Hogs of war Tour 2014 - Blog now available

For those that want to follow the biking exploits of myself, Dudley et al, you may be interested to know the blog for next year's European Tour is now available to view. No posts as yet.

Make sure you sign up for email updates, so as not to miss anything. It's perfectly safe, you won't get spammed as a result.

The link is www.whet2014.blogspot.com

Ride Safe

Neill (Woody)

We did it our way...

And now, the end is here
And so I face the final blog post.....

I've pretty much said it all now. Would just like to say thanks to everyone who has bothered to read the blog and offered me encouragement along the way. I hope you have all enjoyed reading it, I know I have writing it and I'm sure Dud has, starring in it ;-)

Another thank you to all those people who have shared the experience over the last couple of weeks and made it another great touring holiday for Dud and myself, it was a pleasure meeting you all and riding with you. ORSUM! It would be good to try and keep in touch. If any of you are ever down Chatham way, let me know (and I can make sure I'm away on holiday ;-) )

Only a few bits of business left now.

Once I've sorted photos, I shall be posting a selection on Flickr and I'll be sending out the link to everyone. If I've taken photos of you in particular, I'll email those to you. If I ever get round to editing the Go-pro footage, likewise, I shall let you know where you can view it.

You may remember I weighed myself before I left home. We'll quite remarkably, I am actually 1kg lighter than before the tour, despite all those brekkies, lunches and dinners. Must be all the sweating I did under that blistering sun, aided by the 6 miles I ran over the two weeks too, I suspect.

Finally, Dud, I and the other two wild Hogs plan to tour Europe next year (1 year and 5 days to be precise), so if you want to follow that blog let me know and I'll let you know once it is up and running. . The link is www.whet2014.blogspot.com

Thanks again.

Ride Safe!

Neill

Day 17, LA to London and home

We had a little lie in but not much, did some packing and got ourselves ready to go down for breakfast. To our disappointment, when we got down there, our lovely Raquel was nowhere to be seen. We had almost finished when she appeared, from a break, I expect but she was waiting the other side of the restaurant!

I'd brought my laptop down to do some blogging and Dud his kindle. We found a table near a plug socket and were busy blogging and kindleing, when Cheryl and Geoff appeared. They asked what time we were getting the shuttle. I said about 1:30. Cheryl reckoned they had to vacate the room bt 1:00, so they would probably be going before us. They said that they had treated themselves to an upper class (I think) upgrade, which gave them access to the hospitality lounge. They thought they could take in two guests, so would we like to join them. How very kind of them and of course we accepted.

Blogging, complete, it was time to finish the last bit of packing and head for the airport. I'm not sure what time we got the airport but as well dragged our cases towards check-in, there were Cheryl & Geoff waiting for us. They confirmed, we were definitely allowed in as their guests and they would meet us after the security checks. Well, check-in seemed to take an awful long time, I think they only had one full time desk open but good as their word, as we exited security, Cheryl and Geoff were waiting to escort us to the lounge, bless 'em. It was a very kind gesture and much appreciated by Dud and I. Thanks again guys.

We chatted, drank beers, ate cheese & crackers and choccy brownies. I took the opportunity to use the free wifi (wife ee, as Johan calls it) to do some blogging as well. I was almost ready to post the next update, when the laptop shut down. The battery had died and my plug adaptors were all packed. Luckily it did retain the update for later submission.

As Dud and I were going to be in Economy class, we thanked Cheryl & Geoff again for their kindness and said our goodbyes. Before long we were on board the aircraft and in the air, at around 5pm local time (1am in blighty). The captain said our flight time would be about 9h45m, getting us into Heathrow at 10:45am the next day, Sunday.

The flight was very smooth. Dud watched some in flight entertainment, whilst I listened to album after album from the Rock collection. We both slept, Dud for longer than me I think, (and they say old people don't need so much sleep!) and before we knew it we were back on the ground at Heathrow.   

Passing fairly swiftly through customs, we collected our bags and headed for the way out. Dud's daughter Susie was coming to collect him, with his granddaughters Lucy & Amy. Cath had told me she would be waiting by the flowers & M&S, right where we exited.

As we came out, I looked. Flowers but no Cath. Then Dud saw Susie and they came running to greet him. As I was being introduced to the family, Cath appeared from the sidelines :-) Big hug, big kiss. It was so nice to see her again. More introductions and then we parted company. Dud and I had a handshake and man hug and he thanked me for looking after him. Made me feel quite emotional, soppy old sod (him, not me!). No thanks necessary I told him, it was a pleasure and just wouldn't have been the same without him.

Cath and I hit the Piccadilly Line, then the high speed to Chatham. At Chatham, Cath left me to go into town, whilst I got the bus home. Back indoors, I managed to unpack a little bit and do a bit of blogging, before I decided I needed a nap. After about an hour the phone woke me. Cath was calling to check on me. Another two hours later, I got up and did some more blogging, before sitting down in front of the TV, with some cheese and biscuits, to catch up on some 2 week old British Superbikes. In bed a t 23:00, my alarm is set for 6am. It's work tomorrow. The weather is going to be fine, so I'll get my leg over my new bike for only the second time since I bought it. It'll take me a little longer than two weeks to put 2,700 miles on that clock!

Day 16, The Farewell Dinner

Dud and I sat at separate tables for the dinner, for probably the first time on the tour. I felt I could trust him on his own now. Shucks, what could possibly go wrong just sitting and eating? I was on the top table, with Graham & Jan, Dean & Carol and Andi & Petra.

The meal, paid for, was nice but unspectacular, the drink, paid for by me, the Blue Moon substitute, Shock Top. I had salad for starter, as we all did and chicken for main. For dessert I chose the ice cream, mainly because, that was the only choice!

We discussed things with Andi & Petra, such as potential new tours. Graham was interested in doing the Southern States and Dean was talking about what he calls, shamrock tours. These are where you stay in one place for a week but make 5 or 6 rides out, maybe move location and do the same again for a second week. Sounds a good idea, if it saves the hassle of packing and unpacking ones case every day. Andi mentioned a possible music tour, going to Nashville, New Orleans, etc. That sounded right up Dud's street, him being a massive blues and jazz fan.

Meal over, Andi made a little speech, thanking us all for our business and touting for more, in a nice way, of course, before handing the floor over to Dean. Oh dear! Man, this dude could talk the hind legs off of all the Oatman burros! He thanked us for being a great crowd and for making his life easier, exceptionally modest of him, as he and as he pointed out Larry, both did a tremendous job of shepherding us around the West. We had had a collection amongst a few of the couples for Dean & Larry, a little thank you and I'd bought a card in Vegas, which everyone had signed over the two weeks and I was waiting for my moment, to make the presentation. As time ticked by, there looked like being no end to Dean's speech, so there was nothing left for me to do but get up and take the floor. As I walked around the back of Dean, it seemed to me there was only one way to shut him up (don't get me wrong, he's very entertaining), so I reached round and placed my hand over his mouth! Laughter and clapping ensued. The tide was stemmed and I was able to make my presentation, thanking first Andi & Petra, then the stars of the show. Poor old Larry got the card, Dean the cash. I'm sure he'll share it ;-) And with that, people began to say their goodbyes.

There was one last thing for Dud and I to do though and that was to give Carol her gift. Dud did the honours this time. It took her a while to get into the package (the lady in the shop had kindly found a box for it) but when she saw what it was, she was thrilled to bits. It has a little hole in it so you can hang it on the wall, so Dud and I shall await the picture of it in situ.

