Day 9 - Friday 31 July - Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes

Our journey today took us across Death Valley National Park - the hottest place on Earth! I think for many of us we felt that this was going to be the most challenging day of the whole trip. But we were well prepared with plenty of sun block and regular stops for water. Our tour guide Dean Cognito was always reminding us that altitude is our friend, so today’s ride into Death Valley, which at Badwater is 86m (282 feet) below sea level, promised to be a very hot day. Incidentally, Badwater is the lowest geographical point in the USA.



We started our descent into Death Valley and the temperature rose steadily to 113F (45C). Along the way we stopped at Zabriskie Point to take in the view of three million acres of stone wilderness. (“Movie Moment” Michaelangelo Antonioni directed the cult classic “Zabriskie Point” in 1970.)

Then on to the Furnace Creek Ranch for lunch, some shopping, lots of water and to refuel the bikes before pressing on.



After this point we started to climb up out of the valley towards the Sierra Nevada mountain range and as we did the temperature began to drop. We climbed steadily passing through the towns of Lone Pine and Big Pine and by the time we reached Mammoth Lakes on the edge of the Inyo National Forest we were at an altitude of 9,000 feet and the temperature had dropped to a comfortable 70F (21C). In the distance we could see patches of snow on the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. What a difference in temperature in the space of about 90 miles. The Best Western hotel in Mammouth Lakes was our stopover for the night.

Day 8 - Thursday 30 July 2009 - Las Vegas

Today is a rest day and a chance to explore Las Vegas. So much to see and so little time.

The Bellagio flower garden



The Paris casino





The MGM Grand



New York, New York



Fremont Street



And, of course, a visit to the local Harley Davidson dealer for those "must have" bits of chrome.

Day 7 - Wednesday 27 July 2009 - Bryce Canyon to Las Vegas

Sorry for the delay in posting our latest news - no free wi-fi access!

Breakfast at 6am and on the bikes at 7am to ride into Bryce Canyon. Just when we thought we'd seen it all, some new landscape comes into view. Altitude is our friend and we're at 8,000 feet above sea level looking down into Bryce Canyon, so everyone is wearing jackets and gloves for this early morning sightseeing tour. As we ride through the park on our way to the canyon viewing points we pass deer grazing on the lush green grass. Then it's up to "Inspiration Point" (elevation 8,100 feet above sea level) for our first glimpse of the canyon.





Then back to our hotel to load our bags onto the support vehicle and set off to Zion National Park. By this time we are starting to run out of words to describe the natural wonders that we are seeing. Each park is more breathtaking than the previous one, yet each is magnificent in its own way. Pause for another group photo.



A young Morman rancher, whose homestead was right in the canyon near present-day Zion Lodge, named this place because its grandeur reminded him of a passage in the Bible about Zion, "A place in the mountains where the Lord's house shall be established."



From Zion National Park we start to descend towards Las Vegas and as we do, the temperature begins to rise. By the time we hit the freeway into Las Vegas the temperature has soared to 105F. So everyone is relieved to get to the Excalibur Hotel where we spend the next two nights on our Las Vegas stopover.

Day 6 - Tuesday 28 July - Monument Valley to Bryce Canyon

Just in case you wondered why these blog entries don't always appear on the same day as the events they describe, this is because not every hotel we stop at has free wi-fi access, so I'm not able to log into the blog and upload pictures and text.

Today was another day spent at altitude and cooler temperatures. We got up as high as 9,600 feet above sea level on today's ride from Mexican Hat via Glen Canyon and the Escalante Wilderness to Bryce Canyon. The continued hot weather in the region sparked off several spectacular thunderstorms and while we did get rained on briefly several times we always seemed to be on the fringe of the worst of the bad weather.

Our journey from Mexican Hat took us to an area known as the Valley of the Gods where Dean told us he had a little treat in store for us! As we rode towards the cliff face he told us we'd be riding up the mountain directly in front of us, but we couldn't see a road. This turned out to be 3 miles of narrow gravel road that snaked it's way up the sheer face of the mountain. Happily we all made it to the top without any mishaps and were very glad to be back on tarmac roads for the rest of the day.



The next 97 miles took us through some of the most amazing multi-coloured landscapes on Earth. The towering rock formations just took our breath away. Words can't do justice to the variety of shapes and colours of the mountains and even photographs don't convey the full splendour of this area.



One of the rock faces featured ancient drawing made hundreds of years ago by the native American Indians.



At one of the highest points on the ride we rode along a narrow ridge, known as "The Devil's Backbone", just wide enough for one lane of traffic in each direction and with sheer drops of several thousand feet on either side - and no crash barriers! Not a good time to discover that you are afraid of heights. No photographs of this due to the intense concentration needed to stay on the road.

This was a hard days riding covering 280 miles in total, so we were all very glad to reach Best Western's Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon in plenty of time to have a shower and meet for an evening meal.

Day 5 - Monday 27 July 2009 - Grand Canyon to Monument Valley

Our tour guide, Dean Cognito, tells us that "Altitude is our friend!" meaning that the higher above sea level we are, the cooler it will be. So today is a relatively cool day because we're staying at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at 7,000 feet above sea level. We spent a leisurely morning sightseeing at the Canyon and a couple of us took a helicopter ride into the Canyon for a bird's eye view of this spectacular natural wonder.







Leaving the Grand Canyon we headed west and stopped off at the Cameron Trading Post selling craft items made by the local Navajo Indians and on to our lunch stop at Denny's overlooking the Powell dam.



After lunch we headed off towards another amazing natural phenomenon, Monument Valley, which is most familiar as the backdrop to hundreds of Western films, most notably starring John Wayne.



Then a short ride to our stopover at the Hat Rock Inn in Mexican Hat. The name derives from a rock formation that looks like a Mexican hat - surprise, surprise!

Day 4 - Sunday 26 July 2009 - Laughlin to Grand Canyon

A slightly delayed start today as Bill, the driver of the back up vehicle, managed to lock his keys in the van. Leaving Bill to wait for the locksmith we set off for the tiny town of Oatman with its gift shops, wild burros and gun fights staged for the tourists.





The whole of today was spent riding the longest continuous stretch of Route 66 all the way to the Grand Canyon. This stretch of road is considered to be "The Heart of Historic Route 66." Leaving Oatman the road twisted and turned up through the mountain with breathtaking views.



We climbed steadily throughout the day and consequently the temperature was cooler than yesterday. It was 90F (32C) when we stopped for a drink at Hackberry General Stores further along Route 66.



We headed off in a northern loop through the Hualapai Indian Reservation towards Seligman. After a late lunch stop in Seligman we rode to Williams



and our last water stop before riding the last 60 miles to the entrance to the Grand Canyon and our overnight stop at the Best Western Squire Inn.

Day 3 - Saturday 25 July 2009 - Palm Springs to Laughlin

An earlier start today but even so the temperature was 98F (36C) just after breakfast! We headed to Joshua Tree National Park to see the incredible rock formations.





Then a long descent towards Twentynine Palms across salt flats where the temperature soared to a brutal 110F (43C). Then we had our first taste of Historic Route 66 at Amboy were we stopped for water at Roy's Motel.



Frankie had brought his bike mascot "Animal" along on the trip so he introduced him to Route 66.


We stayed on Route 66 all the way to the gambling resort of Laughlin, a mini Las Vegas. The Tropicana Express hotel was our stopover for the night and the hotel's casino was packed with fruit machines of every kind. We had a drink in the casino bar and David bought us all a birthday drink. The birthday boy was then invited up on stage to be serenaded by Janit the resident entertainer.