Southern Utah Motorcycle Trip ~ September 2014

I always think we don't get around much, but this summer seems to have been spent anticipating a trip, going on a trip, and recovering from a trip. Then repeating that about three more times. All well worth it, of course. We've sure been busy.

In September we did a motorcycle trip with our friends Karen and Scott Perry, Tamara and Dave Badger, and Mary Ann and Kirk Harvey. We spent eight days travelling. We started in Salt Lake, and went from there to Arches National Park, Moab, Gateway, Ridgway, Telluride, Mesa Verde National Park, Bluff, Moki Dugway, Natural Bridges Monument, Hanksville, Capital Reef National Park, Escalante National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Panguitch, Cedar Breaks, Zion's National Park, St. George, Snow Canyon, Mountain Meadow Massacre Monument, Beaver, Manti, Gunnison, Mt. Nebo Loop, Alpine Loop, home.

We traveled to all these places on scenic highways, and rarely saw anyone else on the road. It was terrific. There were some storms and flooding going on while we traveled, so we did have to cut out a couple of places we were going to see, but pretty much the storm was ahead of us and for the most part we stayed very dry.

Here are another bunch of photos.

Oregon Coast Motorcycle Trip ~ September 2013 ~ Part Two

Lots more pictures here of our trip. I love looking at the pictures and reliving the trip.

Day 5 (Tuesday September 10) Florence, OR to Brookings, OR

We headed out of Florence for our last full day along the coast. We stopped in Bandon for lunch. What a pretty little town. My aunt and uncle moved there years ago, and my uncle still lives there. Unfortunately we didn't stop and see him. I just loved riding along the ocean. We need to go back and do this trip again. Our stop for the night was in Brookings. As usual our motel was right on the ocean. I looked out my window and saw a whale playing just a little way out in the water. I grabbed my phone (camera) and ran out on the beach. Gayle and I watched that whale cavort right in front of us for twenty or thirty minutes. If it had been warm we could have swam right out to that whale--it was that close. Instead we were wise and just took a bunch of pictures, hoping just one would turn out. 

Judy and Hal

Karen and Scott

Gayle and Fred (Bandon lighthouse)

Ray and Diane

Gayle and Tamara

Parked on the street in Bandon (Ray and Dave in the background by the house)

Diane and Ray

Judy, Karen, Tamara, Gayle, and Diane

 

The whale. Or at least its spout. (on the right)

Day 6 (Wednesday September 11) Brookings, OR to Shady Cove, OR

From Brookings we headed south into California. We stopped at Trees of Mystery - a great place to view some beautiful redwood trees.  From there back north, and into Oregon again. At this point we headed northeast, into the more central part of Oregon. We rode right along the Rogue River. Beautiful. We went from pretty chilly weather along the coast to 105 degrees by the time we got to Shady Cove. We were shedding layers like crazy. The first thing we did was get into the pool when we checked in for the night. We had a delicious dinner at the Rogue River Lodge. We sat outside right on the river. It was a lovely evening.

Riding among the redwoods

Our group in front of the Cathedral tree.
L to R: Gayle and Fred , Ray and Diane, Tamara and Dave, Judy and Hal , Scott and Karen.

Gayle and Fred riding the gondola up to the top. Gayle and I don't like heights. We rode together. 

Ray and Diane in the gondola.

Ray and Diane - overlooking the tops of VERY tall trees.

Day 7 (Thursday September 12) Shady Cove, OR to Sisters, OR

We did a lot of riding. It was beautiful country. We stopped at Crater Lake, which I'd never seen. (I'd never seen any part of this trip before besides a little bit of the ride in Washington). It was beautiful. We stopped for lunch at a diner out in the middle of nowhere. We had Mexican for dinner in Sisters. You could tell it was not the busy season there. Everything shut down by about 6:00 PM.

Diane at the parking lot of one of the viewpoints at Crater Lake

Diane and Ray with Crater Lake in the background

Day 8 (Friday September 13) Sisters, OR to Cascade Locks, OR

We rode some beautiful roads past Detroit Lake. We stopped and took a few pictures along the river. Then Ray and I cut out from the group while they did some more scenic riding and we went to see my niece Lucy and her family. It was the highlight of our day! Lucy is the same age as our daughter Audrey. A few years ago she lived with us during a rough patch in her life. It was an honor to have her with us. She feels like one of our own! She has a darling family and a very cute home. Now when I think of her I can see her in her own place in my mind's eye. I love that. 

We met up with the group at the Crown Point view of the Columbia river (barely 10 minutes away from Lucy). Then on to Multnomah Falls, from there to our stop in Cascade Locks.

L to R: Ray, Diane, Gayle, Fred, Karen, Judy, Hal, Tamara, Dave

Elna, Lucy, Diane

Ray. Columbia River in the background.

Dave, Ray, Scott, Fred, Hal

Diane and Ray at Multnomah Falls

Our group waving their arms. I elected to stay behind. That whole heights/bridge thing. 

Day 9 (Saturday September 14) Cascade Locks, OR to Boise, ID

It was hard to say goodbye to our friends in the morning. I cried. They rode back to Seattle, and we began our ride home. This was our least enjoyable ride - all freeway to Boise. We were like horses heading back to the barn at this point. The view for as long as we rode along the Columbia was stunning. And crossing the Blues Mountains was pretty too. It's just more rough when riding on the freeway with the buffeting from the cars and trucks around you. We arrived at Jeanie and Bob Peck's just in the nick of time. A big thunderstorm broke about 20 minutes after we got there.  We had a lovely evening and dinner in our home away from home.

Day 10 (Sunday September 15) Boise, ID to Sandy, UT

Big storms were predicted along our route, so we planned on getting an early start for home. Ray and I both woke up at about 3:00 AM and couldn't sleep. We decided to get going on our way. It was a cold but beautiful ride. There was almost no one on the freeway, so the ride was smooth. The sky was as clear as could be and filled with constellations. Ordinarily we don't choose to ride at night if we can help it, but this view was stunning. We made it home and never encountered any storm along the way. It felt good to be home again.

All in all I would say this was one of the best trips/vacations I've ever had. Great times with great friends--who could ask for more? It was very relaxing and believe me, that's just what I needed.