Kisses, cuddles and handshakes concluded, some headed to the bar, Dud and I up to bed. Tomorrow we fly back to blighty. We have a late checkout as we don't need to check in till about 2pm. That also gives us a chance to have a bit of a lie in too, before we finish our packing.

Until tomorrow.

Day 16, Part 2. Solvang to Glendale to LAX Hilton

As we hit the road again in the sweltering heat (it shouldn't be this hot in this part of Cali.), our next destination was our lunch stop, up in the hills and about another hour or so away. The terrain continued in much the same vane until we found ourselves outside our lunch stop. Well, most of us did. As we pulled up, there was a report that two bikes had broken down. Then it was that one had broken down and one stopped to assist. Never far from the action, it was Dud who had gone AWOL and Steve had stopped. When they finally arrived, with Larry, it transpired that Dud had been feeling the effects of the extreme heat and was feeling drowsy, so he decided to pull over. Some refreshment and a dowsing of cold water and he was able to continue. Happy Dud was OK, we set about lunch, yet another ceasar salad for me, the sixth of the tour.

Rested and rest roomed, we were ready to face the heat again. Larry gave us a spray of water to help combat the heat, whilst Dud soaked his t-shirt in the restroom. Then we were back in the saddle. Dean had said that we would need to get on the interstate to get into LA, which would be 'fun' but before that we would have one more stop at a little diner, to cool down and get refreshments.

Just over a dollar gets you a small but refillable, (I don't get that size thing when refillable) drink, so I downed a cup of lemonade then refilled with added ice. The beauty, well one of them, with the RK, is that with a screen fitted (take note Paul) you can pop a drink between the screen and the headlamp shell. It is then easy, if you are wearing an open face helmet, to take a cooling swig of beverage whilst in motion. Doesn't take long for it to heat up in the temperatures we were riding in mind.

And so we set off on our final leg into LA and Glendale Harley Davidson.  Larry reported that there was a twenty minute delay on the Interstate, so I think we may have taken another route (Dean could confirm), heading a little further eastwards first of all, then picking up I5 all the way into Glendale. I5 was as frenetic as you would expect on a Friday afternoon but we all managed to stick together and move along at a good pace. Before we knew it, we were in Glendale, with no holdups to speak of. Good Job!

The final act before returning the bikes was to fill them up with fuel. Such amusement! It is quite funny to watch the mayhem that 12 or so bikes can cause when hitting the gas station forecourt en-masse. It's even funnier when said gas station has more than one in and out route, such as this one. There were cars all over the place, vying for the next free pump, reversing here, dodging round there. I was first filled up, so it was quite entertaining watching them all, from a place in the shade.  

We rode a couple of blocks round the corner and parked the bikes up outside Glendale Harley. Our adventure, on the bikes at least, was over! :-(

A mileage check was taken, from the Honda of Carl (2,738.8 miles) and from the Harley of Graham (2,737 miles). so it looks as though that is what we covered during the fortnight. I saw my RK's odometer go past 4, 5 and 6 thousand miles and by my reckoning, we covered about 3,100 miles!! Don't you just love Harleys? Someone suggested (maybe Larry) that someone was riding my bike at night and Steve (ironically) said it was because I was taking all the bends wide! Whatever the true mileage, it was in excess, we reckon, of 2,500 in the fortnight.

With the bikes checked out (don't look at Dudley's footboards too closely!), the remaining beers in the cooler drunk, Andi and Petra arrived to welcome us back and leave us with 4 bottles of something white and sparkling for the courtesy bus trip back to LAX Hilton. A nice touch, spoilt only by the bumpiness of the road and the sharp movements made by our driver (a lady!), ensuring we lost some to inevitable spillage. A toast.....to us, oops!

Checked in and showered, we prepared for our farewell dinner.

Day 16, Pismo to Solvang

So, this was it, our last day on the Harleys. A light breakfast preceeded us taking to the roads for the last time and our penultimate fuel stop. All gassed up, we were ready for the final push towards LA but first there would be some nice twisty roads and hot frenetic freeway to contend with.

We soon left the coast road behind but not before going through the seaside mists once more. It's strange to see people on the mist covered beaches. I suppose they know that before long it will burn off and they can get down to some serious sunbathing.

Away from the coast the temperature was rising rapidly. The news over the last day or so has been predicting record temperatures for the west coast and Death Valley was expected to be about 20 degrees hotter than when we rode through. PHEW!

We found ourselves wending our way through the many fields of strawberries, veggies and of course vines. There are a whole host of vineyards, all eager for you to taste their wares. Not for us though, we flash past on our way to 'a surprise'. Dean had said there was a surprise for us on this leg of the tour and unusually for Dean, he managed to keep the secret!

As we rode up into the hills once more, there was a symphony of board scraping, coming mainly from the Heritage Softails of Bill, Steve and Elizabeth. Finally though, I managed to deck out the RK, not through choice, as I just ran into a bend a little hotter than usual and before I knew it there was a scraping sound. Not though the footboards but the tip of the r/h exhaust pipe. I was right behind Dean (probably why I went in too hot, he's so slow ;-)  ) and both he and Carol gave me a thumbs up as the pipe touched down!

As the road flattened and straightened, suddenly on our right hand side, a magical sight met our eyes. In little paddocks by the road were dozens of the tiniest horses you will ever see in your lives. Take a Shetland Pony and shrink it by a third and you get the idea. Then there were foals, so even smaller. So, so cute. First glance you would think Shetland but on closer inspection, you could see they were horses, not ponies, perfect in every magical miniature detail. That must be the surprise Dean mentioned, I thought. But it wasn't, that was still to come.

A little way further up the road, we turned into a main street that looked like it wouldn't have been out of place where Elizabeth and Johan come from, Sweden. In fact, this is a town called Solvang but may as well be called Little Denmark. Not entirely Danish, as we discovered by the Belgian chocolate shop, for the most part though, the buildings are all of a Danish style (I guess, never been ) and the shops named with Danish names, such as Rasmussen. This was Dean's surprise. I'd seen this place on TV when Henry Cole rode the Wild West, so I kinda popped Dean's balloon. Aw!

A very quaint and picturesque town, we had about 25 minutes to check the place out whilst Dean, Carol and Larry indulged themselves with coffee and, yes you guessed, Danish pastries. Carol had told Dud and I that she would love to live in Solvang and so, as we had previously discussed buying her a gift from the two of us ('she's such a sweetie') we chose a pottery spoon, with Solvang houses on it.

Soon it was back on the road, the temperature rising steadily!!

Day 15 Part 2, To Hearst Castle and beyond...

So, Dud Lightyear and myself set off behind Dean in the direction of Hearst Castle.

As we followed Dean, we saw signs for Elephant Seal Vista. Blow me down, if as we ride by a couple of sandy bays, we don’t see what look at first glance like grey rocks on the beach but which actually are, real live Elephant Seals. Another first for this trip, seeing those in the wild. No time to stop though, as we are on a mission to get Hearst Castle before 15:40, the time of our tour. I’m thinking Dean has cut it too fine, we hadn’t left Ragged Point until 15:05, maybe even later and with 10 miles to go to the castle, with lots of tin boxes in front of us, I’m fearing the worst. But hey, this guy is cool. He knows his sh*t  and we are in the parking lot with 5 minutes to spare.

