Day 14 - Home

Well today's that day that carries the mixed emotions of being the last day of a riding vacation but heading home to all that is familiar; as the day progresses, the emotions change places with each other. We put behind us another 358 miles, getting on the road by 10ish after having a great continental breakfast at the ol' Best Western Hi Desert Inn, the latest departure yet I think, ol well, it's a vacation right? We quickly made up for the late start, Maggy lead us on a 163 mile rip to Bridgeport, where we gased & had a great lunch at the Bridgeport Inn. We had a casual lunch but realized we were probably facing the warmest day of our entire vacation just coming into Sacramento so finally headed out. We encountered 8 Hwy Patrol and Sheriff cars in the short 35 mile stretch between Bridgeport and the turnoff for Monitor Pass. Which one of you lined up that little reminder of getting into CA.? We were ready to get off 395. By the time we reached the intersection of 88 & 89 the smoke was thick in the sky and smelly on the ground so we headed toward Tahoe thinking Hwy 50 home would be better and it was. We asked several people at our last break in Myers where the fire was but no one knew. I'm glad we took 50 in, little traffic and a nice ride. But.....we landed in Sacramento at 5:30pm traffic north on Folsom, Hazel & Sunrise, yuck. What a great trip, all home safe and sound, thanks for following us, we'll summarize in a few days.

Day 13 - Get'r Done

Today was a travel day riding 358 miles from Zion, UT to Tonopah, NV the average temp was 85. We left the beautiful Zion Valley for slab riding to Cedar City. Then began the lonely 2 lane but claimed to be scenic highway to our next stop. The modern day oasis; Ash Springs, NV, where we gased, had a picnic lunch and prepared our cool vests. We stopped to view the big alien that welcomes you to the start of the ET hwy. The 2 lane desert roads through Nevada were torcher, hehe. Our vests kept us cool and alert along with the dirt devils and open range cattle. After a 100 miles of desolate road the next oasis stop was Warm Springs, NV, 2 burnt out buildings and 1 tree but fenced off from the hiwy so no shade, just a pull off slab to take our last break How did the settlers and Indians survive this area? They must of been tough! Finally, we got to Tonopah, NV, Yipeee! that was the longest 158 miles. We were early enough for a quick swim before we headed to the only restaurant in town, the Mexican restaurant was challengingly slow again, another 1 hr wait before we got our dinner. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped in a gas station to buy water, Sue & Maggy spotted the slot machines and the tournament was on. After considerable strategy and patience, Maggie left with her winnings of 40 cents and Sue came away even. We started and ended our trip here.

Day 12 - Zion NP

Today is a tour day, a day off the motorcycles. We started off with a wonderful breakfast at Oscars. We toured Zion NP, which is just spectacular. Access to trailheads along the Zion Canyon Scenic drive is by shuttle only, private vehicles are not allowed in these areas. There are a total of 13 hikes so we choose two. We hopped on the shuttle and got off at the Temple of Siawava and did the Riverside walk, a 2 mile round trip hike, easy, with minor drop-offs, paved trail follows Virgin River along bottom of narrow canyon. Next we shuttled to Zion Lodge and did the Lower Emerald Pool 1.2 mile round trip hike, easy monor drop-offs, paved trail to lower pool and waterfalls. then we went to the NP museum and watched the orientation movie- 22 minute film highlights the park. Had a snack at Cafe and then we went to IMAX and watched a 3D movie on Zion. Ordered pizza for dinner was enjoying it at the hotel picnic area, when we noticed what we thought was a bird fluttering around us, turned out it was a bat, it kept flying towards our heads, which was creepy, so we all went running back to the room.

