Montana. Livingston I presume?

Montana the last state before we hit Canada, once again we are hiding out in a motel. Rain and hail falls outside on the motorcyles, as we lay in bed catching up with this blog. Snow is falling higher up the pass. Livingston has 6000 residents and a cinima so we will watch the new Prince of Persia and wait for the sun to return. W seem to be too early in the Season. Normally it's 20 degrees here, today just 5 degrees. We are watching the weather in Canada closely. We don't wont to hit a big snow storm in the middle of no where.. All's good though a comfortable bed, internet but no phone signals, the land lines wont let us make international call for some reason..Oh well TV and munchies... Glacier National Park when the snow moves on..

Yellowstone

Like most people in the UK, we have heard of Yellowstone, seen the footage of bears and wolfs. I was aware we had arrived early in the year and just days before we had roads closed due to snow. As we approached the park we were greeted with fantastic vies of the Teetons Mountains. A fantastic ridge of mountain peaks that stretched for as far as the eyes could see. Surely Yellowstone couldn't be as good as the Teetons?

It was, as we drove into the park we snaked our way up a very steep road following a river, that turned into a gorge then a canyon, The view became larger and grander. It was stunning, we stopped to take pictures of the gorge and i wished i had a better camera to capture the scene that lay before us. Buffalo, Deer, elk lined the road. We headed higher into the snow line. The roads were clear but the snow banked six foot to either side. Old Faithful geyser was not as faithful but the other guysers were beautiful, hot springs and steam bellowed from small craters with fantastic colours of volcanic rock. Yellowstone Park have board walks that stretch over the craters and you can get real close without damaging the delicate environment. We stopped and took pictures and right in front of us was an imprint of a wolf that had crossed the area a few days before its track clear and large. Next to to the wolf track was a Grizzley bear track it s print the same size as my boot. Were later bought some bear spray.
That night we camped, at Madison, at 8000 feet or so it became cool, but we had a fire and spent the evening chatting to a lovely couple from Vancouver Island Bruce and Pam.

Rock Springs to Yellowstone

On route from Zion we had a few days off from riding , once again due to the weather. We hid out in a little town called Rock Springs, it was a three horse town, just! it had a cinema and a few wall marts but it felt like the town was built but people hadn't moved in yet. After two days holding up watching the USA channel we had to get out of there. We drove a fantastic road into and out of Rock Springs over the tops of a mountain range, but it was so cold and the weather was changing to snow.

Eventual we arrived at Jackson Hole, a real tourist trap, but with a hint of the old west and an alpine ski resort. We found a great hotel, The Painted Buffalo, got warmed and settled and headed off to explore, we stumbled on an old style cinema, you know the type where there is a booth outside where you buy your tickets. Inside was an old type confectionary stall. The Movie: Shrek Forever in 3D, we laughed at the modern movie in the old style environment. Jackson is a great place and only sixty miles from Yellowstone, it is a haven for travelers.

Picture will follow when we get a better internet connection.

Zion, Canyoneering

Zion is a fantastic place, its like being in the Grand Canyon, on either side you are surrounded by giant red rock mountains.
We spent two nights there one night in a hotel and the second camping. On the second day we went canyoneering, which is similar to gorge walking but on the is canyon there was no water so lots of absailing down sandstone gullies. Watching out for Rattle snakes.

Vegas Repite

After being on the road and not taking many breaks we started to get tired and grumpy, so we hit Vegas! or rather hit a hotel in vegas. Our first night there we headed to the main strip, margarita's in hand and little dabble on the slots. Before we new it we were a little drunk and we had won a few bucks and was suffering exhaustion. tipsy we retired with a out winnings

Route 66

After the Grand Canyon, we spent a night in Williams and then headed down the old Route 66, the largest section thats left. We stopped at a town that resembled CARS the movie, as the film told the story of the I40. Seligman is that town.

