cool little monument. He attempted to to Jump the snake river here in 1974.
Evel Knevel Snake River Canyon Jump Monument
We headed the 5 miles north to our camp and chilled out. For a 13 year old, this was a long ride and more miles were ahead. We did a little swimming, charged our phones and relaxed a bit. This was a helluva good day.
My father was a busy man, and I’ll always remember the time he took time out to go one on one with me and took me to yellowstone. We shot from the hip, slept in the truck and It’s a memory I’ll always remember. Not because it was the best trip I’ve ever done, or even that it was yellowstone. It’s because my old man chose me to spend his weekend with. I’ll always remember that. I was about 13, and it was a pretty special trip for me.
My daughter wendy has struggled a bit since she moved from her old school to her new. She’s a fighter, and she may never know how proud I am of her, but I am. I called her wednesday from work and asked her if she was up for a motorcycle adventure. her answer was yes.
So friday at noon we headed out East. My loose plan was to hit page, then either stay in Kayenta Arizona, or somewhere outside monument valley at dusk. To be honest, Just like 35 years earlier with my dad, we were shooting from the hip. I hadn’t booked a thing. Thats how I like to ride, lets see what wendy thinks about that. My gut feeling was she’d roll with the punches.
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We stopped in page to get some stuff we’d forgotten and stopped at the subway to eat. Immediately inside, a lady saw my B.A.C.A. patch and told me how much B.A.C.A. had helped her kid in idaho. She was nearly in tears and you could see how grateful she was. I told her that once a B.A.C.A. Kid, always a B.A.C.A. kid and she’s got an army of bikers across the nation committed to keeping her safe. It’s nice to be able to say that and mean it.
After page, we had to stop for an accident on the way out of town, then headed toward Kayenta Arizona. From there, we pressed on to Kayenta arizona to stay the night. My thinking was, that wendy is 13 years old, and I didn’t want to burn her out on long rides by pushing too hard. I can make miles, but after all, she is young. I had to keep reminding myself, and being on a bike for 8-10 hours at a time my be my idea of fun, but this trip was for her as well. By the time we got to Kayenta, she was a bit cold, a bit tired and wanted to crash. we called robyn to see if we could find a place to pitch a tent or get a room, but there were no real options. I told wendy we’d have to push another 50 miles to Bluff Utah, where I had called ahead and knew we could stay, and her answer was “lets just do it”. I knew then, wendy was my riding buddy. She had a bit of her old man in her.
We hit monument valley right as the sun was going down, and it was gorgeous for the few views we had of it. She was cold, but we dropped 1500 feet in elevation and in 50 miles, we hit Bluff Utah, pitched our tent in the dark, and went and ate ribs at the local stakehouse.
My intent on this trip was to talk, and relate to my daughter. Reconnect. I don’t really remember what it’s like to be 13 years old, but I know she struggles with the things that are important to a 13 year old. Boys, school, and wondering where you fit in. We didn’t talk too much in depth, but I knew tonight was not our night. We went back to the tent where my daughter immediately crashed out, and I made some phone calls to my business partner, a few BACA friends and caught up on what happened at work. What happened during the day both encouraged and discouraged me: I knew that I was going back to work monday to face problems. I knew this was going to effect my ride. I was also clear on what my objective was this trip: Ride my bike, and connect with wendy and help her out.
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We woke up early that morning and I knew it was cold. Cold that I would normally deal with, but I had my daughter with me. We got going around 10, broke camp and got some conveneince store breakfasts in Bluff. We had 50 miles to get to 4 corners. I’d never been there, but 50 miles is an easy ride.
4 corners to me, was anti climactic. First off, its not that actual 4 corners, its 3 miles off. Second, It kind of pissed me off that I had to pay 3 bucks a head to see it. It was cold and windy, and not all that cool. Yes, wendy and I can say that we’ve stood in 4 states at the same time, but then again who really cares that we can say that.
