2023: A Girl, a Motorcycle, and a Gypsy Soul

We left Grand Junction and beat out yet another storm. Thankfully!!! We made our way to Parachute, CO where we stopped to shop and have breakfast at Shommy's. Next up was a dull ride compared to recent days - although I love riding on I-70 through the mountains, I hate the traffic! And to top it off, it was raining part of the way and a very COLD ride! I sure like 80-90's and sun more than I like 60's and rain!! The views on I-70 are beautiful and the road itself is fun and twisty.... but it was a pretty dull day of riding freeway from Grand Junction to North Platte, NE.   New tire time! Kearney NE.. BOREDOM sets in on I-80! NE. Homeward bound - while we are ready to get home, it is always sad when vacation comes to an end! I-70 through the mountains - gorgeous views and fun riding! Add in a side of COLD rain Long tunnel - helped warm us up quick!

Next up for our tourist adventures of UTAH's National Parks:   Capitol Reef NP. Capitol Reef runs along what they call the Waterpocket Fold of the south central desert. It was explained to us as 'one of earth's wrinkles'. Capitol Reef is known for its great hiking, but also the abundance of fresh fruit growing around it - apples, pears, and peaches. The town nearest the park is called Fruita - because of the fruit in the area. Capitol Reef entrance road had a fantastic lookout point with a  gravel road behind it called the Goosenecks Road. Gravel, of course! We rode to the end of it and were surprised to find the views even more impressive than they were from the lookout. From the lookout. you could see the landscape for miles and miles, but what you couldn't see is the river that flows deep deep down beyond canyon walls - the goosenecks of the river right below my feet! So cool!! A bit of a hike to get to this amazing overhanging rock! On the w

 Today was a  tourist day! We rode into Bryce Canyon National Park - one of my favorites!! We bought the NP annual pass for a mere $80 for 2 bikes - and we have more than doubled our savings so far. This park would have been $20 per bike... well worth it, but when you add in all the NP's we have visited, we would have been broke by now! Bryce Canyon has a ton of pullouts and pullovers to look and hike around. We started with Inspiration Point. We were not prepared for the uphill climb that was going to happen - as soon as I took 4 steps uphill, my body reminded me of how much uphill hiking I have done in recent days and my butt was immediately on fire - every muscle twitching in revenge from the previous days workouts! We made it to the top of Inspiration POint - Winded and wheezing, but in total awe of the views. For as far as you can see, there are spiral rocks - seemingly piled one rock at a time on top of one another, for a hundred thousand rows over. All in various shade

We set an alarm today to make sure we were awake and  ready to roll down to Glen Canyon on Lake Powell - I kayaked the Antelope Canyon back in 2013 and was forced to vacate the canyon when severe weather hit.. and we were SO close to the end!! To this day, finishing kayaking the Antelope Canyon has been on my radar - and today was the day!! We decided it would be wise to eat something before hitting the water in the excessive heat watch so we swung by Subway quick. While sitting there, a bus pulled up and several Asian tourists exited. Our bikes were parked under a storefront that was vacant, so that they were in the shade. A few of the tourists were eying up the bikes when I noticed one person pull up a pant leg and walk towards Shelly's bike. Before I even knew that I was reacting, I was up and opening the door to rush outside. Once on the sidewalk I yelled "HEY! Get off the bike! Never touch a bike that's not yours!!" in a stern voice (I even surprised myself with