Sunny Southern Utah

        The next trip of any significance was in 2013. We traveled down through southern Utah again but this time we headed towards Zion. However cold I may have been on the last trip was equaled by how HOT I was on this one. I quickly learned that there is a very narrow temperature range that is fitting on a motorcycle. 60 to 80 degrees is really right where you want to stay. It is harder to keep a pleasant countenance if you veer too much out of this range.

        We are headed to Bryce, and I am excited to not be cold! As we travel further and further south the sun beats down. It is summer and it is hot. A stifling choking hot. I really wish I could take off my jacket and wear shorts, but there is no escaping the sun and I can't risk the exposure.

         We stop at Goblin valley, and it is amazing. Truly one of nature's works of art. I would love to walk among all the hoodoos, but I don't get very far. It is too tempting to take the opportunity to shield myself from the sun in the bowery and pour water over myself. 

          On the way to Bryce we have a beautiful highway drive in the evening through a picturesque winding highway that takes us by remarkable scenery, formations, and across mountain tops. Then the rain rolls in. Luckily it is not too much further til we reach the hotel soaked, tired, and hungry. The storm promises to stick around for a few days, but we are lucky again because the next day we are able to travel around Bryce canyon and hike and enjoy without any weather problems. I wasn't even too hot.

          We prepare to leave the next morning. The storm has picked up again, and travels with us. I am thankful for the huge ugly bulgy bodysuit that my husband has bought for me. It is the most waterproof thing ever. It is quite an experience to speed down the lonely desert roads with lightning crashing not too far off around you. On the motorcycle, you are part of nature. It is a 3D experience. All your senses are tuned in to the environment around you. This is what makes it so amazing and awe inspiring on one hand, but also can be downright miserable and scary on the other.

The First Ride

       One would assume that traveling to southern Utah in May would be a pleasant sort of experience. I was a first timer. This was my first motorcycle. The year was 2012.....

        To introduce me to "the bike", my husband thought it would be fun to take a quick overnight trip down to Cedar City. Have a nice ride, enjoy a good dinner, stay in a hotel, and then come home. It sounded good; especially the dinner and hotel part. By the time we got there it was cold and amazingly windy. Dn't worry, it seems that wind does not push your bike over if you are on it. At least not yet. Rule number one: anything can and will happen on the bike which leads to Rule number two: be prepared. For anything. Seriously.

         We do get there, and we have a nice dinner in a nice restuarant on a cold ride up the canyon. Rule number three: even if you don't feel cold when you start out, you soon will be. Bone chilling miserable type cold that takes 3 days to warm up from. So just start out in enough body clothing that you are sweating profusely to give yourself a small chance of fighting the eventual cold. Rule number four: don't ride at night. See rule number three.

          The next morning we wake early to get a head start home (basically make a run for it). There is a nasty storm coming in hard. Rule number five; if you have any hair at all you need to get expert in braids, ponies or anything you can come up with to keep as much hair as possible contained. This prevents 3 hours of knot combing. There we are driving from Cedar City to Salt Lake in ridiculously cold weather without any stops because even one stop will cause the storm to overtake us. Rule number six: if at all possible don't travel 5 hours straight on a motocycle without allowing yourself an opportunity to get off for a break. I was so cold I was sure that my toes had hypothermia. This would not be the last time I have felt that way either. However each time I ride I get a little better prepared. It's a process and a learning curve for sure. Our subsequent trips have been full of adventure both good and bad and I am glad to catalog these trips because our time together and our experience is priceless.