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we paid our 6 bucks at 4 corners, and headed on toward gallup new mexico. New mexico is gorgeous and I want to explore it more. We got gas in gallup, and headed south. I knew we’d stay the night in holbrook by this point. We could press on to flagstaff, but the weather in Holbrook was the best and I wanted to have some discussion time with wendy. Sunday, I knew we’d make miles and head home. I wanted some quality time with my daughter. It’s half the reason we made this trip. My mindset from 4 corners to holbrook was anything but right. I knew I was going back to work monday with a lot of problems that had to be solved, that depended on me. I struggled to get my mind right and into the ride. The 90 miles from 4 corners to Gallup New Mexico had me struggling with indecision of if I was doing the right thing by riding so far from home, and what I had to get done monday. Long rides sort that out. Eventually, I got back into the moment and realized that anything I do with my daughter and family is much more important and worthwhile and that I needed to focus on her. By the time we hit Gallup, I was looking forward to having some quality time with my daughter. I was 24 hours into the ride. I knew it had to be tonight.
We stopped at Denny’s, got our bearings and I knew we’d hit the point where the bike was going to be pointing closer to home. I also know theres something really familiar about route 66 that I’ve always loved. Maybe wendy would pick up on my vibe and I could share that with her.
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We pulled into holbrook around 4 pm, and pitched our tent at the KOA. I decided I was going to show wendy some route 66, and she was excited about that. We had ice cream at a local route 66 food spot, and rode through the town. As we headed back toward the KOA, I was thinking that maybe a campfire and a discussion would be a perfect chance to talk with Wendy and we could have a moment that would nail the reason I took her on this trip. We bought some firewood, and sat and talked for a couple hours. Honestly, it will be moment I’ll always remember. I hope she remembers it. I babbled about her future, remembered what it’s like to be 13, and as long as it takes to burn a bundle of wood, we got that much closer. She’s a great kid. I’m so proud of her. In those 2 hours, I think she got that message in a way that 25 years earlier my father maybe even didn’t get across to me. I knew I’d nailed the moment.
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The next morning, we woke up early, broke camp and headed toward home. As the sun came up, the eagles “tequila sunrise” was in my head, and so I queued that up in the ipod and listened to the eagles as we headed toward flagstaff. We got off at winona, headed into flag, got some hot chocolate and coffee and both talked about how good the morning ride was, even tho it wasn’t all that warm.
I find it funny how “vibes” for lack of a better term, work. I woke up in a great mood, with the right music and the first thing wendy said when we piled off the bike in flagstaff was how much she enjoyed listening to the Eagles greatest hits. It was the right vibe. I think about that alot to be honest.
From flag we dropped off the mountain, and headed the 5 hours toward home. If wendy had her way, we’d have ridden another week. She’s my riding buddy and long rides and big mileage isn’t too big for her. We’ll do this again. Hopefully for years to come.
I havent been riding on the weekends this month like I normally do, just because of work and other commitments, as well as its been pretty cold lately. This weekend it was warm, and earlier in the week Pat talked about trailering his bikes down to do some riding and leaving them here to do some exploring of southern utah. Ive done that here ad naseum, as most of my friends think riding to zion is a day of hardcore riding, but Pat is different. He’s like me, where he likes to explore and see new things make him curious and ride new roads to explore, so friday morning when it was confirmed that he was coming, It made my day. He showed up with his kids and friday night we hooked up and made plans to show his wife zion the next day. Robyn was ready to go too, and with my kids wanting to earn babysitting money, as well as a desire to have my kids get to know their cousins, the plan seemed to fit perfectly. In the morning, we ride.
Mental note to self: Always remember the smile on Pats face as he pulled up to the convenience store that friday on the fat boy, and how much fun he said he had on that bike. Also remember he hole shotted me three times on highway 91, even if for a few feet. Our tires both busted loose.
Robyn Me and Staci at Zion National Park
Pat slept in and we started later than I expected, but the timing was still perfect and noone cared we were getting on the road at 11. I certainly didnt. I was just excited to to go with the wives and have a good time. I found a pair of leathers in my closet that quite frankly, I have no freaking clue where they came from, but I cut them to fit robyn and once we hit the harley shop got her the boots she wanted, so the day couldnt have started any better. We left the dealership by noon and headed out towards Zion National Park. The weather and the company was just right. Good rides are effortless if the the people you are with are right.
We headed up through zion, through the tunnel. Robyn took some video on the camera: Heres on the switchbacks, stopping to take it all in:
we then rode through kanab, stopped at the buckskin tavern in Kanab for a couple, then to Pipe springs and on home. Was a good riding day. I gotta say, Staci is a GREAT rider. She handles her bike better than any of my friends, keeps great formation and was a straight up pleasure to ride with. Robyn and I both had a great time. I want to do this a bunch more. It was great to take robyn, and adding staci to the mix was perfect. Their bikes are in my moms garage, so hopefully we can sneak a few more rides in over the next few fall and winter months.
