Mesa Verde, Co, Monument Valley and the Moab region, Utah

October 11, 2010 : Mesa Verde National Park, a $ 10.00 fee for the park entrance and here we go ! Blue sky, not the shadow of a cloud, a temperature in the 50’s and a nice ride on motorcycle to the top. We have selected two guided tours : ‘’ Cliff Palace’’, a must and ‘’Balcony House’’. Then, we were on our own to visit some pithouses and stop along the road. It does not look like we have done much today, but we are exhausted and we think it might be because of the altitude again, as we were always above 2000 meters up to 2613 meters at the highest point of the park. Tonight, our faces are as red as lobsters (cooked ones, of course).


The following day we took the road of Monument Valley and this has been our ‘’fourth coup de coeur’’ with an off-road ride on our motorcycles. I had just started the trail that I fell… again. No harm again, and I went on anyway.

It was really worth the ride, the colours of Monument Valley are breathtaking, and everything is majestic.

That night though, we had no other choice than going back to camping as every motel was full. It was not quite cold that night. And again the following morning, blue sky and nice temperature to allow us to have our breakfast outside before taking the road to Moab. Two hundred kilometers later, we learn that the following week is a holiday for the State of Utah, which means that all motels or cabins are booked. We end up camping again and book for five nights a campsite. We just hope that the temperature is not going to drop.

We spent the next four days in the Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, both parks are breaktaking. This area is the paradise for the outdoors activities : mountain bike, hiking, rafting, off-road motorbike or with 4 wheelers, climbing, sky-diving, you have it all and everybody is very active. In the campings, everybody seems to be in bed by nine o’clock. We guess everybody is tired or ready to be up early the next day to do some kind of activity.

In the Arches National Park, we hike three different trails to see the ‘’delicate” Arch, the ‘’double O Arch’’ and the “Windows’’and two hikes in Canyonlands : the Grand View Trail and Murphy's Trail.

The Grand View Trail is not a very long trail, but worth every step of it. The view is awesome, you see the canyons so far that we noticed that when people arrived there, they automatically lowered their tone of voice. The perfect place for meditation, not a background noise, not a sound, just a deep quietness that fills you and calms you down.

After this, Alain and I decided that we would do another off-road trail. This time, I am riding behind Alain. The Shaffer Road starts within the park with an abrupt slope of 5.3 miles. It was a promising trail as it was written at the entrance that this was going to be rough with steep inclines. Nothing scares us !

Wow, emotions, fears of all kinds, freezing sweats and even wondering, what in the h… I am doing here, or please can I go down now from the motorcycle? A couple of times, Alain asked me to get off the bike, so that he could manage his way through the rocks of all sizes and everytime I was eager to comply... This is Alain negotiating a difficult stretch of road :

 I did not even want to climb back on it. No kidding, he would have asked me to run behind the motorcycle the whole way, I think I would have been happy to comply ! In the end, it went well. We almost fell a couple of times, but I must say that Alain is a really good driver, and 29 kilometers later, we arrived at the end of this. Lesson learnt for next time, when Alain should be on his own for this kind of adventure, with the right tyres and without luggage. Happy to be finished !

On the Road Again tomorrow towards Bryce Canyon and Zion parks...

Rio Grande Bridge, NM and San Juan Skyway, Colorado

October 7 to October 9, 2010
The Enchanted Circle really carries its name well. At every turn, we say “wow, wow’’. Unfortunately, the weather was not as nice as what we would have liked. We got some heavy rain on the way, but prepared as we are, we got our raingear suits on, just in the nick of time… We did want to check out the city of Taos in the evening, but it was pretty quiet. We quickly stopped at the Rio Grande Bridge (pictures on Picassa). Rio Grande is the third longest river of the United States.

Last night, we camped in Bloomfield, NM. The campground (negotiated to $ 18.00 a night) was great and clean with free firewood. As it was dark and started to be chilly, we were very happy to start a large bonfire. What a night we had ! This morning, after a restless night because of the cold and the noise in the surroundings, we did not get up in a very good mood. We were ready for the cold night, though !

