gixxerjasen
Well-known member
Woohoo! Great stuff!
A Trip Across America
- Thread starter Gurock
- Start date
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Burnspot
Who Me?
Great report so far, thanks! In less than 24 hours, I'm shoving off for Colorado/UT myself...looking forward to it. 
wheatonFJR
...
This is great stuff!
Both the narration and the photos...THANKS.
My wife and I are heading out there in a month...so this is great stuff to follow along...
Both the narration and the photos...THANKS.
My wife and I are heading out there in a month...so this is great stuff to follow along...
Redfish Hunter
Gone Fishing
Excellent stuff.
hppants
Well-known member
I've got to ride out west.... Bryce, Monument Valley, Glacier, Zion.... A month MIGHT be enough time.
Great pics - thanks.
Great pics - thanks.
Gurock
Well-known member
Back to where I left off! We had spent the night in front of the entry road to Bryce Canyon National Park and right as UT 12 goes into Red Canyon. In the morning we rode up and down Utah 12 through Red Canyon to US 89 and then we decided to do the entry to Bryce Canyon National Park.
This is when we decided as a footnote to buy an Annual US Parks Pass. They charged us $80.00 for both of us together. We both had to sign the back and it's good for a year at all US National Parks for either or both of us. Considering that the entry fee for Bryce Canyon was $12.00 each and $24.00 each later in the day for Zion the pass was a no-brain bargain. Later in the trip we used it at Cabrillo Monument (San Diego), Sequoia, Yosemite, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone twice.
Anyway back to the story, I was somewhat impressed by Bryce Canyon, but not overly impressed. Personally I like Red Canyon State park on Utah 12 better then Bryce Canyon National Park. Either way we did it and got to look at some canyon views and got back on our way. We ended up back through Red Canyon and going south down US 89 until we got to UT 9 going west which takes you into and through Zion National Park. BTW when you turn onto UT 9 from US 89 there are big signs telling you that you can't use it as a through road without paying the entry fee for Zion.
Because Zion is just so incredible there is never a time that you can ride through without substantial traffic. This was my second time going through Zion and Brian's first. I was a little reluctant because I remembered that the last time I went through it was near a hundred degrees and there were traffic jams. Luckily this time it was more like ninety and the traffic wasn't quite so jammed. There is just no good words to describe the majesty and beauty of the mountains in Zion.
When we came out of Zion it was about 5:00 and the road out through a town called Virgin ( I wondered what it'd be like having to tell people I lived in or came from Virgin) goes down in altitude and gets increasingly warm. By the time we got to I 15 it was near a hundred degrees and it was getting towards 6:00. Brian and I stopped for a cold drink and decided that the smart move would be to stop fifteen minutes up the road in St George for dinner. After dinner we could ride down I 15 nearer to night and at night towards Vegas and ultimately San Diego. That way we'd avoid more of the desert riding in the heat of the day.
We also thought we could time dinner so that we'd have enough daylight left to do the Arizona corridor on I 15 during the last of the daylight. For anyone who's never gone on I 15 from Utah to California, there is a small stretch, about 40 miles, of Arizona between Utah and Nevada. This stretch runs through the canyons of the Virgin River. As interstate highways go it's one of the most beautiful and it has steep grades and sharp (for interstate) turns with strong winds driven by the canyon and the heat convection. It's one of the more challenging and beautiful sections of interstate highway. I've done it maybe five or six times including late at night, but I'd rather do it with daylight, both for the scenery and safety.
There is an old fashioned diner that I'd eaten at in St George before that I got Brian half excited about, but when we got there I couldn't find it and we ended up in a franchise dinner place that was pretty ordinary. On the other hand it had good air conditioning and we finished dinner with maybe an hour and a half of daylight. So we set on my plan and took I 15 through the Arizona corridor in twilight into Nevada at night.