Im feeling the pull to explore today pretty bad. If I didnt have a meeting on monday I’d be on the road already. I think next weekend I need to point my bike in a direction, pack my sleeping bag and sleep out under some familiar stars with a new skyline. Im running out of time. I need to feel that feeling of a new experience. I can feel it right now.
Its not very often Robyn and I can spend the day riding. we dont always have babysitters, and overnight rides havent happened for years. This weekend is thunder on the mountain in brian head, so we decided to head on up where its cool and see what we see.
The longer I live, the more lucky I realize I am. Robyn is easygoing, and we have fun together and I enjoy her company more than anyone Ive ever met. We got to cedar city, and we knew we were going to get rained on. We went anyway. Went up to Brian head, cruised around for a few and on the way over to duck creek we started getting pelted with hail. Fairly big hail. we were stuck under the aspens there off the side of the road for about 20 minutes, then it broke and we headed out to duck creek, then out through Mt Carmel Junction and back through Zion.
Great day. It was nice to get out of the heat and spend the day together.
The Pine Breeze inn from the Movie Easy Rider on Route 66
Friday June 6 2008
Asked Meg if she wanted to go for an overnighter to Caliente Nevada and be back by noon on saturday. She said yes, so we went to northern Arizona instead. Theres nothing to do in caliente, thats a ride to do by myself.
Friday around 3pm we loaded up, and headed out with one saddlebag of stuff. The other saddlebag had a tent and 2 sleeping bags. We were going hardcore: ride hard, sleep on the ground! oowrah!
The weather was nice and warm, but pretty windy. Gusting Bike-leaning windy. We went through overton and behind lake mead, and over to hoover dam to get to kingman. We stopped on the Arizona side and took it all in, and took a break to stretch our legs and I noticed a pillbox on top of the hill. I figured there must more on other hills, but didnt see any, and the area was blocked off so I couldnt get up there. The lady inside told me it was the last remaining from WW2. Back then, like today the hoover dam is a place of high national security. In one of my pictures you can see the new bridge theyre building across the colorado to protect the dam more. Im sure theyll convert to a tram system like they did at Zions.
We got into Kingman around 10 and my nav or google maps wouldnt work on my phone so had a helluva time finding the campground. Robyn as usual was the most reliable option, she helped us out. Damn verizon. My phone comes with a built in GPS, but verizon disables it so its dependent on their network now.
Anyway, after getting to the campground, and 2 more unorganized trips to get a flashlight to set it up, and another to get food, we finally crashed out and we sleeping on the ground like we’d planned. Im too old for this. I need a bigger bike where I can bring an air mattress. Even so, it was a cool experience. Havent slept in a tent for years, and the first time we’d slept in those tiny mummy bags was when robyn and I slept in them at the same campground in 1991, 17 years earlier.
We rode 250 Miles that Day.
Hackberry, Seligman, Grand Canyon Caverns and Kingman:Saturday, June 7 2008
Slept ok, but we both woke up early so we broke camp and headed to get breakfast at Denny’s. Today was a mellow day, we had about 170 miles to ride and all day to do it. After breakfast, we took our time, drove around Kingman a bit, took some pictures of Trains and Old route 66 Motels, then headed north on the mother road.
I dont really remember the hackberry general store when I first hit route 66, but wanted to see it now. It wasnt open for yet another hour, so we just looked around and then headed out again. The ride was nice, windy still, but it had that feeling that it was early morning on the first real day on vacation, and with my daughter with me, it made it even better.
The next stop was the Grand Canyon Caverns. Meg had been there before, but didnt remember it, so we took the tour again. It struck me how much Route 66 has made a comeback, even in the 20 years or so that I’ve been interested in it. The guide told us that before the bypass in 78, they did 500 people a day, then overnight, nothing. Now its doing well again, and the tours are going strong. They do around 150 people a day steadily, enough to keep it going well and keep jobs going in the area. Pretty cool.