As we go in we are given tickets and wristbands stating which tour we are doing.  We are doing the Grand Rooms tour. We head straight for the bus to take us to the castle. Yes, they bus you up, on account of the visitor centre is down by the coast road and the castle is a couple or three miles up on the top of the hillside. The road up would have been good to ride up, full of twists and switchbacks. It was actually designed that way, to give just a tantalising glimpse of the castle itself before veering away and thus taking the castle out of sight. A bugger for getting a photo though! There is even a separate down road, similarly bendy.

On the way up there is a commentary that tells you a bit about the history of the place, etc. William Randolph Hearst had the place built from scratch on land his family owned and used to camp on. The place housed the largest private zoo in the US at one point and even now, has its own landing strip. Amazing what one can do with a few dollars!  Passing a paddock with cattle in it, it is also a cattle ranch, we see the last 'descendants' of WRH's zoo, some Zebra. Back in the day there would have been all kinds of animals, straight off the African Savanna, not to mention further up the hill, an enclosure with Polar Bears. Can't imagine those big beasts took too kindly to the heat.

The bus disgorges us at the top and Chris our guide takes us upwards still further, to the front of the house.

Hearst Castle

The front of the house looks like a meditteranean church. The front door sits between the two towers. we're not allowed in there though, we have to sneak in the back way. Once inside we are greeted by the sight of huge tapestries on the wall, church alter pues around the outside of the room, and an intricate painted ceiling. Most of the fabric of the room is 15th, 16th or 17th century, Spanish or Italian, seemingly taken from churches. There may be the odd French fireplace thrown in. The rest of the rooms follow the same pattern but not one single room has a single, say Spanish, theme, they are all a mishmash of things from different countries. It is all very fascinating but because of this hotchpotch of styles, quite bizarre. The last room we visit is a cinema. Yes, he had his own cinema for entertaining his many, varied and influential guests. Filmstars, such as Charlie Chaplin and polititians such as Winston Churchill. The cinema holds around 50 people. Interestingly, the staff of the house would also have been allowed to watch the film, along with the house guests. 

Back outside, there is more continuity to the property. A stunning swimming pool, all marble and surrounded by marble statues and columns. It is so inviting in this heat but it is probably many moons since anyone bathed in it. The gardens are beautiful and the views from the top of this hill just stunning. Around a corner we find the tennis courts, under which is an indoor swimming pool, equally as stunning as the first.

The indoor pool

We board the bus for the trip back to reality, another commentary describing how the Hearst Trust gave 13 miles of coastline to the National Parks of California, an indication of what 250,000 acres of land means in real terms, the size of the estate in its heyday.

Back in the visitor centre, Dud spent more money in the gift shop, then we jumped on the bikes once more. Dean had given me a map of how to get to the hotel at Pismo beach. We were about 50 miles away but first, we decided to head back up the coast to take a look at the elephant seals close up. 

In close up, these creatures are even more amazing than you imagine, from the roadside. Not for anything more than their sheer size and numbers. There must've been over 300 on this small bay. Laying cheek by jowl with each other, motionless save for the occasional flick of a flipper to cover themselves with sand. Suddenly, well not that suddenly, these are huge creatures, one appears from the sea. A few hops up the beach then a rest. A few more, then another rest. The weight must really tell when on land. A few more hops and he was amongst the pack. He wasn't content with that though, he wanted a particular bit of sand occupied by a smaller seal. There followed a stand off, of the sort you see on the wildlife programmes, Rearing up, head to head until the smaller seal backed off. Content, the big boy collapsed into the vacated space. It was quite amazing to witness this first hand.

That's my space, move yer ass!

  Back on the bikes and a quick check of the map, we set off for Pismo beach. We guessed it would be about 19:30 by the time we ot to the hotel. Dean's map was spot on, of course and we got to the hotel at 19:25. The others were long since ensconced in their rooms or even out having dinner. Dean and Larry had been kind enough to unload our bags and leave them in the room, a note to that effect being posted on the back of the trailer, which we didn't notice! No worries, reception had our keys and told us the bags were up there waiting.

Showered and changed we went in search of food. A place right alongside the hotel was the place of choice and not just by us. Inside we saw Dean, Carol and Larry, Steve and Paul, Keith and Mary and even Elizabeth and Johan came in later for some pie, which is, apparently, the restaurant's speciality.  

Dud had the Frisco burger, something Carol had said she was looking forward to all day, me a pulled pork burger, followed, quite obviously, by some pie. Apple and Ice cream for Dud, Blueberry for moi. I had to be honest and say it didn't blow me away. Nice but no more and after the Cognito clan had bigged the pies up so much. I felt a little cheated. The restaurant did have a really cool salad cart though, an old Ford flatbed.

Fed and watered it is time for bed. Tomorrow (Friday) will be our last riding day, from Pismo into Glendale, where we will return the bikes. :-(

Day 15, Down Highway 1 to Pismo Beach

On the road about 10am this morning. Seems a lot longer than 12 hours ago. First stop was about 5 miles up the road, Carmel by the Sea. Such a quaint little place but very upmarket by all accounts. We had time to stroll down to the beautiful sandy beach for some snaps and try and capture some of the local wildlife on 'film' too. There was a blue jay just waiting for Mary to get her camera out, so it could fly off and a family of ground squirrels scampering about. One nearly came up and nibbled my finger but not quite. We weren't lucky enough to see Clint Eastwood, though he is often seen walking about, according to Larry.

Hard life being a ground squirrel in Carmel!

From Carmel we rode a few more miles for a fuel stop, then it was back onto the highway for the ride along the coast. We had a brief stop at a vista point, then Dean let us loose to do our own thing until we would regroup for a refreshment break, at a place called Nepenthe. This a restaurant set up on the hillside, with the most spectacular views of the coastline.

The view from Nepenthe

En route to Nepenthe, we stopped at, the most famous bridge on Highway 1. Deans says that it is used in a lot of car commercials. It has a certain charm about it and you can see why car manufacturers/commercial makers would be attracted to it.

Bixby Bridge

As we sat at Nepenthe, sipping our refreshments, a superb real lemonade, for me, we were amazed when a little hummingbird came down to sip nectar from the flowers alongside us. There followed a mad scramble to get photos of the tiny thing. I didn't manage to get one but Cheryl's looked pretty good, the bird's wings a mere blur.

From Nepenthe we were on our own again. The next regroup would be at Ragged Point, a late lunch stop. Dud had some soup, old people like soup, you know, especially when it if 85 degrees, whilst I had a packet of crips we picked up yesterday and a muffin I acquired at this morning's buffet brekkie.

As Dud and I were down to visit Hearst Castle and time was ticking on, with some people still waiting to get their food, Dean said he'd run us over to the castle and then go back for the rest of them, or at least meet them somewhere in between. And so, Dean, Dud and I took to road to ride the 10 or so miles to Hearst Castle.

Day 14, San Francisco to Monterey

Packed, breakfasted and loaded up, we set out for the Golden Gate Bridge. As we approached, the San Francisco fog/mist was rolling in, as is usual and as we crossed over the bridge, we couldn't see the tops of the towers. Up to our left there was a viewpoint, several in fact, from the hillside overlooking the bridge. That was our destination. We pulled over and took snaps of the mist enveloped bridge. It was eerily quiet up there, the only real sound being the blasts from the fog horns, fixed I assume, somewhere on the underside of the bridge. Paul commented it reminded him of Close Encounters.

The Golden Gate Bridge, through the fog!

