Day 10 - The Rest of the Story

Captain's Log - Day 10 - 354 miles - 2448 miles total

After a great stay with Rick and Kim, we turned Black Beauty toward the next leg of our journey. We told you a little about the trip in our last entry, but our internet connection was so slow that we couldn't share the whole story, and oh, what a story it is!

So we were cruising across the dessert of New Mexico and then Arizona making pretty good time because we were determined that we wouldn't stop for every little picture along the way. Right. Like that lasted very long. When I saw this in the Navajo Nation, well... you know - we stopped. There were several other pictures I took at this spot because everything looked so cool and I didn't know when I could get Dawn to let me stop again!

As we were on our way through southeast Utah, our GPS took us onto Route 261 north and we were concerned when we saw signs saying that a portion of the road would be dirt. After all, Black Beauty don't do dirt! But we figured we could take a look and see how long the dirt section would actually be and also see how well maintained it is. Why would a two lane paved highway have a dirt section? It didn't make sense. So, we thought we would take a look. That is when we came across a sign like this one, only it had two big ravens sitting on it watching us pass by. Hmmm.... that was really weird! The next sign we came to, I stopped so Dawn could get a good picture of it. Would you have continued? We figured, "Hey, what Great Adventure would be without some good old-fashioned off-roading!" Right?!

Well, here is a view from an overview about 3/4 of the way up the dirt section. It was pretty amazing, steep and did I mention, FUN?! No guide rails and very narrow with steep sides that if you went off of would certainly spoil the rest of a Great Adventure! This section climbed from the desert floor WAY UP to the top of a huge mesa and the temperature dropped dramatically.

Here is a short video of what it was like climbing this portion. This road is not for the faint of heart and certainly not for those who are afraid of heights!

And this is kind of what it felt like to climb that thing!

When we got to the top, we ran into a lot of these signs and actually saw a couple cows next to the road just meandering along. I'm glad they don't jump into the road because hitting one of them would be like running into a brick wall!

On Route 95, we came across Natural Bridges National Monument and again took a ton of pictures. We had a good time stopping at each of the locations and goofing around. The desert blooms are beautiful - it looks like we are right on the tail end of the season for all the wild flowers. It would have been nice to have a little extra time to do some hiking, but we really needed to get on down the road - you know, places to see and all that stuff!

Now I thought it would be a good idea to test my co-pilot's reactions...

Next, we made our way up through Glenn Canyon on Route 95 north in Utah and didn't stop for any photos, but really wish we would have because it was simply stunning! In fact the entire trip up Routes 261, 95 and 24 east, was perhaps the best motorcycle ride we have ever taken! It was breathtaking with tons of curves and switchbacks sometimes dictating slow speeds and sometimes allowing nice, high speed maneuvers. But it was the scenery that simply took the breath away. Please don't misunderstand, there were times that we would ride over typical high desert terrain, but the majority of time is spent traversing some of God's greatest work!

This happens to be the bridge that crosses over the Colorado branch of Lake Powell on Route 95.. As we were there taking the pictures, we struck up a conversation with a couple from the area and they said that this is the bridge used in Wild Hogs but that if you watch the movie closely, they are actually traveling eastward then you see a sign that they are leaving Missouri. A little out of sequence, but cool nonetheless! We will have to watch it again just to check it out!

Tomorrow I will finish catching you up on everything. We finished day 11 today, but got back to the hotel much later than I thought we would... you know, something new! But oh what a day [like, it will include the little fact that we ran into hail]! Can't wait to share it with you. But, until then, I must sign out, shower and get to bed so I can continue the Great Adventure tomorrow - and what an adventure it has been!

Special thanks to Gary Thompson from the Econo Lodge back at Eagle Nest, NM. Gary, without your encouragement to go this way, we would have simply buzzed right on by all this great territory and truly missed out on some of the most spectacular scenery and riding that we will ever experience! God bless you friend.