We rode straight through on I 15 till we got to the US 93 exit near the north end of Las Vegas. Gas was a little low and I wanted to ask Brian what plans he wanted for the night as it was about 10:30 by then. I told Brian that I'd rather go right through Vegas on I 15 and onward through as much of the California desert at night as possible. I've been in Vegas many times and didn't see that much charm in it. also I knew that the section of I 15 frm Vegas to Victorville, CA about 175 or 200 miles is just plain desert and that in the summer and day it would be over a hundred degrees and miserable. While at midnight it would be sixty degrees and pleasant. I explained to Brian that the closest thing to a tourist sight in that stretch is the giant thermometer at Baker, CA that you can see from the highway. Brian told me that he hadn't been in Vegas since he was a kid and that he'd like to see the Vegas strip at night. So we decided that I'd lead him up the I 15 to the Sahara exit and that we'd go from north to South through the Vegas strip on Las Vegas Blvd. then get our butts out of town unless he really wanted to stay.
We got off to do the strip and as we got nearer the south end around New York, New York, Las Vegas Blvd turns into a total traffic jam on a Friday night. Add to that Brian was totally distracted by the light show and the circus of people. So by the time we got near Flamingo Brian's BMW, which is air/oil cooled was over heating and he was telling me that he desperately needed to get out of the traffic. I led him through a lane split or two and we managed to turn onto Flamingo to get back to the I 15 and south off towards San Diego. I led us to Baker, where we got off for gas and to decide how much further we should go as it was getting very late. We bought our gas and I bought a room in Barstow, CA. Barstow is a good part of the way through the desert. That way we'd only have maybe an hour or hour and a half till we were up into the inland empire and only three or four hours of riding to San Diego the next day.
The last remaining event of that night ride was that half way from Baker to Barstow there was a truck that had caught fire on I 15 and the traffic was backed up for a few miles waiting for the CHP to let them through one at a time where the truck was. As the traffic stopped I remembered that we were now in California (the land of legal lane splitting). I told Brian on the intercom that we could legal lane split and took off between the two lanes of stopped traffic. I guess Brian had never ridden in California before and was freaked at the idea of going between the traffic for a couple of miles into the teeth of the highway patrol. So As I looked in my mirror there was no Brian behind me. After I got through the bottleneck I rode at about 60 hoping that Brian would catch up with me somewhere before I got off for the hotel, but he never did. When I got off at Barstow for the Days Inn I left a voice and text on Brian's phone. After I checked in and got the room my phone rang and it was Brian telling me that he was at the edge of Barstow and needed directions. With that our night ended.
The next day we got a little late start and took the I 15 to the CA 52 to I 5 and rode the Pacific Coast Highway from La Jolla to Oceanside and back so Brian could see the north side Pacific Coast San Diego area, before we went to stay with my brother in Santee. It was pretty uneventful other then my giving Brian some daytime lessons in lane splitting through the inland empire area (Rancho Cockamunga) and such where the traffic is always bad. Also that we got to take pictures of us and the bikes at the end of the road west. Pacific Ocean beaches.
We spent a couple of days after that resting and visiting with my brothers in San Diego. My brother David has a condo with an extra bed room where he has the furniture from my dad's spare bedroom, that I used to use when I visited before my dad passed away. I used the spare bedroom and he let Brian use the living room couch. It turned off the hotel bill for a few days and let us recover soar joints and muscles from all the days of riding to that point. I've been visiting San Diego for that last twenty five years as my parents and brothers all moved there in 1986. I know San Diego well and can easily find my way around. Brian had never been there and wanted to see everything as a first time. During those days we spent one day doing the Coranado Bridge and the south beaches. We spent a day with my other brother going up to the end of Point Loma and down by the Star of India and Gas Lamp District. We spent a day riding CA 79 from Temeculla through Jullian and out to I 8 doing a long stretch of mountain and National Forest. We also got the oil changed on the bikes and I bought a rear tire in San Diego. Brian said his tires were good, which became an event on the trip back.