The temperature dropped below zero degrees Celsius (I believe around 40 fahrenheit), there was ice on the seats of our motorcycles. We decided that no matter what, considering the altitude of the day, we would find at least a cabin for the next night. Here it is. We found it!

After all, we are not eskimos !

This is a long week-end again and we don’t want to visit Mesa Verde Saturday or Sunday. Therefore, we decided to take the direction of Durango and from Durango, started 550 North to ride the 236 miles loop back to Durango, which is supposed to be a scenic drive. It is called the San Juan Skyway. What a view ! And the sky is blue again, a little bit chilly, but we are dressed appropriately. It was just spectacular and today, we sincerely regretted not to have a camera mounted directly on the motorcycles. The curves were insane, at times, going straight down while turning. As I was riding, I had to tell myself that I had to look far ahead of where I wanted to go, as when you ride a motorcycle, you go where you look ! This is me on this video. We rode up to 10900 feet (around 3300-3500 Meters)

On his side, Alain was thrilled and quite a few times, he flew in front of me to speed away and have some fun. I was absolutely fine with this, as I did not want the pressure to go too quickly and turn. In the end, we both had a lot of fun at our own pace. Tonight, the mood is much better as we have found a cabin in Ouray. The day would not be complete, as I have forgotten to mention Silverton, one old mining village, which is maintaining its charm : the streets are not paved, the sidewalks are made of wood, the railway road connects between Silverton and Durango with an old steam locomotive.

This road today was our ‘’third coup de coeur’’…. And we are only halfway through it!

October 10, 2010 : This was the end of the San Juan skyway today. A little bit less impressive but still gorgeous.

The weather was again great and the colours of autumn are really making our rides enjoyable, not as red as in Quebec, but still yellows and gold colours. Wow! Alain and I are already talking about coming back and hike around here other times.

In Dolores today, we met one young French guy and another one from Quebec, who hitchhiking across the United States. We have stopped in Cortes tonight, again in a cabin, as the forecast is for chilling temperatures again. We have negotiated a rate of $ 44.00 for the night (last night was around $ 42.00, but we get the heat and a mattress and laundry and hot showers for this price !). You would not believe that after 12 days of sleeping on a 1.5 inches Thermarest mattress, how good it feels to have a real one ! We are also right by the Mesa Verde National Park, that we are eager to visit tomorrow.

Route 66, Roswell, Santa Fe and Bandelier National Park, New Mexico

Oct 1 to Oct 6, 2010 :
This is where we are today :

We left Palo Duro Canyon first in direction of Amarillo. We were aware that this is where we would cross the Historic Route 66. First we saw Cadillac Ranch. Cadillac Ranch consists of 10 vintage Cadillacs buried up to their backseats in a wheatfield, rising out the earth at the same angle as the Cheops pyramid in Egypt. It’s interesting to see the reaction of people who go see the Cadillacs. They say it’s stupid, exentric, weird. It’s interactive in a way as you are welcome to leave your own mark with spray on them. I just found it was funny! You would not believe how many people stop and take pictures of them.


We also stopped in Adrian, Texas, the midpoint of Route 66, between Santa Barbara and Chicago. We enjoyed a Texas size Hamburger and moved on. See Pictures on Picassa.

Concerning the scenery we went from the Panhandle of Texas to the Great Plains of New Mexico. Between Santa Rosa and Vaughn and Vaughn to Roswell, there are milesand miles again of nothing , of almost nothing apart from tarentulas… From Vaughn to Roswell, there is a four lane highway stretching for 95 miles with nothing in between except for a Rest Area midway.

In our mind, we had pictured Roswell to be a village with a few ‘’weird’’ (not aliens, but just weird) inhabitants. In the end, it is a pretty large city. We visited the International Museum of UFOs. Apart from a few clippings on what happened on July 4th, 1947 and the seemingly cover-up from the US government, there is not much to see. When you talk to some inhabitants of Roswell, they are absolutely convinced that aliens exist, as they wonder how we can be all alone in the universe. Personally, I was not convinced one way or the other. I came with scepticism and left with scepticism.