Leaving the viewpoint, we had to go back across the bridge, to pick up our way out of the city. It is strange how the fog/mist lingers around this part of the peninsula and in fact it makes it quite cold and miserable. As we made our way along the coast, this mist persisted, giving the bizarre picture, of people on a beautiful sandy beach, enveloped in mist.

We made a stop for fuel, then headed inland and up onto the back of a small mountain ridge, Skyline Ridge, I think it was called. From this point it is possible to see the Pacific Ocean on your right and the San Francisco Bay on your left, both at the same time. On the way up we passed yet another car on its roof. This looked to be a bit more serious than the one we saw a couple of days ago. I wasn't sure if I saw blood or even someone still in the car. Not a pleasant sight, whatever.

We had left the mist behind us but as the landscape changed, we were now enveloped by big redwood pine trees, the density of which plunged us into near darkness at times and certainly sucked the warmth from around us, by cutting out the sunlight. On a positive note though, the road got nice and twisty. They have a scheme here where groups or individuals can adopt a highway. I forget the complexities of it now, Dean did explain. Anyway he told me to look out for a sponsorship sign along this stretch of road. Anyway, on the last section, as we approached our lunch stop, Alice's restaurant, a very biker friendly place, I spotted the adoption sign. Who would have believed it but it is sponsored by the North California Branch of the Norton Owners Club! Well, it wouldn't be Harley sponsored, with twisties like that, eh?

A light lunch and we hit the road again. Continuing along the ridge and with the same superb twisty roads to contend with. Right, left, right, as quick as you can say. Not easy on the bikes we are riding. The Heritage Softail riders, Dud, Steve and Elizabeth were all 'modifying' their footboards on these bends, apparently. I've still not decked the RK's boards and it's unlikely to happen on the remainder of the tour. They are a tad higher on the RK though. The only time Dud touched them down on R66 was when he dropped the thing :-)

We stopped at a place called Boulder City for an ice cream. A vanilla cone, dipped in chocolate for me. I noticed as we rode through there was a sign for the Boulder City Brewing Company. I have seen that back home but not sure what they brew. Will have to do some googling.

From there it was an altogether less interesting ride, the last hour or so into Monterey and to our beds for the night, at the Hyatt Regency Resort. Bags dropped, some of us met up with Dean again a few minutes later, for a little extra ride out.

Monterey is the home of and to give it its official title, The Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca, venue for amongst other things and only last weekend, the US Moto GP. It's about 6 miles from the hotel, so Dean had said if anyone was interested, he would take us out there. I didn't need asking twice. Dudley, Graham, Paul, Keith, Carl and Allison also came along too.  

We got to the track and quite remarkably, just rode straight in, turning up onto a little service roadway, we pulled up alongside the approach to the Corkscrew, the most famous corner on the track and probably in the entire US. Then we just walked through an open gate that gave us access to the marshal's post. So, we all climbed in and took photos and listened to Dean's stories of when he used race production bikes. I could identify with what he was saying about getting passed by very fast racing bikes, my own claim to fame being that I had that happen to me at Brands Hatch, the racing bike passing me, being ridden by none other than the late, great, Barry Sheene. 

We jumped back on the bikes and rode a little way further up the hill. This brought us to the infamous Corkscrew itself. More photos and some very chuffed people. If only we could have got onto the track for a lap or two or three.....

The Corkscrew, Laguna Seca

After the short ride back to hotel, we showered and went to have dinner, our venue of choice being the sports bar. Seems everyone, well most, had a similar idea. Paul/Steve, Cheryl/Geoff, were already in there and Carol, Dean & Larry, Elizabeth/Johan followed shortly after. It was quite amusing to see the look on Elizabeth's face when her 'starter' of nachos arrived. The plate was piled high with nachos, sour cream, guacamole, etc, more than big enough to be a main course or sharer for two, back home. 

Blog done, it's time for bed. Tomorrow we ride for Pismo Beach. Dud and I are going to Hearst Castle, the only two I believe, so we'll be left behind whilst the others make their way to the hotel. I'm guessing Dean will give us directions to find it ourselves when we're done at Hearst. As I recall though, it is right on the beach off Highway 1, so shouldn't be too hard to find. Famous last words!!

Farewell San Francisco

Well, the answer is no, we didn’t go for the chowder bowl. We took a look at a restaurant recommended by the tour bus guy but it was a 45 minute wait for a table, so we ended up at the same place as last night.  They seated us right by the kitchen, which is open so you can see the chefs (2) working their butts off. Very interesting, if not a tad unpleasant, if someone has ordered lobster. I shan’t go into detail in case there are any readers of a nervous or vegetarian disposition.

We both had a cup of their excellent clam chowder, and then Dud had a shrimp and scallop combo in a hot, as in temperature, ‘Asian’ sauce. I was a good boy tonight, having a Dungeness crab, caesar salad.

And so, we are back at the hotel, packing our things and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we ride down the coast to Monterey and hopefully some warmer and drier weather. As we came back from the restaurant, it was raining again. Very unseasonal for June, so everyone is telling us.

We've had a very enjoyable day today, despite the weather at times and have seen enough to know that we would defintely consider coming back here some day. It's a fascinating city and we've only had a brief glimpse.

Divisadero Street, The Bullitt movie car chase
jump scenes were filmed here.

 

 

The Rock

As we left the hotel for the tour office, it was raining. This wasn’t going to be a good day at this rate. We arrived in good time and I picked up our tickets, then we hung around waiting for the shuttle bus to take us to the dock/pier where we would catch the ferry to The Rock! We saw Cheryl and Geoff, who were going on the open top hop on/off bus tour. Fair play to them, despite the rain they sat up top.
Eventually we were shuttled to the dockside. We got talking to a couple from Missouri who were here to celebrate 1 year of marriage. 3^rd time round for both of them! He owns two Harleys, so that’s how we got talking, us with our bike jackets on.

At the ticket office, we had a small issue, mainly because the guy at the tour place hadn’t told me the drill. So I gave them the page I’d printed off the internet, when what they actually wanted was the two paper tickets, that I thought were for the bus tour later. Confused the hell out of the woman at the window but her colleague ask if they gave me anything and hey presto we were rocking (see what I did there?). As you go to board, a guy takes a photo of you, that you can purchase for $22 when you get back.

Alcatraz looms through the gloom

Trip out to The Rock takes 10-15 minutes, it’s only 1.5 miles away. Once on dry land, we made our way up the hill to the cell block, where we picked up our audio guides. I think we confused them when we asked for an English English audio. Will American English do? they asked J

The audio is pretty good and takes you all the way through the cell block, explaining what things were for, events that happened, etc. Part of the narration is by officers who worked there and inmates who served there, so the whole thing is brought to life, with background sounds to help you picture the scene. It’s very well done. It was a fascinating tour and one not to be missed but make sure you book up early like I did (smug look on face). Having taken the ferry back, I suppose we were ‘banged up’ for about 2 hours, we waited for the tour bus to collect us, for the second part of our tour, that of the city itself. By now the rain had long since gone and the temperature was beginning to rise.

The city tour takes you up and out to The Golden Gate Bridge. There you just have enough time to take a shot of the bay and walk out to the first tower. Then it’s back across the bridge to Lands End on the Pacific side of the peninsula, through the Golden gate Park area, up to the highest spot in the city, at about 900ft, Twin Peaks and down through the china town area, finishing back at the tour office.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Along the way the driver points out loads of interesting places, such as where they filmed the Bullitt car chase downhill sequences, where the rich and famous live and the building which was used in Towering Inferno. The driver was very good, I have to say and the tour was way better than the Los Angeles one we took. We left the hotel about 9:15 and got back about 17:30. The tour cost us £50 each, well worth the money I’d say.