I couldn't understand how Brian's back tire could be as good as he said. We both had changed tires at the same time before (about six or seven thousand miles back) It was one more opportunity of Brian to tell me about how the great BMW German engineering was above and beyond me. I'd gotten so sick of hearing Brian brag about BMW that from time to time when I'd end up waiting for him, I'd have to ask "What happened to the Ultimate Driving Machine with the Ultimate Driver?" Needless to say later in the story we'd end up getting screwed around by Brian needing a tire. Brian discovered that BMWs burn up tires just as much as other bikes, just that Brian didn't know how to tell that his tire was getting down to nothing.
Anyway I'll save way back stories for another post.
This is when we decided as a footnote to buy an Annual US Parks Pass. They charged us $80.00 for both of us together. We both had to sign the back and it's good for a year at all US National Parks for either or both of us. Considering that the entry fee for Bryce Canyon was $12.00 each and $24.00 each later in the day for Zion the pass was a no-brain bargain. Later in the trip we used it at Cabrillo Monument (San Diego), Sequoia, Yosemite, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone twice.
Anyway back to the story, I was somewhat impressed by Bryce Canyon, but not overly impressed. Personally I like Red Canyon State park on Utah 12 better then Bryce Canyon National Park. Either way we did it and got to look at some canyon views and got back on our way. We ended up back through Red Canyon and going south down US 89 until we got to UT 9 going west which takes you into and through Zion National Park. BTW when you turn onto UT 9 from US 89 there are big signs telling you that you can't use it as a through road without paying the entry fee for Zion.
Because Zion is just so incredible there is never a time that you can ride through without substantial traffic. This was my second time going through Zion and Brian's first. I was a little reluctant because I remembered that the last time I went through it was near a hundred degrees and there were traffic jams. Luckily this time it was more like ninety and the traffic wasn't quite so jammed. There is just no good words to describe the majesty and beauty of the mountains in Zion.
When we came out of Zion it was about 5:00 and the road out through a town called Virgin ( I wondered what it'd be like having to tell people I lived in or came from Virgin) goes down in altitude and gets increasingly warm. By the time we got to I 15 it was near a hundred degrees and it was getting towards 6:00. Brian and I stopped for a cold drink and decided that the smart move would be to stop fifteen minutes up the road in St George for dinner. After dinner we could ride down I 15 nearer to night and at night towards Vegas and ultimately San Diego. That way we'd avoid more of the desert riding in the heat of the day.
We also thought we could time dinner so that we'd have enough daylight left to do the Arizona corridor on I 15 during the last of the daylight. For anyone who's never gone on I 15 from Utah to California, there is a small stretch, about 40 miles, of Arizona between Utah and Nevada. This stretch runs through the canyons of the Virgin River. As interstate highways go it's one of the most beautiful and it has steep grades and sharp (for interstate) turns with strong winds driven by the canyon and the heat convection. It's one of the more challenging and beautiful sections of interstate highway. I've done it maybe five or six times including late at night, but I'd rather do it with daylight, both for the scenery and safety.
There is an old fashioned diner that I'd eaten at in St George before that I got Brian half excited about, but when we got there I couldn't find it and we ended up in a franchise dinner place that was pretty ordinary. On the other hand it had good air conditioning and we finished dinner with maybe an hour and a half of daylight. So we set on my plan and took I 15 through the Arizona corridor in twilight into Nevada at night.
We rode straight through on I 15 till we got to the US 93 exit near the north end of Las Vegas. Gas was a little low and I wanted to ask Brian what plans he wanted for the night as it was about 10:30 by then. I told Brian that I'd rather go right through Vegas on I 15 and onward through as much of the California desert at night as possible. I've been in Vegas many times and didn't see that much charm in it. also I knew that the section of I 15 frm Vegas to Victorville, CA about 175 or 200 miles is just plain desert and that in the summer and day it would be over a hundred degrees and miserable. While at midnight it would be sixty degrees and pleasant. I explained to Brian that the closest thing to a tourist sight in that stretch is the giant thermometer at Baker, CA that you can see from the highway. Brian told me that he hadn't been in Vegas since he was a kid and that he'd like to see the Vegas strip at night. So we decided that I'd lead him up the I 15 to the Sahara exit and that we'd go from north to South through the Vegas strip on Las Vegas Blvd. then get our butts out of town unless he really wanted to stay.