Then we hit Seligman. Everyone knows the snow cap, and as we pulled up the place was packed. Still, the BEST hamburger ever made, period. Juan’s kids are running the place and have kept up the tradition, enough to make my 13 year old daughter laugh and have a good time. They even spotted me the 3 bucks I was short (I went and got them the money later), PLUS they had a terrible towell, signed by Big ben himself right inside the window. I couldnt be any more loyal now.
we went down crookton road, and crossed the freeway to see the Partridge creek bridge again. Took a breather, then headed east through williams, parks, and to the harley dealership in Bellemont. I finally was able to get internet on my phone, so looked up the overnight low in Flagstaff, and decided 40 degrees was a hair too cold in a tent for my daughter. So I called Robynski and she was able to book us a room. Apprantly the night before there were NO rooms in flag for under 200 bucks, but whatever convention or whatever was gone now, so she got a room with no problem. While at the dealership, Meg and I sat on a 2008 Ultra classic. Megan decided she loved the back seat. Dammit, I gotta get one. Granny glide or not, I want to tour and don’t want back seat comfort a problem. Im hoping its comfortable enough Robyn will want to go ALOT once the kids grow up.
after we left the dealership, we went a quarter mile down the road to the pine breeze inn. Whats that? In the opening scenes of Easy rider, toward the end of the opening credits Wyatt and Billy go to get a room and the guy shuts the door and turns on the no vacancy sign.
Well, its in Bellemont. Looks like this now:
Someone is trying to turn it into an RV park now, hopefully it flies, and he restores the building. It had an easy rider poster on the wall and some inside too, so the guy is a fan. Here’s another screenshot from the film, and if you really want to geek out, you can watch the whole intro. The pine breeze inn is the last sequence.
From there, we headed the 10 miles into Flagstaff. We parked at the hotel, and within seconds 2 drunk indians stumbled across the street, and one passed out within a foot of my bike. Kind of awkward, I pretended I didnt see him and got my daughter inside the motel as quick as I could. He was there 15 minutes later when I decided it would be best to move the bike. Nice motel, i thought.
After a full days riding, I thought I had meg wore out, but she doesnt go down without a fight, so we kicked back for an hour, then went and saw the new Indiana Jones Movie. After that, headed back and I was asleep within an hour.
Sacred Mountain Gas Station from Easy Rider: Sunday, June 8 2008
We woke up, had breakfast at the motel restaurant (aptly named “hogs”) and then hit the road. At the bottom of mountain outside flagstaff was another Easy Rider Icon I was wanting to see, so we stopped again. Here’s the picture from the movie:
And here it was, this Morning:
A guy who must live there popped his head over the wall and confirmed that this was the one from the movie (the pictures pretty much confirm it) and he also told me about another little stretch they rode that was in the movie through wupatki national monument, 5 miles away. We needed to head out, so I’ll go check it out another time. Im wondering if it was the scene where they slept in the ruins, I bet it was. Its been a national monument since before then, and the story goes the park ranger watched them like a hawk as they filmed. Now that I type this, that makes sense. I’m nearly sure thats the place.
We stopped at Cameron to get get some water, rest our butts a bit then flew on to Marble canyon, another hour away. We stopped for a minute to check out the old Bridge spanning the colorado river, built in 1927. It was a pretty big deal that bridge. The grand Canyon and the colorado river is still a major obstacle today, and building that bridge was huge. Before that, Lees ferry was the only way to cross the colorado for hundreds of miles.
After that, we went over the bridge to marble canyon and ate lunch, and fueled up again and headed for the home stretch. It was a little cold over the Kiabab, but nothing too big of a deal. From there, it was pipe springs where we made our last butt resting stop, then opened it up and made the last hour home.
I had a blast. I love it when my girl’s go riding with me. We don’t spend alot of one on one time together, and when we can do 2 or 3 days at a time traveling together and enjoying each others company it means the world to me. I couldnt ask for better kids. I hope they never get tired of going with Dad on motorcycle trips.
This weekend, it was just nice. All day friday I was kicking around thoughts of heading somewhere to get some ride time in, and around 3 on friday I came home, and asked if Wendy wanted to go. She did. Headed out around 3.
Wendy is a pro. Last year we loaded up and rode to Universal Studios on the bike in the heat of the summer, and she was a blast to take. Doesnt complain, and loves riding. I love the one on one time. I didnt have a ton of one on one trips with my Dad, and the one I did always meant alot to me. Its one of the reasons I bought the bike. I hope its a memory that means something to my girls. Not alot of 11 year olds can say theve ridden thousands of miles on a harley davidson and seeing their world. Thats my delusion anyway. We’ll see.