Back in the hotel, Dud went for 40 winks, me for a 2 mile run in the health centre. Gotta shed some of those calories somehow. One thing’s for sure about the US, they don’t scrimp on the portions.

Will be heading out soon for some more seafood I think. Not think, I know, as that’s pretty much all you can get nearby on Fisherman’s Wharf. Carol has suggested that clam chowder served in a sour dough roll is very nice. The roll, obviously, is the size of a big soup bowl and they pour the chowder into the middle. You eat the chowder, then finish off the soggy sour dough roll. Interesting! I’ll let you know if we try it.

Day 13, Gloomy San Francisco

Pretty dull this morning but doesn't look to be raining. Just getting ready to go out on our trip to Alcatraz.

Have had to ring the Halifax about my PIN being rejected. They will send me a reminder to my home address, which will take 2-5 days, by which time I'll be home. That's when I'll be kicking myself for not remembering that I made it something memorable!! Just as well I brought the other one too. Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Skipping breakfast this morning, as still feeling the food overload from yesterday. Too much Dud, too much! Will suss out the gym, if there is one and go for a run, if I still can, carrying all this weight.

More later.....  

Day 12, California Dreamin' ?

California todally sucks dudes. The little rain we were expecting, turned into a prolonged and heavy wet spell. Good job on bringing the waterproofs, not so good job not putting them on when everyone else did! The gambler of Las Vegas lucked out on this one. Doh! Hoping to get to the gas stop I had to pull over, forcing Larry to pull over and wait. :-(

Wet gear on, I continued.  A couple of miles down the road the others had pulled over to wait for me. We fuelled up and those that had waterproofs and also hadn’t put them on, took the opportunity to do so. Some people though, including our SA contingent hadn’t brought any with them, so were in for a soaking. Oh well, sh*t happens!

Today was all about getting to San Francisco, so no pulling over to view nice views. Even if there were any, we wouldn’t have been able to see them through the rain, mist and general gloom. I can’t overstate what a crappy day today has been.

We had to make our way out of the last bit of the Sierra Nevada as we headed North West. The road up and back down was very twisty. In the dry we could have had some serious fun, in the wet, we were in serious danger of coming a cropper, so full attention was given to where we were planting the wheels, braking, etc. I had the Go-pro on to show what a wet and miserable day it was.  As we approached one bend we were waved across the road by a crew attending a car on its side. Not really sure how the driver managed to get it where he/she did though but that will be interesting to watch back.

We stopped at a little mining village called Coulterville, to let some stragglers catch up and take a comfort break. I think that was one of the few places it had actually stopped raining. There was very little visible, apart from a disused general store, an old hotel and a couple of other shops, though there was a fairly modern sports ground, where the restrooms were located.

We continued on our way, really just ticking off the miles. There was a stop for coffee, which allowed me to do a bit of blog, then we were back on the road till our lunch stop. As we arrived, the rain suddenly started to pour down, so we ran for cover. Another large lunch and some blackberry iced tea followed. The rain had stopped by the time we left, though it would start again as we approached San Francisco. The roads on the highway weren't particularly good and they had a section of concrete, with the connecting bumps between the sections. Bump, bump, bump, every few seconds, combined with 2+ glasses of blackberry tea, soon had me feeling a little uncomfortable. I’d been alright when we left the restaurant but now, all I could think about was wanting to pee. A few potholes and other road defects didn’t help either. I was beginning to think I’d need to pull over on the hard shoulder, when SF loomed through the gloom. We took the Bay Bridge across into the city, Dean having to pay for all the bikes and the truck, $96 dollars in total. From the bridge we could see out into the bay and could make out Alcatraz. Beyond it should have been the Golden Gate Bridge but such was the gloom, it wasn’t visible.

Having endured  the usual glut of city traffic lights, we arrived at our hotel for the next 2 nights, the Marriot, Fisherman’s Wharf. Needless to say, I was first to the restroom!

After freshening up, Dud and I went out for some supper. Beautiful crab cakes, clam chowder and scallops/shrimps in a basket, with fries, all washed down with Blue Moon and Sierra Nevada. Stuffed full to bursting we dragged our weary bodies back to the hotel. It’s almost time for bed.

Tomorrow is a non riding day. Dud and I shall be off about 9am for our trip to Alcatraz, followed by the city tour. I was the only one organised enough to have booked in advance, so the others will have to make do with the hop on, hop off bus. I’m sure that will be good though, so long as it doesn’t rain again. An open top bus is almost as bad a place to be as on a motorcycle in the rain! The forecast isn’t that good though.

Mileage over the last couple of days amounts to around 400 I think, not including the mile I walked in search of cash last night.

Didn't use the camera today, so no photos to add, sorry.

And finally, a BIG Wild West Happy Birthday to our Wild Hog chum, Grizzly. Have a beer or 3 for us.

 

Day 11, Mammoth Lakes to Oakhurst

Think after today, I should rename this blog Dud and Woody's Totally Excellent Adventure!

Despite the often gloomy and overcast weather and the cold of being at 8, 9 or 10,000 feet (some contrast to yesterday), today has been todally freakin orsum dudes! We have looked up at some huge mountains, still with snow on them, looked down into some amazing valleys, with beautiful flowing rivers in them, looked out across stunning vistas, crossed the highest pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, ridden some fantastic twisty roads and seen 5 different mammals! What a day.

Dud and I went down for breakfast, the first freebie of the tour I think and fuelled up for the day. I grabbed a blueberry muffin for lunch. Dean had said we would be picnicing in the park, so I thought a nice muffin would do for pudding. We rolled out around 10am, our first stop a fuel stop. This would also be where we would buy our food for the picnic, a turkey sandwich (actually a sub roll) and some jalapeno chips (crisps to us Brits). Just before we arrived at the fuel stop, we passed an incident. Seems someone decided it would be a good idea to argue with a big truck, so the emergency services were on scene, presumably to put bits of said driver into a paper bag! At the fuel stop, we saw our first wildlife of the day, some little chipmunks. I think Mary tried in vain to get pictures of them, camera shyness catching them just as she pressed the shutter!

We set out, climbing from about 8000 feet, passed 9000, to the entrance to the park. Foolishly, despite bringing two jumpers, I had left them packed in the case. It was quite chilly, (altitude is your friend.....if you are suitably attired!!). I had my fingerless gloves on too, so my fingers were also feeling the affects. Maybe if that sun would just come out.

Being a Sunday, it was pretty busy at the park entrance but we were lucky enough to get waved through, jumping the queue, without the need for us all to stop and show our passes. Unfortunately for one of our South African chums, he had chosen to get off the bike to take snaps, so ended up being left behind at the side of the road as we all sailed through. His mate had to stop once through to wait for him. That meant we all had to pull over and wait for them, before we could continue. A great start!

As we ran into the park we started to climb, eventually pulling over at the highest pass in the Sierra Nevada range. Somewhere near 10,000 feet I think. Where's Carol when you need her? Google it if you're that bothered. A few of us needed a comfort break, so we stopped again to use the hole in the ground. An indication of just how big this place is and once again this country as a whole, was a poster pinned up for a missing person. Not a walker, cyclist or climber but a pilot. Yes, a light aircraft pilot, went missing last December, whilst flying over the Yosemite Park. Neither he nor his plane have been seen since! Incredible.

