Night before last I spent at the Grand Canyon. Got up and took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. WOW is all I can say. The natural beauty of the uSA is astounding. I went on the chopper ride with 2 people from Argentina and 3 German guys. Note: I have seen a large group (about 30) of guys from Norway riding Harleys, a large group from Germany (about 40) another large group from Germany (about 20) all riding Harleys out her in the west. So I talked to one of the guys that went on the chopper ride with me. They pay $200 a day to rent the Harleys. The trip costs them 5,000 euros. Harey gets them in the shop and the deck them out in full Harley regalia leather I am sure at a premium price. The dollar really must be in a slump. I have yet to find a large group of Americans riding out here.
Anyway-after I left the Grand Canyon I headed to Las Vegas. Let me tell you about my windy ride! Gusts of about 40 MPH on the interstate doing 80-85 mph will really make you say a few “Hell Mary’s”! The wind was blowing mainly from the south and I was headed west. But when I would go through a pass you get a calm and s I would come out the other side the wind is hitting the North wall and blowing back into my right side, but as quick as I would counter that gust with a lean, the wind would hit from the left, so I found myself leaning left most of the day with momentary flips to the right. At one point I resorted to just hanging off the left side of the bike so I wouldn’t wear a flat spot on the left side of the tires. I finally made it into Vegas. I checked into Treasure Island Casino/Hotel. Went down, lost $100, went to bed. Vegas seemed dingy and nasty to me. I like the casions on the Gulf Coast a lot better.
I got up this morning and headed to Death Valley. Again, the wind was horrific. Wasn’t supposed to be windy today, but it was. I stopped to get gas right before going into Death Valley and met a really nice guy from Canada on a Triumph Triple. He was headed back to cCanada, had gone down to Kansas for some contract work. his name is Jim. Talked with him for a bit-he has gone through Central America on a KLR Motorcycle. Got to death Valley about 2 pm. (Yeah I slept in late in Vegas and got a late start). Death Valley was hot and completely bone dry. What a stark feeling. The beauty of the place is immense! I had a really good time just riding around and checking out all the canyons etc. Since I have the Dual Sport bike I could hit the gravel areas as well as the asphalt areas. Dropped the bike in one spot. Deep gravel caught the front tire and down I went. low speed, no damage to the bike-just my pride. Little difficult trying to get the bike up in deep gravel and then get it moved to more solid ground so I could continue. Especially since I have a full load on the bike, probably a couple extra hundred pounds. But no problems-Spent the whole day in the Valley, really cool place! I highly recommend it! Spending the night in Ridgecrest. Wanted to make it to Bakersfield but was tired and hungry. Tomorrow I am headed to the Sequoia National Forest. I want to drive through a tree!!