The Grand Canyon

After the Strawberry Volcano we headed north to the South rim of The Canyon, we had dreamed of this place for years and it was a definitive land mark in the trip. The road up to the canyon offered fantastic views and we even thought we were looking at part of it, but it turned out to be just a little canyon! The Navajo have loads of land here and offer a vast cultural history behind the canyons. On arrival we met a group of bikers who were had training and usual conversation were swapped, were are you from? etc.
We strolled to the viewing point and our expectations were fulfilled. it truly is wonder of the world. The canyons, volcano's and the meteor crater seemed insignificant to the sight that lay before us. I wanted to capture its beauty and vastness but realized a mere photo could never do that. So we present our little pictures safe in the knowledge that its beauty has to be seen to be believed.

Strawberry Volcano

Well considering that natural disasters and natures worst has delayed this trip we thought we would check out a volcano that erupted less than 100 years ago and wow it was cool. Nearby was an Indian Reserve with remnants of a settlement, all along the tour there was plants with information about its use and edibility. For those of you who know us, we were buzzing to pick up some Bushcraft knowledge. The roads were amazing through lava fields.

The Meteor Crater

Heading towards the Grand Canyon

Ride Past White Sands

Show Low

We left Carrizozo New Mexico at six am this morning after only covering one hundred miles the day before due to very strong winds. We stopped at a little town with less ten 1500 people who live there. After lunch we popped into a Pawn shop, because we have never been in one before. The proprietor Barbie, was very cool and we spent an hour or two chatting and sharing views of the world.

So in the dark this morning we headed of into the desert, past The White Stands, where the first Nuclear Bomb was tested,It was very cold 3c the views were spectacular, we took some pictures but we needed to clear the area before the sun kicked up the winds again.

We are stopped at Show Lo (Arizona) a pretty large town. Tomorrow we will go visit the Meteor Crater before heading up to the Grand Canyon..

The route to come !

View Larger Map

The Aliens have landed

Heading southwest we passed through Hereford, a cattle town where the smell of cows filled the air, it was like going back in time, a train track ran next to the road and broken down buildings in the old western style creaked and swayed in the wind. We sat at a railway crossing and watched as a train loaded with cattle trundled past for ten minutes, thats how large the train was!

It was a great ride into New Mexico through open planes, we only shared the road every twenty minutes or so, it was like a dual carriage so way we rode side by side on roads thats ran straight for as far as the eye could see, roads that would make the Roman Empire jealous.

We eventual landed in Roswell,I wasn't sure what to expect after hearing the name of this town for many years associated with UFO conspiracies. It is a town like any other on the surface, with it McDonalds and shops, but look closer and you notice all the lamp post have alien heads, even the insurance companies have space ships in their advertising, its cheesy but it also fun, spot the alien! Resident here enjoy the their unusual tourist trade, some didn't even know the story of the UFO incident until it was aired on TV in the 80's, Once a year they have a Alien Festival, unfortunately we are a month early.

Winds are becoming challenging and today we are forcast 50mph gusts so we are going to have a rest day and get our hair cut.. Who knows it might be by an alien....

Texas off-road

We took a detour off the beaten track, we ended up in the middle of no where miles away from the main roads and found a lot of sand, its a big bikes worst nightmare, three hours later and a lot of sweat we managed to find our way back to a dirt track and then the road. The Gps and a map was useless, We knew which way we had to go but the track ended. After cutting a across open land for miles, we even had to cut a fence to get to the track, if we hadn't we would of still been on the lost trail. We fixed the fence, learned a lesson or two and laughed about it later..

Taz had a drop, just a wobble and she put it down, Taz did amazing well, she mastered the Dakar, the 1200 is heavy beast to be taken off road, i will want to loose the panniers for anything serious.

The Windy City

It was a windy day again today, so we took half a day off from riding across Oklahoma and went to see the new Iron Man movie in El Rino a tiny little town along te I40 which had a fantastic cinema...

We also paid a visit to the post office to get stamps for the post cards, you have to but them from the post office it next to impossible to find them any where else...