Next stop, just before a tunnel through the hillside. Wow! Overlooking a stupendous valley, at a guess, a thousand feet below, with a river snaking its way through. Better still, the road went straight (not actually straight) to the bottom.

Picture doesn't do it justice
 

 We wended our way down to the valley floor , the sides of this amazing valley now towering over our heads, shortly to arrive at our picnic spot. Just before we pulled up, we saw our second wildlife of the day, some beautiful red coloured deer. The picnic spot was idyllic. Right alongside the gurgling river, with the mountains and a waterfall as the backdrop. Picnic spots don't come much better than that. And the sun came out too. Hurrah!

It was at this point I discovered a malfunction in the offside pannier. I'd put a bottle of water in there but unfortuntely, it was a sport cap and not closed properly. Result, an almost totally empty bottle, water in the bottom of the pannier and one very soggy blueberry muffin. DOH! It didn't go to waste though.

From the lunch stop we made our way out of the valley and up the other side, with another viewing stop a few minutes ride away. Here, we were treated to an equally impressive vista, they all are to be fair, of a mountain/rock called Half Dome. Favoured by climbers, for its sheer cliff face. The picture shows you how it got its name.

Half Dome

Next on the aenda, was Glacier Point. This whole valley was carved out by a glacier millions of years ago and this is the perfect place to view the result of the ice's work. On the way to Glacier Point, we saw our third critter of the day. We'd already seen his on screen nemesis on the way in to Oatman, so yes, you've guessed it, we saw a Coyote. Sorry looking thing, I have to say, seemingly just trotting up and down the edge of the road, where loads of cars were stopping to take photos.

Glacier Point does not disappoint. Another stunning vista before ours eyes, with a slightly different perspective of Half Dome and two waterfalls, we'd not seen before. Orsum!

Our fourth taste of the local wildlife, pops up here. Squirrels and quite a few of  them. Quite tame, they come within a few inches of my outstretched hand.

A squirrel

As we are ready to leave Glacier Point, it becomes clear that out South African riders have gone missing. We hang around for quite a while whilst Dean goes off to look for them, eventually they return and are greeted by a sarcastic round of applause from yours truly. Seems they are starting to make themselves a little unpopular with the rest of the group, an observation highlighted by a later altercation between them and Carl, after an apparently dangerous overtaking manouvre on their part.

The last part of the day, from Glacier Point to Oakhurst was simply fabulous. No exaggeration, I'd say they are some of the best and most entertaining roads I have ridden. I was buzzing when we arrived at the hotel but not just from the ride. No, after all that the day had thrown at as, the cherry on the cake, just after we left the park, was having a bear run across the road in front of us! Yes, a bloomin' bear, the thing I had hoped most to see today. I've still not come down from the excitement yet.

Unloaded and showered, we met up with Keith, Mary, Graham, Jan, Geoff and Cheryl, to go for dinner. We were heading for a BBQ place down the road. On the way we met Johan and Elizabeth on their way back. Basic but good food was their comment. They are a nice couple.

We arrived to be told by the young lady, Samantha, that they were about to close, as they had run out of some of their menu items, including fries. No problem, we could do without fries, so we ordered up our food and beers. What a very pleasant young lady Samantha was, very attentive and very chatty. I said to the others that I wanted to take her home, she was so charming and cute. Come time to leave, I asked if she'd ever been to England. 'No', came the reply but if any of us wanted to take her home with us, she'd be willing to come. Cute, cute, cute ;-)

Leaving the restaurant, I was on the trail of an ATM. I now have just $1 cash, plus some shrapnel. Samantha had said there was one next door or at the general store. Nothing next door, so I left the others and headed down the main street  in search of the general store. I'd walked quite a way when I saw a Chase Bank across the way. I stopped to press the button on the crossing and waited  for the little white man. It was a wide road, so I ran across rather than walked. I still had another road to cross to get to the bank. A quick glance up the road and with nothing coming I walked across to the central reservation. A glance the other way and a car turns into the road then stops. Huh? No light for him, I wait. Next thing I know a little search light shines my way, followed by the blue and reds. It's the local plod! He pulls over to me and gets out of the car. I tell him I'm looking for an ATM and he tells me that in this country, they use the crossing to cross the road. I did point out that I had just used the first crossing but didn't feel it wise to press the matter. He was very polite and told me using the crossing properly would prevent me getting run down by 'all these tourists'. He pointed out to me where the ATM was and I crossed the road thanking him and apologising to him  in equal measure. Just my luck, I thought. With only a handful of cars around at that time of night on a Sunday, one has to be a cop car, just as I'm crossing the road, off the crossing!

But the story isn't quite ended. For when I used the ATM, it wouldn't pay out any cash, as it claimed my PIN is incorrect. I know I changed it back home and I know I tested subsequently, so not too sure what the issue is. Got back and told Dud about my brush with the law. Now it was his turn to laugh at my expense. I had to laugh too. A surreal ending to an abssolutely marvellous day.

Tomorrow we are heading for San Francisco. Weather forecast says there could be rain. BOO!  Be careful what you wish for, those people who where moaning that Furnace Creek was too hot! Anyway, I'm prepared, as my waterproofs are ready to be loaded into the panniers, just in case.    

Day 10, Back on the street again.

Up, brekkied, loaded and on the bikes by 8am. This is the start of Part 2 of the Wild West tour and we had 6 newbies joining us.

They are;

Elizabeth (another solo riding cowgirl) & Johan, a Swedish couple, Paul & Steve, from the UK and Martin & Ryno, from South Africa. The latter pair are sharing one bike (there's trust for ya!).

We headed out of Vegas and headed for our first stop, a fuel stop, in a place called Pahrump! It was already quite warm. Pahrump is in what we might call the commuter belt, except there isn't much between this place and Vegas, Apparently though, when property got too expensive in Vegas, the place was where they decided to build. To be honest, it looked a bit of a dump, its main claim to fame seemingly that it boasts 2 firework producers/sellers.

Refuelling took an age, due to Cletus behind the counter, who would only allow us to use one pump for 12 bikes. With a limit on the amount you can spend in one hit, like in UK, it meant having to reset the pump in order to continue, and each time Cletus wanted to see the credit card he'd already swiped!

Job done, we ventured back onto the open road and our appointment with hell, Death Valley. Don't believe people who tell you it is hot, it's FREAKIN HOT!! As you drop down into the valley, you become increasingly aware of your body being on fire, metaphorically, obviously. Dean's favourite saying, 'altitude is our friend' couldn't be more true in this blisteringly hot and desolate place.

We stopped for a photo at the DV National Park sign, then onwards into the cauldron and a place, aptly named, Furnace Creek. Furnace Creek's claim to fame, is that it sits at -190 feet below sea level. We stopped there for some refreshment and to get the cooling jackets on. As we got back on the bikes, Carl's temp gauge on his Honda ST, said 115F!! Off we went, back into the blinding sun. It could almost have been as though someone was training a magnifying glass on us from above, it was that hot. Phew!

And it's like a bloody furnace too!

Another short hop and stop for refreshment and before long we were exiting the DVNP and on our way to Bishop, where we would have our lunch. Lunch for me today, was a BBQ ham sandwich, with fries and a salad.