The following day, we left Roswell to Santa Fe area. This was a long drive that finished with some tension between both of us, as we were wasting time looking for a campground and of course, in a case like this, it’s always the other’s fault. Another 500 kilometers or so in one day. An experience not to renew too often. We spent a day shopping, doing the laundry and some errands after this. Not very interesting, but you have to do these chores, from time to time. It’s hard to be on vacation! However, to lighten up our day, we did find some time to visit the Pecos National Park, an old Pueblos ( village), a little bit overated by the guide books in our opinion. You have to be really into archaeology to see the real value, otherwise just use your imagination. A nice walk in all cases!

What to tell you about Santa Fe : according to the guide books we had read, this was a must see. We absolutely agree and both Alain and I fell under the charm of this city. It’s gorgeous, all the architecture harmonizes itself with the surroundings colours of the rocks. This is our second ‘’coup de coeur’’ of our trip so far. There is so much art everywhere you turn around, it is truly amazing. We started by checking out the oldest house of the United States, followed by the oldest church. We then walked through the different streets, the historic plaza where there was a ton of animation, tourists of course, but also Indians selling their jewlery. Ladies, this is a place for you to go shopping ! There are dozens of jewelry stores and art galleries, which are truly beautiful and tasteful. This is a day when Alain is pleased that we are travelling with motorbikes… We think Mexico may look something like this, with this type of architecture, round forms and colours. We have tasted the carnitas with a coke at the same time, a spicy beef with peppers on a tortilla, really good and hot! We had an excellent day as in the morning we were also able to have the BMW dealer in Santa Fe take care of Alain’s motorbike service. The service there was excellent, Cameron in charge of the service department is absolutely to be commanded for his customer service skills. I had asked that, as a favour, they would take care of tightening my chain. When we came back in the evening to pick up Alain’s bike, he had not forgotten and took care of it without delay. I did not have to ask again. He listened. In the morning we were able to take care of one last vaccine. In the end, an expensive day, but really rewarding.

If Simon, our nephew, reads our blog, he will know why we posted the below picture !

Today, October 6, 2010, we have visited the Bandelier National Monument Park, another must see ! Located fairly close to Los Alamos, Bandelier National Park will take you back about 700 years in the past when the Anasazi settled into the Frijoles Canyon. The Canyon dates back to 10,000 years when volcans erupted and recovered the land with ashes. With the erosion, canyons have been created and caves were created.

Alain thought the Aliens were back! No, they are talking only about alien plants. Too bad !

By the way, we have just realized that our campsite is located at over 7100’ (2120 meters). No wonder we have had in the last 3 nights to take out the tuques and the socks and the blankets and the extra long underwear… Chilly in the morning : 45 degrees Fahrenheit, 7.2 degrees Celsius.

Tomorrow we head out to the Enchanted Circle close to Taos, a promising ride !

Texas : Houston, Dallas and Palo Duro Canyon

Originally, when I started this blog, I also wanted to update the map of our itinerary. Well, I found a quicker way than doing it through googlemaps. Here is our itinerary up to Dallas:

Yes, we have arrived in Texas !

Another day under the heat to reach Houston and we made it to, guess where, TheMIGroup office in Houston. Huge and busy office! Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States. Traffic in Houston is fairly heavy and I must admit that the first time I drove within Houston, I was a little bit tense. No kidding, everybody is on the cellular phone while driving. This explains the way they drive.
We have visited the Houston Space Center. This is very informative and priced reasonably, especially as we spent over 4 hours there. We were particularly impressed by the rocket that was shown. See pictures on Picassa.

The following day, we headed to Galveston Island about 120 kms away from Houston. We camped two nights in Galveston, the water was really warm, in the nineties (30 degres celsius). The beach at the Galveston Island State Park is not very clean. They leaves the weeds on the beach and the sea vomits all the empty bottles and all kind of debris on the beach. It was just nice to sit in our camping chairs and for a couple of nights, to swim in the waves and in the evenings, to look at the stars and just talk together. We noted that we must not be quite normal, as we were the only aliens playing in the sea...

