So I got a few of my buddy's pics to mix in with my own from our trip from San Francisco back to Massachusetts, via San Diego.
It was a pretty foggy overcast day (Sept 11th) when we started heading south. Didn't stop us from enjoying the beautiful Pacific scenery.
Destination that night was Morro Bay which was so fogged in that night we didn't see the bay part until following morning:
We meandered along the coast that morning and ended up in Santa Barbara for lunch.
After walking around and checking out the docks, we geared up for the ride to SanDiego.
We weren't prepared for that fookin LA traffic. Neither of us had lane split before this day. We learned real quick. This was near Downey CA I think. Note to self: avoid LA if ever in California again. No offense to those that live here. I'm sure it's fine if you know the region.
We eventually made it to San Diego and had a great time there. Very pretty beach, lots of scenery to check out, moving as well as stationary.
The next day we were heading to Julian CA and points east. We had a nice but HOT ride that day. I think we saw 105 deg in Brawley?? CA. Then across some really neat sand dune area heading toward Kingman, AZ. The desert can be so beautiful, but I am sure glad I didn't break down out there this day. An exteneded visit on a hot sunny day would be a challenge!
We didn't take many photos along this stretch. Happy to get to Kingman and find a place to stay. Ran into a bunch of guys from the Netherlands at the hotel. They were all on rented Harleys touring the SW. That must be quite a change from the homeland for them.
The next day we made it to the Grand Canyon South Rim around noon. I'm sure you've all seen pictures of the Grand Canyon before so I'll keep it short. It is beautiful after all- have to have a couple:
Lots of these California Condors flying overhead.
Toward east end of Canyon-
That afternoon we headed toward Page, AZ enroute to the North Rim. This was also a very pretty ride. It made me realize that I could probably spend two weeks just in AZ and UT and just scrape the surface of all the good roads out here.
Lake Powell:
Then we headed back west from Lake Powell to get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is a nice ride down ther and the trip is worth it. I enjoyed the view from the north side better that the south. We had lunch at the beautiful lodge there. A great place to visit. Someday I hope to go back for a longer one.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/FJR...ures2009118.jpg
That afternoon were were heading toward Bryce Canyon. Found a place to stay in Panguitch UT. Can say I would recommend the town as a resort destination. Limited food options, no nitelife to speak of. But we made the best of it- drank some Tequila in the motel front lawn. Found a nice wooden bench there.
The next morning we got out of town early to head to Bryce. A chilly start but it warmed up nice once the sun had a couple hours to work.
Bryce is just dang beautiful. No two ways about it. I'll try to be brief.
Between us we probably have 50 pictures of Bryce. And we only saw a small part of it. Highly recommended!
When we leaft Bryce we headed north up along Utah rt 12. Can't say enough good things about this road. As you head north to Torrey, it just keeps climbing and climbing. Great scenery, thrilling road, teriffic views along the way. We had lunch in Torrey at a Subway type place, then proceeded east to Capitol Reef. WOW. I don't think I have photos. Doesn't matter. Its another place you just have to see. Breathtaking.
From there we headed northeast toward our destination for the day: Moab Utah. Just when you thought you've seen all the beautiful red rocks possible in one day, you find yourself surrounded again in Moab. We liked this place- decided it too was worth a return trip.
We wanted to stay here but it was booked up:
So we found a room (cheaper too) here:
Riding out of Moab the next day:
Agirl had previously recommended this road (Rt 128) east of Moab, should we find ourselves there. I am so glad I remembered and took her advice. This section of road along the Colorado River was probably the most scenic part of the trip. The road was fantastic too. I would have taken more photos but I didn't want to stop!
About 1000 ago I realized I had an out of balance tire (rear). I called a friend back home to have him look up a shop in the Grand Junction CO area that would have faciloities to balance a tire. Got the address and phone number. Later that day pulled into Grand Valley Power Sports. Told them I would like to have the rear tire balanced- Shop guy says no problem, they were'nt too busy. I had that wheel off in five minutes.
Tech said it needed 25 grams. No wonder it felt ugly. I must have thrown a weight.. Back together in 20 minutes. Shop guy wouldn't charge me for the service. Said he was glad to help out a guy on the road. I gave the tech a nice tip and rolled on. Later that day we stopped at wallyworld in Craig CO for another parking lot oil change (and lunch) One stop service for all your needs!
We spent the afternoon in Steamboat Springs CO enjoying the scenery and a couple margheritas at a roof top cafe. We visited a friend while there, had a nice dinner, did some suvenier (sp??) shopping for the girls back home and got a good nights sleep. The next day we were heading for the Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park north of Granby CO.
The pictures get thin at about this point. The pass up in Rocky Mtn Natl Park was smother by a large moisture laden cloudy that proceeded to dump liquid and frozen precipitation on us. No problem but it was tough to get good photos. We eventually made it to Ft Morgan CO later that day. We happened to run into a big car show being held there and got to get up clase and personal with several excellent 60's and 70's muscle cars mixed in with a nice variety of many other vintage wheels. Just lucky to catch it that weekend. Also had a couple beers at a bar with toilet seats hanging on the walls. Interesting crowd at that joint.
Well, I've gone through all the images I've loaded on photobucket. I have a few more from Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario, and New York and Vermont. but they don't add a whole lot to this report. I may add later as a summary and wrap up etc.
The total trip for me was just over 9100 miles. I spent 24 days on the bike and one day sightseeing in San Francisco. I had a glorious time and pray I get to do it again someday. I'm very grateful for being able to have this wonderful adventure.
My FJR was a perfect machine for this trip. Not even one slight hiccup (other than the tire balance which was no fault of the bike, of course). She just purred along and did whatever was asked.
