TOQEURVILLE TO MONUMENT VALLEY

May 26

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I am usually up before 6 but today I was still fast asleep when John knocked on the door.  He said I should make a run for it while the Zion curtain was open.  John is a great guy and I sure enjoyed visiting him in his new location.

I came this way because there were several places I wanted to see.  The north rim of the Grand Canyon  was one of the main events.  Unfortunately my timing is bad and there are no hotel rooms anywhere near it.  So, I bypassed it and headed for Monument Valley were I could get a room.


Today is Deja vu all over again.  I came to Kayenta in 2010 on Scoot from the south and the wind was blowing like crazy.  Today it was brutal.  Winds were gusting to 55 mph. It got really brutal when I left Page and turned south. With wide open throttle I saw speeds as slow as 35 mph and rarely over 55.  After 65 miles of getting beat to death I hit US160 and turned east in the canyon. The canyon gave protection from the southerly winds until about 15 miles from Kayenta when the canyon opened up.   There were no tourist stops today.


NWS WX ALERT
A Wind Advisory means that sustained winds of 30 to 39 mph... or
gusts from 40 to 57 mph... are expected. Winds this strong can
make driving difficult... especially for high profile vehicles.
Consider securing loose belongings on your property.


They were not lying.

The white is blowing sand

There are about 10 motorcycle riders in the lobby of the Hampton waiting for the wind to die down. Others came and went looking for a room.  The next possible room is 70 miles away in the wind.

Nice blown hair look

I hope it is not Deja Vu tomorrow.  Last time it SNOWED!!

Today's slide show

I REMINDER OF WHY I AM RIDING

Besides the adventure I am riding to raise money for two great charities.  Please give if you can. For those that have, we thank you for caring.


I would particularly like to thank Datacom of Australia for another generous gift of $3,000.  Your continued support is greatly appreciated.  Their gift is not part of the "miles" so there is still some money needed to reach our goal of $6,000.
Thank you.

Escuela Bilingue los Algarrobos

or send a check to:
James Dean Byrd Foundation
411 Walnut St.
#4267
Green Cove Springs, Fl 32043

And these guys:
Lemur Conservation Foundation

Or send a check to:
 Lemur Conservation Foundation
 Myakka City Lemur Reserve 
 PO Box 249 
 Myakka City, FL 34251 


 These are both small foundations started and run by a few people trying to do good in the world. I am personnally involved in both. These are not large organizations doing a little with a lot. These are small organizations doing a lot with a little. 


 Please help them accomplish their mission by buying a few miles if you can.

RACHEL TO TOQUERVILLE UT

May 24



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 The restaurant/bar at the Little A'L'Inn got a little interesting last night.The big draw is Area 51, a military/government extremely highly secret facility on millions of acres in the middle of nowhere in Nevada.

(http://www.lazygranch.com/fg.htm)

Tourists flock in from all over the world to see IT, when in reality you cannot see anything but a fence and the main gate. The actual activities and buildings are so far in that no one can see them. Employees are shuttled daily from Las Vegas on a private airline. All types of conspiracy theorists believe that the government is holding everything from aliens to leap frogs in secret in Area 51. So, they make the long trek into the desert to see nothing...except the A'L'Inn. An old run down building full of alien t-shirts, jewelry and other such stuff. Oh yea, and the Ritz style housing.


All afternoon people from around the world came in rather steadily.  At the bar/restaurant last night were

•  3 Aussie attorneys (more on them later)
•  a Miss Frump and true conspiracy believer
•  two cowboys straight out of central casting.  Cowboy hat, wind and sun wrinkled face, long sleeved shirt with shiny buttons, normal leather belt, weathered blue jeans, and cowboy boots. When they removed their hats, only to scratch their heads, it was as white as a baby's butt compared to the dark weathered face.
• 6 Japanese tourists, buying t-shirts and trinkets as fast as they could.  Their Japanese guide ordered hamburgers for all of them.

Talk was about everything from aliens to beer and even some politics.  We even discussed "coon cheese" a Australian product.

I settled into talking to the 3 Aussie attorneys.  Six of them had flown from Melbourne to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, all were in their 30's and 3 were single. Three of them spent three days and turned around and flew home. If you know Aussies, they are big partiers and coming to Vegas had to top anything before, so they worked real hard at  it.  Evidence on their faces 3 days later indicated they had been successful.  .......until facebook.  They, like all good healthy 30 year old Aussies, not only had a lot of whiskey in their rooms, but a lot of women in various stages of undress. One of these rocket scientists of lawyers thought that it would be cool to post these pictures on Facebook.  There was to be a wedding in 2 weeks and now there seems to be some question if that is going to happen.  The two married lawyers spent at least an hour that night on the phone with their respective spouses.  Seems a couple of them may need lawyers of their own when they get home. Don't you just love social networking

Despite the luxury accommodation, the people at the Inn were very friendly.  They topped Big Red with fuel, less than a gallon, out of a gas can just to be sure I would make it to my next fuel stop.  The Aussies had to make a 100 mile round trip back down to Alamo to get fuel to get them to their next destination.

I have seen deer, coyotes, rabbits, rodents and lots of other wildlife.

 This guy crossed in front of me and then just stood and watched me.

He too had just crossed the road 

In Caliente I stopped for gas and air.

How many mechanics does it take to add air to a vespa

Crossed into Utah and the first thing I noticed is that the Utah cows are not as smart as Nevada cows.  Utah just paints lines for cattle guards to keep the cows in.

 Nevada cattle guard

Utah guard

The interesting things you find out when you stop to smell the roses. First they took their guns and promised they would not harm them.

I still have not hit the right button on the video, so here is your slide show of Nevada and Utah.

I rolled into my friend John's compound, formerly of Ecuador, deep behind the Zion curtain in the afternoon and he had cold beer ready for me.  After another windy day, I needed it.