Awesome Couples Ride 2016 (pt 1)

I've been hosting an annual "Couples Ride" since 2009. We missed a year, but otherwise its been an enjoyable activity each summer. 

Everyone on the couples ride have known each other for almost 30 years...we're all good friends.

This year we are going to southern Utah.

We depart on a beautiful Thursday morning and take a rest stop here. As we're snapping pictures a truck stops in front of our bikes and the man asks us if we want to see the inside of the building..?  YES!, we all answer and he opens up the door and stands patiently as we ogle over the antiques that are in there.

Harry checking out the antiques.

We then continue southward stopping in Helper, Utah for a great lunch at this place, Groggs.

Sufficiently overfed we hit the road again. After about 20 miles we run into a storm..... rain, hail, and WIND beat on us for the remaining 180 (or so) miles.

We make a quick rest stop....we had to get back on the bikes to keep them from getting blown over.

FINALLY.... we arrive (safe, but windblown) at our home  for the next 3 days, The (very clean) Stone Lizard, in Blanding, Utah.

The next morning at 9:00 sharp we depart for our first day ride.

 First stop, Natural Bridges National Monument.

Harry (middle) tells me a natural bridge is formed by water, a natural arch is formed by wind.

We leave the Natural Bridges Monument and ride toward the Gooseneck State Park via the Moki Dugway. The Moki Dugway road was constructed in 1957. The entire road is 33 miles long, but the most exciting part is 3 miles of unpaved road. As you can see it has sections of 10% grades and drop-off that can be a little concerning for a passenger. The views were incredible.

 After navigating the Moki we arrived at the Goosenecks SP.

And left there for our lunch destination, the Twin Rocks Cafe in Bluff, Utah.

Can you guess how the Twin Rocks Cafe got its name???

We leave the cafe and finish our ride back to our hotel via Aneth, Utah and some cool backroads.