Not with 2000 motorcycles.

Each year there is a MDA ride (Muscular Dystrophy Association) sponsored by Harley Davidson of Salt Lake. They ride from Salt Lake City, Ut. to Wendover, Nv. 120 miles or so.

Of course it is a very worthy cause, but riding with over 2000 other bikers is just not for me.

My good friends Kenny, and his brother Brent,  plan a ride each year that takes an alternate route, but still ends up in Wendover to watch all those 2000 bikes roll into the little gambling town.

He has invited us the last couple of years and it's good fun, so we're excited to go again. What was going to be just 3 or 4 bikes grew to 15 by the time we started out.

We rode via Twin Falls, Idaho to Jackpot Nevada where we stayed over night. I started taking pictures at Jackpot on the second day.

We left the hotel in Jackpot and ride south to Wells, Nevada.

A wildlife bridge. It helps cut down the number of wildlife/vehicle incidents.

In Wells, a small town of around 1500, there was a tour bus at the gas station, the bus was filled with Chinese tourists. They were excited by the bikes and started taking photos like crazy! One of the guys in our group encouraged them to come as close as they wanted and stand by the bikes to take their pictures - that morphed into him posing with several of the women by his bike. He was a good sport, and a good ambassador not only for motorcyclists, but for the U.S. as well.

Just two of many pictures.

Kenny jumps in for a pic and got a good laugh from the tourists, and our group!

The group leaves Wells in route for Wendover, but Kenny, Beverly and I ride up to Angel Lake, 12 miles out of Wells. We debated back and forth about it, but I'm glad we did it, the road was fun (lots of sand and gravel, but still fun). The scenery was the best of the ride.

Looking down on the road we just traveled.

Looking up towards the lake.

The lake with Beverly.

And off we rode to Wendover where we met the rest of the group. This bike belongs one of the guys in our group. Pictures don't do it justice, the detail in the pirate scene is incredible! His bike has won several bike shows.

We spent some time in Wendover then departed for home.

I-80 across the Bonneville Salt Flats is the one and only choice to go east, it is straight, hot, and straight and hot! Fatigued drivers is a major concern on this 100 mile stretch. Did I mention the road is STRAIGHT AND HOT!?

The CMA, (Christian Motorcycle Association) recognized the fatigued driver problem and decided to do something about it. They set up shop at a rest stop every Sunday and hand out cold water, kool-aid, and "angels" for your cell phone.

We were hot and tired when we pulled in the rest stop; one of the CMA guys walked up with three icy bottles of water before we could even get off the bikes and I could have hugged him...in fact I did and we all got a belly laugh out of it!

Besides refreshing water they also dispense good conversation, I really enjoyed visiting with these good people!

Me with my water and the guy that seemed to be in charge, the guy behind (black vest) is the one that gave us our water.

Back on eastbound I-80; the blue in the water is caused by an algae. There is water on both sides of the freeway, the two waters completely separated by the road. The water on the other side of the freeway is reddish which is also caused by an algae. The reason for the different colors is a slight difference of water temperature on each side. Different algae survive at different temperatures so we have blue on one side and red on the other.

And here's Elsa at the hotel in Jackpot, she cleans up nicely don't you think?

Another fun ride. 560 miles not with 2000 bikes and a good time! I'm looking forward to next year!

UT-VROC Rally / Solar Eclipse

The Utah Chapter of Vulcan Riders and Owners Club (Ut-VROC) has set up a rally in Kanab Utah. The Rally went from Wednesday to Sunday, but my plans were going to keep me from attending. But....a last minute change of those plans on Friday night had me hopping to find out where the rally was being held and getting a motel reservation. Saturday morning I start the 315 mile ride to beautiful Kanab, Utah.

On the way there, in Salina, Utah, I come across this..... Its the 2012 Trans America, New York to Alaska Rally. You can read more about it here;

http://www.endurorally.com/transam/index.html

 More cars were pulling into Salina as I was taking this pictures, but I was itching to get back on the road.

 This beauty wasn't a rally participant, but still a sweet looker!

I make it to Kanab, and have a 2nd floor room that looks out onto the Main Street through town, here is the view from the balcony.

 The next door neighbor...

On the sidewalk looking up at my balcony.

 Where I stayed...biker friendly, clean, nice, cute counter gal; highly recomended!

Kanab has these little signs all over town with different names and histories on them...an old movies buff would find them very interesting I'm sure. I didn't recognize many of the names.

 Walking along Main.

I meet the group and we head for dinner. I can't remember the name of this place. It was buffet style and good!

 I got involved in a poker game, and the furry little bandits took me for everything I had!

After dinner we were all groping for something fun to do.....
Dave, Hazy, and Mellow.

The Utah riders...since I hadn't showered yet they made me sit under the chair..
I probably don't have these names right but....
Dave, Big Kurt, Killer Mike, Hazy (sitting) me (laying) Troy, Sonja.
There were also riders from other states California, Arizona, etc and I believe there was one or two from Canada.

 Mellow's awesome bike.

A table full of Swag! Everyone went away a winner.
Donaters include;
Riders Of Kawasaki (ROK)
South Valley Motorsports
Wrights Motorcycle
Moto X outlet in Lehi
Plaza Cycle
Ames Construction
Petro hauler
Batteries Plus
Full Throttle Powersports
Swan Lakes Golf Course
Starbucks (Riverdale)
White Knuckle Motorsports
Legends Motorcycle
Duff Shelly, Mower and Cycle
I hope I didn't miss any.

 Getting the group together for a pic.

The funds raised at this rally went to this worthy cause, the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary has around 2000 animals on a daily basis from all over the US. There are some great, loving, dedicated people working there. Read more here;

http://www.bestfriends.org/index.htm

Sunday morning the Utah group took US 89 north, but I left them at Junction and went thru Zion National Park.

 While riding along I keep getting the thought that I'll meet a biking traveler who will ask me about some better roads than the freeway. It went through my head enough that I reviewed what roads I would recomend to a rider. After a while I forgot about it.

Near Parawon, I stop for fuel and a bite. While munching on my tacos, the owner of this bike comes over and we chat for a good while. Rob lives in Utah but is from the UK, and going north also, so we ride together. After some time on the freeway I've decide I've had enough of the super-slab, and take an exit where I stop and tell Rob that I'm going on some back roads and he is welcome to come along. Rob says, "I havent ridden those roads before so, sure, I'll come along."

We ride via Delta, Eureka, and almost to Goshen where we part ways. Rob heading home, and I backtrack to Grantsville where my son and daughter-in-law have invited me to dinner. I want to be off the bike in time to take a picture of the solar eclipse.

And here is the picture of the solar eclipse.

Haha...just kidding it is actually the 'light at the end of the tunnel' in Zion National Park, here is the same subject a couple hundred feet closer to the opening.

What a great ride! Saw old friends and met new ones in Kanab, met a new friend on the way home, and I even took a few crappy picture of the eclipse, and the creepy light it put off...

Thanks for reading!