Hope you enjoyed reading about it. I sure enjoyed telling about it. My friends and family are getting tired of hearing about it.
It was a pretty foggy overcast day (Sept 11th) when we started heading south. Didn't stop us from enjoying the beautiful Pacific scenery.
Destination that night was Morro Bay which was so fogged in that night we didn't see the bay part until following morning:
We meandered along the coast that morning and ended up in Santa Barbara for lunch.
After walking around and checking out the docks, we geared up for the ride to SanDiego.
We weren't prepared for that fookin LA traffic. Neither of us had lane split before this day. We learned real quick. This was near Downey CA I think. Note to self: avoid LA if ever in California again. No offense to those that live here. I'm sure it's fine if you know the region.
We eventually made it to San Diego and had a great time there. Very pretty beach, lots of scenery to check out, moving as well as stationary.
The next day we were heading to Julian CA and points east. We had a nice but HOT ride that day. I think we saw 105 deg in Brawley?? CA. Then across some really neat sand dune area heading toward Kingman, AZ. The desert can be so beautiful, but I am sure glad I didn't break down out there this day. An exteneded visit on a hot sunny day would be a challenge!
We didn't take many photos along this stretch. Happy to get to Kingman and find a place to stay. Ran into a bunch of guys from the Netherlands at the hotel. They were all on rented Harleys touring the SW. That must be quite a change from the homeland for them.
The next day we made it to the Grand Canyon South Rim around noon. I'm sure you've all seen pictures of the Grand Canyon before so I'll keep it short. It is beautiful after all- have to have a couple:
Lots of these California Condors flying overhead.
Toward east end of Canyon-
That afternoon we headed toward Page, AZ enroute to the North Rim. This was also a very pretty ride. It made me realize that I could probably spend two weeks just in AZ and UT and just scrape the surface of all the good roads out here.
Lake Powell:
Then we headed back west from Lake Powell to get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is a nice ride down ther and the trip is worth it. I enjoyed the view from the north side better that the south. We had lunch at the beautiful lodge there. A great place to visit. Someday I hope to go back for a longer one.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/FJR...ures2009118.jpg
That afternoon were were heading toward Bryce Canyon. Found a place to stay in Panguitch UT. Can say I would recommend the town as a resort destination. Limited food options, no nitelife to speak of. But we made the best of it- drank some Tequila in the motel front lawn. Found a nice wooden bench there.
The next morning we got out of town early to head to Bryce. A chilly start but it warmed up nice once the sun had a couple hours to work.
Bryce is just dang beautiful. No two ways about it. I'll try to be brief.
Between us we probably have 50 pictures of Bryce. And we only saw a small part of it. Highly recommended!
When we leaft Bryce we headed north up along Utah rt 12. Can't say enough good things about this road. As you head north to Torrey, it just keeps climbing and climbing. Great scenery, thrilling road, teriffic views along the way. We had lunch in Torrey at a Subway type place, then proceeded east to Capitol Reef. WOW. I don't think I have photos. Doesn't matter. Its another place you just have to see. Breathtaking.
From there we headed northeast toward our destination for the day: Moab Utah. Just when you thought you've seen all the beautiful red rocks possible in one day, you find yourself surrounded again in Moab. We liked this place- decided it too was worth a return trip.
We wanted to stay here but it was booked up:
So we found a room (cheaper too) here:
Riding out of Moab the next day:
Agirl had previously recommended this road (Rt 128) east of Moab, should we find ourselves there. I am so glad I remembered and took her advice. This section of road along the Colorado River was probably the most scenic part of the trip. The road was fantastic too. I would have taken more photos but I didn't want to stop!
About 1000 ago I realized I had an out of balance tire (rear). I called a friend back home to have him look up a shop in the Grand Junction CO area that would have faciloities to balance a tire. Got the address and phone number. Later that day pulled into Grand Valley Power Sports. Told them I would like to have the rear tire balanced- Shop guy says no problem, they were'nt too busy. I had that wheel off in five minutes.
Tech said it needed 25 grams. No wonder it felt ugly. I must have thrown a weight.. Back together in 20 minutes. Shop guy wouldn't charge me for the service. Said he was glad to help out a guy on the road. I gave the tech a nice tip and rolled on. Later that day we stopped at wallyworld in Craig CO for another parking lot oil change (and lunch) One stop service for all your needs!
We spent the afternoon in Steamboat Springs CO enjoying the scenery and a couple margheritas at a roof top cafe. We visited a friend while there, had a nice dinner, did some suvenier (sp??) shopping for the girls back home and got a good nights sleep. The next day we were heading for the Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park north of Granby CO.
The pictures get thin at about this point. The pass up in Rocky Mtn Natl Park was smother by a large moisture laden cloudy that proceeded to dump liquid and frozen precipitation on us. No problem but it was tough to get good photos. We eventually made it to Ft Morgan CO later that day. We happened to run into a big car show being held there and got to get up clase and personal with several excellent 60's and 70's muscle cars mixed in with a nice variety of many other vintage wheels. Just lucky to catch it that weekend. Also had a couple beers at a bar with toilet seats hanging on the walls. Interesting crowd at that joint.
Well, I've gone through all the images I've loaded on photobucket. I have a few more from Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario, and New York and Vermont. but they don't add a whole lot to this report. I may add later as a summary and wrap up etc.
The total trip for me was just over 9100 miles. I spent 24 days on the bike and one day sightseeing in San Francisco. I had a glorious time and pray I get to do it again someday. I'm very grateful for being able to have this wonderful adventure.
My FJR was a perfect machine for this trip. Not even one slight hiccup (other than the tire balance which was no fault of the bike, of course). She just purred along and did whatever was asked.
Hope you enjoyed reading about it. I sure enjoyed telling about it. My friends and family are getting tired of hearing about it.