With another fuel stop, we were on our way again. About an hour away from Mammoth Lakes, we made our last stop of the day at Erick Schats bakery. This is a bakery started by a German immigrant way back in 1907 which is renowned now for the quality and variety of the breads, cakes, biscuits, etc, it produces. I bought Butter Brickle (cookies). Yum!

A shortish run saw us into our digs for the night, the Alpenhof Lodge. We are up in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada now and the temperature for tonight is destined to be about 38F. A far cry from that we experienced earlier in the day.

Dud and I went down to the bar for a beer and ordered some food. Soon we were joined by Cheryl & Geoff, then Graham & Jan. It's nice to relax with these people after a hard day of riding, where you only really get to snatch a few words here and there. 

Once again though it's blog time and then bed.

Tomorrow we have a lie in. Only about 200  miles to ride tomorrow and most of the day will be spent in Yosemite National Park. I wonder if we'll see a bear?

End of Day 9

Dud and I went down to have some dinner and decided we would have a flutter on the machines. When in Vegas, eh?

We agreed on $20 and hit the gambling floor. To cut a long story short, Dud blew his twenty bucks in pretty short order, whilst I was having a bit more luck and with $10 still left, I decided to play some roulette. Not the genuine thing mind you, a touch screen job.

I was having quite a bit of luck and bringing myself back to the $20 I'd staked. Time was ticking on, so I said if I got my $20 back, then I'd call it quits. As it was, I hit a reasonable win on the last spin and cashed in for $22.25. I'd beaten the house!  They won't want me back there in a hurry ;-)

Back to do final bits of packing and bed, alarm set for 6am. 

Day 9, Rest day in Sin City

Lay in a bit this morning. Well, nothing to rush for. Eventually popped down for brekkie, yet another McDs egg and sausage muffin. Met Graham and Jan down there and hat a chat with them before we hit The Strip. In 2010, after R66, Cath and I had stayed at the Mirage, up the other end. We never got past the MGM Grand. So, as the Monte Carlo (did I mention that's where we are staying?) is practically opposite the Grand, it gave me the opportunity the look at the other way to, The Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. Firstly I took Bill into The New York, then we did the other three, as I mentioned above, jumping on a little train to get us between them without too much effort in the heat. The Luxor is the best of the three I would say, just for the architecture. The hotel is a giant pyramid, the inside though, a giant atrium, with the rooms all built into the four sloping sides. Very impressive.

Next up was the MGM Grand. Disappointment here, as the lion enclosure is all boarded up. Maybe just for a refurb, not sure. Still, Dud was impressed with the bronze lion outside. Made from 100,000lbs of bronze and 45 feet tall, it is the largest bronze statue in the western hemisphere.

The MGM Lion

We made our way down The Strip and into the Harley Davidson cafe, just to check it out. Graham, Jan, Sally and Alec were in there having lunch. Also, we bumped into Barbara and Tony in the queue, who were also going for lunch. We weren't hungry so we left them to it and continued. Next stop The Flamingo and a walk in their garden, complete with flamingoes, pelicans and huge Koi carp.

Next up, Paris and a stroll through the mock Paris streets, strangely featuring lots of Italian restaurants. They also have Gordon Ramsey's steak restaurant, where the winner of Hell's Kitchen 10 was given a job as her prize. A quick check on the menu showed it was out of our league. It was time for us to have lunch though and we found a little place in Bally's where I had a chilli dog. I was determined to have one before going home. Dud had a plain hotdog.

Back out into the heat we hit The Venetian. This place blows your socks off, from the moment you step through the doors. The lobby area ceiling is painted, as if by Micky Angel himself. Then,as you walk further inside, under the blue 'sky', you reach the canal and the gondolas. A bit further and you exit into St Mark's square, where two couples are singing operatic songs, to entertain the crowds. Dud, was suitably impressed.

Some sucker just got hitched!

Finally, we crossed back to Ceasar's Palace and the forum, another spectacular building with huge statues and fountains, though I don't remember the Trevi Fountain looking quite like this one. These hotels are a rich girl's paradise. All the big names are here, Prada, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, etc, etc. Not a place for a couple of biker guys though, so we hurried on past. And with that, we were back at the Monte C. We nipped round to The Bar, for a quick pint of Blue Moon, hoping to catch happy hour. We got there in time but Blue Moon isn't a happy hour beer. Bummer!

Now back in the room writing this, Dud is having forty winks, driving each one of the forty, home with gusto ;-)

FYI, I know I make fun of Dud a lot but he has read the blog and despite calling me a cheeky sod several times, he's laughed out loud and said it is very good, so clearly no hard feelings. As for me, I think he is, besides a brilliant subject to write about in a blog, a thoroughly top guy, a genuinely nice old bloke and a thorough gentleman. Anyone who knows him will surely agree.

As we are off tomorrow, I may have a little flutter on the slots. Who knows, I may win a fortune or maybe just blow twenty bucks!

Oops, nearly forgot the mileage. Maybe about 3-4 indoors and out.

Mileage Update

Dear Mr Ahern,

With an approximate 300 mile run into Vegas yesterday, we have now notched up over 1400 miles. Around 1200 or so to go.

Day 8, Bryce Canyon to Sin City

Disturbed again in the night by someone from UK calling my phone. More jumping out of bed and swearing! It'll go off tonight.

Dud and I went over for some brekkie quite early, as we wanted to take a quick shufty in the park before we set off for Vegas. Bit chilly this morning. Lovely clear blue sky but we're quite high up, so the air hadn't warmed up. Boy hadn't it warmed up!! As we headed into the park, Barbara and Tony in tow, my hands were freezing. That's fingerless gloves for ya!

With a smile, the lovely  young female 'ranger'  at the entrance kiosk  (they all seem to be, except the 'man' at Joshua), ushered us through and we headed for Sunrise Point. We'd missed the sunrise obviously but it was still a decent view, even given the number of stunning vistas we have witnessed thus far.

At the point, there were some Aussies (yes, they let them roam free here too), with a little remote controlled hover thingy, to which was attached his Go-pro. He'd just sent it down over the canyon, apparently not worried he might lose $2k worth of kit if he were to suffer a Dudley moment. I expect the footage will be quite stunning though.

Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon

Cheryl (remember ssh) and Geoff had joined us at the point and we all remounted, setting off, so I thought for a run further into the park. I turned left, whilst the others, apparently nervous at not being back at the hotel in time for departure turned right and headed for the exit. Their loss. A short distance up the road there was a clearing, in which stood a lone deer. I stopped and took some photos. I turned round to retrace my tracks, when blow me but another, larger deer, was just a few feet from the road edge. I slowly cruised up and grabbed a couple of shots on the phone. It wasn't fazed at all and just went on munching the grass.

Caution! Deer crossing.
 

A little further round the corner, now on my way back to the exit, I rode passed a little Prairy Dog (?) sitting up Meercat like at the edge of the road. Cute!

Back at the hotel, the others tried to suggest I had turned the wrong way! Pah!

Barbara, wasn't feeling well after a bad night, possibly due to the buffalo burger and decided she couldn't ride the distance we we going to be travelling, so she got to ride shotgun in the airconditioned truck!

We popped across the road to fuel up, then set off for Vegas. Our next target, however, was the Zion National Park. Dean had given this a big build up and wanted us to get a group bike photo in front of the Zion sign. Can't beat a good bike line-up group photo, so when we arrived, we were somewhat disappointed to find a couple of cars in the lay-by, forcing us across the road. Soon though it cleared and we commandeered the space for about half a dozen bikes. Wat to go!