We got off to do the strip and as we got nearer the south end around New York, New York, Las Vegas Blvd turns into a total traffic jam on a Friday night. Add to that Brian was totally distracted by the light show and the circus of people. So by the time we got near Flamingo Brian's BMW, which is air/oil cooled was over heating and he was telling me that he desperately needed to get out of the traffic. I led him through a lane split or two and we managed to turn onto Flamingo to get back to the I 15 and south off towards San Diego. I led us to Baker, where we got off for gas and to decide how much further we should go as it was getting very late. We bought our gas and I bought a room in Barstow, CA. Barstow is a good part of the way through the desert. That way we'd only have maybe an hour or hour and a half till we were up into the inland empire and only three or four hours of riding to San Diego the next day.
The last remaining event of that night ride was that half way from Baker to Barstow there was a truck that had caught fire on I 15 and the traffic was backed up for a few miles waiting for the CHP to let them through one at a time where the truck was. As the traffic stopped I remembered that we were now in California (the land of legal lane splitting). I told Brian on the intercom that we could legal lane split and took off between the two lanes of stopped traffic. I guess Brian had never ridden in California before and was freaked at the idea of going between the traffic for a couple of miles into the teeth of the highway patrol. So As I looked in my mirror there was no Brian behind me. After I got through the bottleneck I rode at about 60 hoping that Brian would catch up with me somewhere before I got off for the hotel, but he never did. When I got off at Barstow for the Days Inn I left a voice and text on Brian's phone. After I checked in and got the room my phone rang and it was Brian telling me that he was at the edge of Barstow and needed directions. With that our night ended.
The next day we got a little late start and took the I 15 to the CA 52 to I 5 and rode the Pacific Coast Highway from La Jolla to Oceanside and back so Brian could see the north side Pacific Coast San Diego area, before we went to stay with my brother in Santee. It was pretty uneventful other then my giving Brian some daytime lessons in lane splitting through the inland empire area (Rancho Cockamunga) and such where the traffic is always bad. Also that we got to take pictures of us and the bikes at the end of the road west. Pacific Ocean beaches.
We spent a couple of days after that resting and visiting with my brothers in San Diego. My brother David has a condo with an extra bed room where he has the furniture from my dad's spare bedroom, that I used to use when I visited before my dad passed away. I used the spare bedroom and he let Brian use the living room couch. It turned off the hotel bill for a few days and let us recover soar joints and muscles from all the days of riding to that point. I've been visiting San Diego for that last twenty five years as my parents and brothers all moved there in 1986. I know San Diego well and can easily find my way around. Brian had never been there and wanted to see everything as a first time. During those days we spent one day doing the Coranado Bridge and the south beaches. We spent a day with my other brother going up to the end of Point Loma and down by the Star of India and Gas Lamp District. We spent a day riding CA 79 from Temeculla through Jullian and out to I 8 doing a long stretch of mountain and National Forest. We also got the oil changed on the bikes and I bought a rear tire in San Diego. Brian said his tires were good, which became an event on the trip back.
I couldn't understand how Brian's back tire could be as good as he said. We both had changed tires at the same time before (about six or seven thousand miles back) It was one more opportunity of Brian to tell me about how the great BMW German engineering was above and beyond me. I'd gotten so sick of hearing Brian brag about BMW that from time to time when I'd end up waiting for him, I'd have to ask "What happened to the Ultimate Driving Machine with the Ultimate Driver?" Needless to say later in the story we'd end up getting screwed around by Brian needing a tire. Brian discovered that BMWs burn up tires just as much as other bikes, just that Brian didn't know how to tell that his tire was getting down to nothing.
Anyway I'll save way back stories for another post.
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MacDaddy
Member
Good Stuff, thanks for sharing.