Wendy, at hoover Dam. Friday, May 16 2008
Made kingman before dark.
Wendy loves Hotels. She played her DS and even talked me into going swimming for a few. We crashed that night, and woke up to get some road behind us.
Kingman is a cool town to me for some reason. Its got alot of route 66 flavor, and its got all the modern conveniences. Plus its a gateway to alot of my favorite roads. to the east is Seligman, and a great old stretch of 66. the west is a great bike road through oatman, and california. I like to ride for kingman and decide which way Im going to go when Im at the intersection, and its usually always a great ride.
for the sake of time we went to oatman. Wendy had never seen it, and I thought she might like it. We headed out, and took the winding road up to oatman. There was a live wedding in the street, which was kind of cool to see. Ive seen a few gunfight shows, but not a wedding.
Oatman is one of the most unique towns, if not the most unique that I’ve ever seen. Around the turn of the century it was a booming mining town, and it still holds that feel. If it had a dirt street, I cant imagine a wild western town being much different. When the mines stopped producing, the miners left their burros and theyve thrived in the desert without any natural predators, and they still roam the streets.
Wendy found a ragged old cat, that apparantly liked to fight. His owner said he would leave for days and would come back all cut up, and would even take on coyotes and whoever crossed his path. Wendy made immediate friends. She has cat mojo. I even liked this cat.
Clark Gable and Carol lombard had their honeymoon at the oatman hotel. The hotel is a museum now, and we checked it out. Ive been to oatman a bunch, but that was the first time I’d been in the hotel. Theres even a tattoo shop there, but I didnt go in. Maybe I should check him out next time.
After about an hour of Oatman, we headed for the colorado river through Topock, then onto Needles. Wendy was beat. I made the mistake of not switching out a touring seat for my bike, and we both had a bad case of TB. We ate at dennys, and called Robyn to tell her we would head home. It was pretty hot, and Robyn and I had a Penguins NHL playoff game at 1pm, so I figured we’d head back. But I REALLY wanted to go to Amboy. Albert Okura had bought the town, and its one of my favorite spots on route 66, and a couple of weeks ago, they finally got the gas station open after a couple of years of work and about 750 grand. At the crossroads, I decided to spend another day, go to Amboy, and spend the night in Barstow.
Luckily, Ive got the best wife in the world. I called her and she got us a room in Barstow. We pulled in through record heat into Amboy and drank about a gallon of water and hung out for about an hour or so, resting our butts and hydrating up.
A tour bus overturned just east of ludlow, and eastbound highway was routed from I 40 down old 66. It was actually pretty cool to see Roy’s get so much business, and I couldnt help but thinking thats how it mustve been before it was bypassed in the early 70s. Even so, the one guy watching shop went out of his way to give Wendy a Roy’s T shirt for no charge, which I thought was really pretty cool. Ill always swing wide for Roys. Albert Okura paid 400k for the town. It’d be nice to have that kind of money, I’d like to own a town one day. Someday…..
We headed over to barstow, and just relaxed. Wendy was beat, and so was I. We woke up in the morning and made time to get back to st George, by 1pm, and made it. All in all, we’d rode 760 miles in less than 48 hours. Wendy is my riding buddy. I hope she had a good time. I know I did.
First long ride with my 10 year old daughter Wendy. We rode out to universal Studios to have some fun.
Made it to Barstow the first night. Wendy did great. she’s a natural. Was worried that she might get bored and fall asleep, but not even close. She’s fun to ride with, and we’re having fun.
Spent 2 days in Universal City, went to universal studios and grauman’s chinese theater and the wax museums, and saw Meet the robinsons in 3D in a cool old famous theater.
Rode home straight through. Both had a bit of TB, but otherwise had a great time.
Southern Utah Harley Owners Group does day runs almost every weekend, and at least one overnighter a month. I’ve done maybe 3 runs with them. Great bunch of guys, and very organized.
Megan, my oldest daughter went with me on this one. Shes a great rider. The weather was not looking all that great, and the original plan was to head through Zion National Park, and up to antimony. We ended up running up through cedar city, and over Cedar mountain. There was snow on the ground, but really wasnt cold. We stopped in Kanab to get lunch, and the thunderheads looks pretty ominous, so we headed back through the park and home.