We had to select between San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. Dallas being our primary goal since the beginning, we have decided to skip San Antonio and Austin, another hard choice. In Dallas, we have JR to visit...

 

We have now arrived in Dallas (530 kms in one day), and one sore butt later, we went with Devita and Steve, her husband, to a bar called Hank's to taste real Texan food (fried okra, beef brisket, fried jalapenos, fried pickles and hot chicken wings) accompanied by a Shiner bock. As you can see, everything good for our diet... Pictures on Picassa.


Devita and Steve have a gun collection. It's a secret, don't tell anyone! Alain was like a little boy and looked like John Wayne with his cowboy hat and the rifle and colt. Now, who is the sheriff? lol...

Devita prepared a pumpkin pie that is really amazing ! ... and Devita has kindly agreed to share with you and me. See Places and Faces (one of the side bar on the side of this blog) : Devita's Pumpkin Pie Recipe!


On Sunday, Devita and Steve also took us to a Biker's bar. This is a cultural experience, not to be missed on our section : ''faces and places'' for a Culture Shock. Check also the pictures on Picassa called : Stroker's
September 28, 2010 : Back On the Road Again. Another 488 kms with nice weather, not too hot in direction of Palo Duron Canyon. Scenery has changed from green to almost desertic, with small bushes. We took the small roads today : 380West then 83 North and finished by camping in Paducah. Straight roads most of the times with plains as far as your eyes could see. I have now learnt that this part of Texas is called the Panhandle of Texas, but the people we have asked did not seem to know why.

Alain and I have now bought our motorcycle to motorcycle communication system. At the beginning of the day, we were chatting frequently as we had to test our new toy. We agree now that we have it that it is a good idea, better than the light and hands signal system. As we were riding in all these empty spaces, we stopped talking for long period of times and felt engulfed in the immensities of the scenery. The ground is covered with yellowish grass and when it transpired you can see its ocre, almost reddish colour. It would be boring except that from time to time, you have one curve which barely reminds you that you should be slowing down. We slow down slightly, go up the next small hill and straight ahead again, you have yellowish grass, bushes and shrubs for miles and miles. From time to time, on the side of the road, you see a gate with the name : “Pinco Ranch” and you guess that far away, on that gravel road, there will be a residence. Tomorrow we will try to fold the tent early. We are impatient to see the “Grand Canyon of Texas”.

By the way, we were able to make some pictures of cotton fields. Not sure whether I have said so before, but the United States are the third producer of cotton in the world, behind China and India.

After 244 kilometers to reach Palo Duro Canyon, our first impression was a little bit of disappointment. Alain and I have been to Grand Canyon many years ago and Palo Duro Canyon is much smaller. However, again we set up our tent and decides that on September 30, we would hike some short trails. Our short trails turned into an 18 kilometers hike in the heat, with as usual, not enough water. I should know about the water, but once again, we start with the intention of hiking 6K and end up going somewhere else… In all cases, seeing the Canyon from below is really worth it and the ‘’lighthouse’’ walk is not very difficult and worth it. I forgot to say that this morning we finished the scenic ride and we had to cross some water with our motorcycles. Alain had no problems, went slowly and waited for me on the other side of the water way. Alain had said that I should be going at 30 kilometers per hour and then not slow down. This is what I did ! Alain told me that he could not see the top of my windshield. No kidding, I could not see anything, I rode across and did not slow down. I ended up being soak and wet from top up to the underwear.

By the way, our campsite is located at least one kilometer away from the closest restrooms. Needless to say that it requires organization and planning on how much we are drinking during the day, so that we don’t have to crawl out of our sleeping bags during the night. Mosquitos and flies are bad here, despite us reeking of ‘’Off’’.

We are going to take the road to Amarillo and the historic Route 66. Already working on the next post... soon to follow.