Day 11 - Moab to Zion NP

Today is another travel day, riding 330 twisty, curvy miles. Again, we leisurely got up enjoyed our coffee as we sat outside and watched it lightly rain. We blasted out @ 10am, with 100 miles of ug! We road through the Henry Mountains, passing through Hanksville & Henryville. Also, enjoyed the the scenic 12 Hells backbone, capital reef NP, Grand staircase-Escalante,& Dixie National forest, while at the same time riding in and out of thundershowers. Once we got into Zion we encounter desert big horn sheep and goats. We entered the east entrance and followed the wonderful twisty 20 mph road into the Zion. We had to wait at the 2nd tunnel while a motorhome was being escorted through the 1.1 mile long tunnel. (Motorhomes have to arrange an escort at the park entrance & pay $15, this fee is good for 2 trips through the tunnel for the same vehicle during a 7-day period.) We were exhausted, getting in just before dark, had an excellent dinner and in bed early.

Day 10 - Back On The Road Again

The conference was excellent but we're itching to get back on the road. Lynde wanted to get out early and headed out ahead of us. The realization hit us that today was to be mostly on I-70, so we of course had to change that. We finally got out at 10am. We still rode 70 for awhile but atleast from Keystone to Glenwood Springs it's some of the prettiest. 70 through the Glenwood Canyon area took 20 years to build, you just kind of hang on the side of the canyon walls and the opposing traffic hangs on underneath you, all the while curving next to the Colorado River. BEAUTIFUL! We headed south on 82 & 133 dodging rain clouds but took a few sprinkles. We had a few passes 11,088 ft. and 9,856 ft. We had packed a picnic lunch and Sue found a lovely little city park in Paonia. Just as we finished lunch the thunder started, wind kicked up and we knew we needed to get ahead of the rain again. Off we went to Hotchkiss, over to 92 up to 50 and eventually back to 70 at Grand Junction. The 2 lane countryside was great but this strip of 70 to the Utah border ugh! We did stay dry though and a high of 93. Then finally the much anticipated little road for the end of the day Hwy. 128. This is a 2 lane back road into Moab that runs through these huge canyon walls cut out by the mighty Colorado. The road snakes along the river, at some points just feet away. We of course stopped for many photo shoots. Sue got up close and persoanl with 3 antelope; coming straight down the road at her in her lane, she slowed way down but they kept coming, finally at the last minute 2 split to the left-one to the right. Whew, that would not have been good! We arrived at our cute Kokopeli Lodge at 7pm, and headed for mexican food and a swing by the grocery store for breakfast goodies. We got a voice mail from Lynde that she was in her zone and headed on as she was several hours ahead of us by now.

Day 9 - Last Day of the AMA Conference

The weather continues to be perfect at 74. Well, today is the last day of the conference, so we all tried to do as much as possible; attended seminars: Linda-Online Shopping-BikeBandit.com explains the advantages of online shopping; DeeDee-Accident Scene Management-Knowing what to do in the event of a crash; Sue & Maggy-The Power of Your Voice-Professionals discuss the many avenues for each of us to help other women ,become the riders they want to be. Also attended the ice cream social, test road Kymco scooters, we all agree they are a blast, and then shopped till we dropped getting the best bargains. We did our laundry and most importantly we T-CLOCK'ed our motorcycles. We met up with the other GCR's for the closing ceremony banquet, then we danced the night away.












Additional pictures of the conference:

Day 8-AMA Conference Continues

We were so excited to start telling you about the conference and seminars, we forgot to tell you about our digs! We are in luxury!!!!! This is obviously a privately owned condo that rents out in the off season. It is furnished with Native American art, lodge like but elegant (Ahwanhee type), granite counter tops, carpet and tile floors, fireplace, leather couches, antler chandelier, mounted deer head, 2 bedroom, queen couch sleeper, 3 bathrooms, full kitchen and a 12 foot long balcony with chairs and BBQ. We're on the 6th floor but our condo is 2 story itself and the balcony overlooks the conference center, we have a 5 minute walk to all seminars and we have covered parking too! Wow!

