Tuesday, May 29, Homeward bound

Gearing up at the hotel. 44 degrees when we woke up.  

Heading down from Jacobs lake towards the Vermillion cliffs.

The trip out of Kanab was lovely, a repeat of our trip North.  Over the high route through Jacobs's lake and then past the Vermillion cliff again, lunch at Cameron trading post with Bob and Gail, through Flagstaff then south into the furnace.  Photos stopped once the temps climbed ;).  101 when we bought gas in Phoenix as we got into town ;(. Final round trip mileage - 1300 miles.

Memorial Day bonus photos

As mentioned in the earlier post today, Gail and Bob stopped at a gas station that had a collection of remarkable rescued animals.  Here is a recently shaved alpaca.

And here are the four of us at dinner.

Memorial Day, Monday. Midway to Kanab Utah

Ah, to be a weather forecaster!  To quote Bugs Bunny, “what a bunch of maroons”.   Forecast was 45 leaving Midway this morning, 80 degrees arriving in Kanab.  Well, they mostly got those two endpoints correct, but yikes, the in between parts were drizzle, rain, wind and low temps of 49....not a picnic on the bike for sure.   We stopped for gas in Beaver...on I-15, and spectacular Memorial Day crowds.   We were lucky they had gas!

Turns out if we had stopped for gas earlier, in Scipio, we could have seen camels and marmots...Gail and Bob stopped there and got amazing photos, soon to be on Facebook. ;)

Photo of the mess in the room this am as we packed.

Note:  photos below are in reverse order, end of trip first.  Once I get to something larger than an iPhone to use to edit this, I will repost in the correct order.  So to see the scenes from this am, go to the bottom and scan up ;).  

Trip south to Kanab.  Lots of rain clouds until we got within 50 miles of the end!

Sunday -quiet day of tourism

A perfect Sunday!  Woke up at 7, ate another round of fantastic pastries from the hotel bakery and wandered around the hotel a bit.  Then, into Bob and Gail’s car and off for the “Tour El Grande” of this area.  First place to see was Heber City, then off to Park City.  Just amazing that Salt Lake City is just 50 miles away from this remote and unpopulated mountain area.   We visited an Indian jewelry store, t shirt stores and of course, a chocolate shop.   Then lunch and home.

Back at the hotel room, we found that for the third day in a row (of three total days at this hotel), the room air conditioner was broken.  Maintenance came again, after testing the system,  the guy declared vent air was at 98 degrees.   Sigh.   New parts and it is all fixed now.

Rest of the day includes packing the bike saddlebags for early am departure tomorrow, a nap followed by dinner out with Bob and Gail as well as Ginny and Nick Hoppner.

Exceptional marmot photo that Gail took today:

Photo from the hotel parking lot this morning:

Photo below was on the way home from Park city, basically the view of Heber Valley.

Saturday update: marmot photos

We heard rumors there were marmots at this hotel (along with the easily found horses, cows and goats).  So this afternoon I stalked a marmot and here is the proof!  As you can see, a marmot  looks to me like a fat squirrel with a platypus tail.....Plus a bonus photo of Stu and some friends.

Rain coming in tonight so we likely will be indoors most of the day tomorrow.   Plan to hit the road Monday morning and the forecast looks chilly (44 degrees) when we leave.

Saturday in Midway

This morning was the Breakfast with Stu question and answer event.  Lots of questions, comments and jokes!

Thank you gift and certificate from the event organizer.

Last question from the lady who started riding at age 70.

Friday in Midway

80 degrees and sunny!  Rode the bike zero miles today.  We went to the opening of the GWRRA event then had lunch at the hotel.  It is wonderful to see hundreds of motorcycles and motorcyclists here at the hotel.  This afternoon, we had the good fortune of going with Gail (in her car!) for a tour of Midway and the general area.

Thursday evening closing photo

Since I am not a blogger wizard, I am unable to edit the prior post and add this photo.  ;). Rather than be thwarted...here it is!

Dessert tonight and in the background you can see the writing in Stu’s shirt.

Thursday Kanab to Midway Utah

Ah what another fantastic day on a bike.  300 miles with temperatures from 60 to 86, mostly light wind and sunshine.

Morning scenery following the Sevier river

Heading from Provo to Midway

Meeting old friends at the Rally