The Gang, Zion NP.

And so on into Zion. We were left to make our own way through the park, to allow us to stop and take photos at our leisure. Dean had said this was his favourite part of the tour, because you actually get to ride down inside the canyon. He wasn't speaking metaphorically either, as part way through, there is a huge tunnel, cut through the rock in the 1930s, that takes you down and round to a lower part of the canyon. Orsum! Let me tell ya, those Harley pipes kick up quite a racket in an enclosed space too, in the wrong hands :-)

Having marvelled once again at what this part of the US has to offer, we rendevoused with Dean and take a short ride to our lunch stop. Wild Willy's, I think it was called. You'd think doing a blog, I'd pay more attention to these little details, eh? Lunch was a huge chicken ceasar salad, was hed down with raspberry iced tea. The pretty and spunky young gal serving us, belied her demure stature by carrying a tray of about a dozen drinks on one hand! Dud tried, in vain, to persuade her to come along with us, I think more for someone to help lift the bike, should he have another mishap, than for any sort of hanky panky ;-)

After lunch we got into the serious business of riding to Vegas. A stop at Zion Harley, the first of several 'cooling' off stops, gave people another to chance to buy their overpriced Harley gear. Alec, our Bristolian Trucking Magnate, was interested in a $30k fullly loaded Electraglide, pondering whether it was worth shipping one back to blighty. I think he decided it wasn't.

Our last stop before Sin City was a little diner/ice cream parlour. Several of us had ice cream. A single scoop waffle cone, for $3.45 would probably feed a family of four back in blighty......OK, slight exaggeration but it was still extremely large.

The last leg of the journey was on a superb twisty and undulating back road, skirting around Lake Mead. It's hot and desolate out there, so we were a tad surprised, first to see a sign saying, 'Watch for animals' and then to have some big curly horned goat thing run across the road in front of us. Billy Goat no mates, out there, I reckon!!

All too soon the road brought us into Henderson on the edge of Vegas. We had a quick stop for a panaramic snap of Vegas in the distance, then joined the madness of the highway to take us into the city. As we approached, the hotel, our way off the highway was blocked by police cars. We believe the VP, Mitt Romney was in town. Hence, Dean spent the next 10 -15 minutes trying to negotiate us round the blocks of towering hotels, until we finally found a way into the Monte Carlo car park.

Parked up, we met up with the truck for some ice cold beers. It had been a hot and tiring second half of the day.

Later we met up for a farewll dinner, as Alec & Sally, Barbara and Tony are only doing the first half of the tour. Dean gave a little (did I say little?) speech (he sure can talk) and then it was off to bed or the bar, depending on how shattered you were feeling. Dud and I were done in, so it was bed for us.

Tomorrow we have a day of rest. I expect we'll take a walk along The Strip and pop in the various hotels to marvel at their sheer size and some might say, vulgarity.

Incidentally, Cheryl won $115 dollars on one of the slots, so we'll be expecting her to buy the beers before the week is out ;-)








Day 7 continued - D-Day 2

Well, where do I start to impart tales of this absolutely fabulously stupendous riding day we have had. Toadalee orsum, just isn't sufficient to describe the day we have had. It started so early and has included so many stops/sights, I can barely remember what we have done. I'll have a go

Today has been such a fantastically, stupendously, brilliant riding day that toadalee orsum doesn’t even come close. We have seen and photographed so many things during our 300 odd mile journey, I hardly know where to begin. I shan’t bother you with too much detail, else I and you will be here for a week, suffice to say though, this really is one of those, ‘you had to be there to believe it’ days.

Back to the start of the day though.

Brekkie was unusual, as I had a croissant, sliced horizontally and filled with egg, ham and cheese. Accompanied by hash browns, it was tasty and filling.

And so we mounted our trusty iron horses and rode out of Monument Valley. En route though we stopped for a group photo, gathered around my bike, with the giant red edifices in the background.

The Wild West Gang, Monument Valley

We soon arrived at Mexican Hat and fuelled up. Then it was back on the road, our destination, as we soon found out, a twisty river gorge, which until you actually arrive at its side is invisible from the road.

A few miles away rose a huge red cliff face, and our next destination, Moki Dugway. This, as Dean explained, is a zig-zag road up the aforementioned cliff face. Originally a track used by lorries (trucks) carrying ore, it is a bit of a tourist attraction. I use the word track intentionally, as apart from the hairpin bends, which are concreted (paved), a gravel track is what it remains. Dean lays it on, saying he didn’t tell us before as he didn’t want us losing sleep over it. I think some are feeling nervous, as we head the 6 miles to the start of the ascent.
Dean wanted us to go up on our own, leaving a gap between us, to avoid any potential issues.  And so we set off. The last four are Barbara, our female rider, who is clearly nervous, Dudley, also nervous, myself and Keith/Mary.

I set off in pursuit of Dudley, fully expecting to catch him quickly. At the first hairpin, I am confronted with a paved corner but covered in a liberal sprinkling of gravel. Super! I round the corner gingerly and power slowly away onto a gravel straight. Almost immediately I spy Dudley and he waves me past. Up to the next hairpin, gingerly round, then back on the gas, fighting the back end as it squirms around. This is not the ideal steed to be tackling this kind of surface. I’ve not ridden on this stuff before, so it takes all my concentration. Before long I reach the last corner and see Barbara up ahead. I pass her just before reaching the gathering point at the top. Relief! Barbara has made it to. Good job!

Larry, Keith and Mary come to Dud's aid

I grab my camera and walk back to get a shot of Dudley. As I get to the corner Dean is on the radio to Larry. There has been an incident. With no sign of Dud, it doesn’t take much to realise, he’s been up to his old tricks and dropped the bike. Almost in sight of the finish, he’s taken the last corner too tight, too slowly and managed to stall it in some deeper gravel. That left him only one way to go, so he laid the bike down and stepped off! It wouldn’t be a proper tour without Dud decking his mount at least once, eh? Moki Dugway, is now Moki Dudway!

As we continued on our way, it didn’t take Dudley long to get his confidence back, as he blasted past me on a long straight, doing I’m told, the magic ton! Way to go Dud!

The next leg was a fifty odd mile stretch of road, for which, Dean gave us our freedom. Describing the rendezvous point and advising the time we needed to arrive by, we set off, Dud and I together.  All the time we are surrounded by the most immense, red, rocky structures, that not just seem to but do go on for miles and miles. The vastness of this country and this area in particular, is rammed home with every sweeping turn. Rendezvous completed and more spectacular views photographed, we head for lunch. Don’t ask where, I’m rubbish with names.

For lunch Dud and I have buffalo burger. I’m not a big red meat eater but I guess it’s just one of those things you just have to try. Can’t say I noticed much difference from a beef burger but there you go.

We fuelled up again and continued this fantastic journey, stopping to look at some petroglyphs, before making our way through more of the same, red and orange rocks on some superb roads, up and over the mountains we had viewed from afar hours before, before finally arriving at our hotel for the night on the edge of the Bryce Canyon National Park. Dud and I will venture in tomorrow, tonight though we took a walk down to the local rodeo! An experience not be missed we thought, though some of the others preferred another sunset! It was a great fun.



Not sure which one is Petra!

Tomorrow, we have another long, hot and gruelling ride to Las Vegas and back into the desert region, so it will be torturously hot, no doubt.