Okay, back to the conference. We didn't crack out for the early seminars this morning, we instead enjoyed our condo, balcony and made breakfast. Some of today's seminars were; Picking Up Your Dropped Bike, ugh, my back is sore, Riding the Twisties, teaching late apex turn, and Solo Riding & Touring: Gaining Confidence in Taking to the Open Road. Linda test road a Harley Trike, she didn't think it was safe and decided she prefers two wheels. Maggy test road a Buell 1125cr, good power, smooth shifting, too cramped, and too much leaning forward, her right hand was killing her. Next Maggy test road a Kymco Xciting 500 Ri scooter, woo ho! lots of fun! We connected with the rest of the GCR'ers and coordinated a joint potluck dinner tonight at Janet's condo. Maggy & Linda are off to the grocery store 6 miles down the road. We all brought food and had an excellent potluck and shared our travel stories and our participation at the conference.

Day 7 - AMA Women & Motorcycling Conference

Fortunately, we borrowed a schedule of seminars last night so we had an idea of what we wanted to do today. We registered and perused the vendors, and of course bought all kinds of great stuff; chaps, gloves, tshirts and skin products. We attended the following seminars: Dual Sport & Adventure Riding; Experienced dual-sport & adventure riders shared their passion for the sport & discussed how easy it is to get involved. Motorcycle Mentoring; Shared the joys of mentoring and how to get started, with a discussion of do's and don'ts. Secrets of Veteran Riders; A panel of women riders educated & inspired other women riders by sharing what they've learned during their travels. Survive Institute; This was the best seminar of all. It covered self-defense, personal protection & crime prevention for women from a whole different perspective. It considered the very diiferent "creep" that we face today. "Don't mess with us now!" In the evening we attended the Rocky Mountain Barn Dance, dinner of grilled chicken, brisket, beans, corn on the cob, corn muffins, & apple pie. DeeDee participated in the steer head roping and GCR members line danced.

Day 6 - Cortez, CO to Keystone, CO

Today was a pure travel day, we rode 330 miles through beautiful country. We again had excellent weather in the 80s but a bit of crosswinds as we got closer to Keystone. We almost feel quilty about mentioning a little wind because it's been so great. However great weather means you may also encounter construction zones along the way and we had several to slow us down. So, we stopped in Saguache and had a picnic lunch at a city park and then continued on. We arrived in Keystone just in time to eat a quick dinner and head over to the Opening Ceremonies.

Day 5 - Mesa Verdi NP Tour

Today we toured Mesa Verde NP, which took all day, the tour offers a look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years. It's just amazing how the Native Americans were able to live in the homes made of mud and rocks. Lynde chilled at the motel. We re-grouped and had a great italian dinner at Mama Reis.

Day 4 - Mexican Hat, Ut to Cortez,CO

We rode 200 miles. This was a no fire drill day. We leisurly got up, had coffee outside enjoying the sounds of the river, and a big breakfast at the diner. We finally road out around 11am. Our first stop was the Gooseneck State Park, the San Juan River meanders thru here for 5 miles flowing into the Colorado River and Lake Powell. And then an adventure ride-Moki Dugway; 10% grade, 5 mph switchbacks, 3 miles of gravel, and on-coming motorhomes and cars. This road was built in the 50's to transport uranium, you can still view wreckage of trucks that did not make the switchbacks from years ago. This was a hi-five ride, Hi-O Silver!! Next we road thru Natural Bridges and then onto Cortez. We fixed a dinner of rotisserie chicken and Cesar salad and Sue went head over heels for this meal.

Day 3 - Antelope Valley Slot Canyon Tour

http://www.antelopeslotcanyon.com/ Today we toured the upper Antelope Slot Canyon, which is on Navajo Nation land. Our tour guide was Vere a good friend of Maggy's co-worker. We were shuttled in an air condition 4-wheel drive, while others were shuttled in the back of an open pick-up tour truck.

Vere was raised on Navajo Nation, so she is very knowledgeable of the history and as child she played in these canyons. Not only did she provide us with the history, but also ensured our cameras were set up to take magnificent pictures. We highly recommend you take this tour. We all enjoyed Vere as our tour guide. Thank you Vere for a wonderful tour!