To the Moto Guzzi rally in Salida, CO.

Pops flew in and we grabbed a couple of bikes and took off for the Guzzi rally in Salida. Overnighted in Moab and saw some the sites around there. Met up with Clark as well as the Kerensky crew, for a great dinner at Buck's. Thanks Jerry!

Second day was full of great riding getting to Salida. The Salida Sons of Italy Chapter did a great job of feeding and entertaining on Saturday night.

When the rally was over, we headed north toward Steamboat. Plenty of snow left at the higher elevations!

Dinosaur National Monument visitor center in Colorado is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

25-27 June are the dates for the national Moto Guzzi rally in Salida. Check http://www.motoguzzicolo.com/ , for updates.

Meeting with Professor Gary

Professor Gary was going to be in Dubois, Wy. with a few of his friends, they were passing through on their 3 week moto tour. Three of us, including Carpenter Mike and the Colonel, rode through rain and snow to meet the group at the Rustic Pine ( http://www.rusticpinetavern.com/ ) for dinner. I recommend going there and ordering the London broil.

Two of us headed toward Mt. Home, ID. the next morning with the group. The Colonel headed another way to go work on a merit badge.

The two of us visited, Teton National Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Hagerman Fossil beds N.M., Minidoka Internment National Monument, and City of Rocks National Preserve.

If you find yourself in Oakley, Idaho, Judy's Cafe is the place to eat.

Baker, Nevada Guzzi gathering

Bert put on his annual gathering in Baker, NV at the Silver Jack Inn ( http://www.silverjackinn.com/ ).

Two good nights of food, drink, and friends. There are not many distractions in Baker, so things are always relaxing. Great Basin National Park is just a few minutes away. A few of us took a tour of Lehman Caves. Still enough snow on Wheeler Peak and Jeff Davis Peak to make a few turns.

Some neighbors from home showed up in Baker late Saturday night as they rode the Trans-America Trail to the Pacific coast.

Capitol Reef

Driver and Greenpeace invited me to camp with them in the Capitol Reef National Park area for a couple of nights. They had a spectacular campsite and were kind enough to cook for me. Too many places to explore in this area with my limited time on this trip. Greenpeace had left home with a KLR, but arrived in Utah with a KTM990. Not a bad trade.

Made it home in time to catch Col. Bob's party that he throws every year at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City. A European bike show (mostly BMW) and an abundance of brats for lunch, make for a nice fundraiser for the museum at the Fort.

Still have snow

Current snow depth behind the house.

All you can eat King crab legs

Col. Bob and Ken were riding to Sedona to meet up with Doug for the Thursday night King crab feed at the Sedona airport restaurant. They invited me along. I left a day later and after riding through snow and rain as I left northern Utah, I opted to overnight in St. George, UT for the night. The following day on the way to Sedona, I was able to get new national park stamps at Pipe Springs NM, Wupatki NM, and Sunset Crater NM. Additionally, I was earned a performance driving award by the ASP, near Jacob Lake. With that stop, I barely made it to the dinner reservation, in Sedona, on time. Not sure how much I ate, but I feel like it was a good value.

We all stopped at Snow Canyon state park near St. George, on the way home. Bob and Ken were part of a big party going there with other moto riders. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Gun Barrel in St. George and we parted ways. They for their tents, and me for a bed.

Sedona was a let down. Maybe my expectations were off. The place reminded me more of Disneyland than any other place. I didn't spend more than about 15 hours there, so maybe I need to give it another chance when we go back for more crab legs. Doug was a great host. We watched a good John Wayne flick while staying at his estate.

Photo above is of the old Grafton town site. Grafton has been featured in some films, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Nice day for touring around the mountains. Snow conditions were about as variable as one could find.

Just another powder day

Just another great April powder day. Donuts skiing Jupiter Bowl in the photo.

Skiing Iron Mtn.

Great conditions on Iron Mtn. The dogs love it there.

After a little climbing, we found some good snow.

Last day of desert riding

Too many place to go visit, and not enough time left on this trip to see them all.

Ride to Thanksgiving dinner

Went out alone and took the long way through the Mojave desert, to Thanksgiving dinner. This was probably the most scenic drive that I'd ever taken to a turkey dinner.

More S.W. Utah riding

Kind of feeling lazy today, but we figured we should get the bikes out and at least run them for an hour or two. Forgot the name of this route, but it is a popular St. George area ride, that we had done before. This time was the best, since one of us didn't bend the shift shaft on our bike.

No dirt today. Enjoyed the ride from St. George, UT. to Mesquite, NV., for a late lunch at a Mexican food joint. Made a loop out of it by taking the old highway back to St. George. Didn't realize how early it was getting dark now.

Stansbury single track

Might have been the last chance for riding here before snow. There is already a little snow up higher.

Rabbit Valley

Carpenter Mike, Kathy, Jen, and I met up with Greg in Rabbit Valley for 2 days of riding. Nice to be here while it is snowing in northern Utah. Spent the night in Fruita, CO. in a motel.

Carpenter Mike did make it back in one piece, but just barely. Ask him about the train tracks...

You can't ride a motorcycle from Rabbit Valley to Fruita, on the Kokopelli trail.

4 days in Moab

Rode Steelbender with Carpenter Mike and Chainsaw Mike as well as Fred. The next day we rode White Rim trail, less Fred. Clark joined me on Fins and Things while Mike pedaled and Mike rested. The last day Mike. Mike, and myself, rode up Long Canyon and looped back through Gemini Bridges.

We met Grant Else ( http://www.grantelse.blogspot.com/ ) who was camped out on the White Rim, while on his way from British Columbia to Central America. Grant was riding a Suzuki Vstrom 1000.

On the same trail, we also met Rob and Nancy. They had been on their bikes for about 6 weeks, after leaving Portland, Maine. During that time, they had managed to get married while in California. They were working their way back home when we saw them. Nancy and Rob are the proprietors of Hugo's restaurant in Portland ( http://www.hugos.net/ ). Rob was riding a Triumph Tiger and Nancy was on a BMW 650.

Photo of Rob and Nancy is by Chainsaw Mike

Riding with the Czech guys

After GNATSASS 2007, Stan headed to Huntsville, UT. to meet up with Dag and Jan. These three grew up riding motorcycles together in Prague, CZ. Carpenter Mike and I met them for dinner at the Shooting Star in Huntsville, and we decided that we should all do a ride in the next day or two. Driver was meeting us on the ride date as well.

We meet at the Jeremy Ranch road near Park City. From there the route went something like this: over Guardsman Pass into Heber Valley, up Center Canyon and then down the West Fork of the Duchesne, lunch at the Hanna Cafe, tarmac almost to Wolf Creek pass, turn onto Cold Spring road, down the ATV trail to Soapstone, to Mirror Lake Hwy, up to the Norway Flats road leading to Washington Lake, back to Hwy. 150. We split up from here. Half of us going to Kamas and the other half to Evanston. Hope to ride with all of these guys again soon!

GNATSASS 2007

Northern Nevada. Bert hosts another 4-day bash with some good riding as well!
Jarbidge, Tusarora, Taylor Canyon, etc...