Heading south on Interstate 15 was about all I had really decided on when I left home. It seems like Idaho Falls is the natural stop for dinner, and it’s usually the first glimpse of green grass on the sides of the freeway off ramps. I pulled in and had a bite to eat, and jumped on their wifi as I had a plan! With all of the driving I do, a couple of guys at work had put me on to a Canadian podcaster living in Las Vegas. It’s a Supercross/ motocross podcast, which to me, is the equivalent of Nascar, but hey, it’s a 6 hour round trip to work, and there is coincidentally 6 hours of weekly content! Perfect. So, while I have been following it for a few years now, to call me a ‘fan’ is a stretch. I follow rally raid and hard enduro motorcycle sports, and the athletes are civil and friendly with each other, but the money is so big in the US, the riders are not friendly or civil to each other and they often go out of their way to knock out their completion, usually leading to injuries. . . . . anyhoo, the last race of the winter indoor season, which will decide three class champs is Saturday in Vegas! It’s like any large stickball sport, and an experience, if even just once. . . which is my intent. I booked a ticket, clearly based heavily on price, in the nose-bleed seats for the end of the week race.
So after some fantastic peace and quiet camping on Wire Mesa, I hit the road Saturday morning for Henderson Nevada, and eastern community of Vegas. Here is the first view, after a very beautiful 3 hour drive from southern Utah.
Since the intent was to visit one of these events only once, I pretty much showed up when the gates opened, and it was to be a solid 9 hour affair, with really only 2 hours off competitive racing and an hour of practise. That left plenty of time (6 1/2 hours too many) to wander the pits, and check for appearance by riders.
Boom! A bunch of fireworks and explosions, and it starts. I don’t frequent big sports, and there are 40,000 people here. It’s actually a pretty good perspective vs video coverage, so I actually enjoyed watching it.
Once it was all over, I tried heading out, but after one block, I was turned back into gridlock. After and hour of not moving, I signalled back into a parking lot people were trying to leave, and one of the traffic control gave me guff and ‘tude, but I insisted, plowed over a cone, drove into the lot, shut’er down, and crawled into bed for an hour. HAHA! The camper is awesome! When I woke up, everyone was gone, and I drove to a casino beside the Hoover dam, parked beside a trailer doing the same, and hit the hay.
First thing in the morning was a stop to the dam, which is really cool to behold. RB and I were here in 2011.
I was on my way to Sedona, where I hoped I wouldn’t get sucked into some ‘freaky-maleaky vortex’. I knew I was getting close when I came upon a road orange stuck in the sand with a note.
Even the fruit is weird! I headed straight for a spot in the desert about 10 miles out of town, and set up camp. It was magical! no people, no cars, no lights, no nuttin’.
In the morning I headed in for some bike riding, but the area I planned to go to was inundated with people, so I tried somewhere else. Once I found a place to park, a couple approached me asking about the camper. We go t to talking about the general experience of Sedona. I hadn’t even been there a day, and while it is beautiful, there are tooooooo many people. They asked if I had ever been to Utah. ‘Pffffffftttt, uh yeah’. The had just come from there and wished they had never let. Guess I know where I’m going next! I did have a great ride around and the trails were great. I even found the Chapel of the Holy Cross.
After a solid days ride, I split. . . . . .
Travelling through some forests that Tronald Dump had raked to prevent forest fires.
I found another great spot in a National Forest, shed the camper. . .
and headed straight over to. . . .
The most Grandios Canyon!!
The weather hasn’t really been great, but I headed down a trail into the canyon, but it started to rain, so after a few hours heading down, I booted back up to the top before I got too soaked. Driving around the rim, the views of the canyon just never cease to amaze.
I stayed two nights there, then continued to Utah, but not before eating gas station corn dog!
Stopped briefly at Gooseneck State park.
I arrived in Moab Utah, booked a camping spot, the first and only time I paid for a spot, and booked a shuttle for the Whole Enchilada and had dinner with my friendly neighbours and called it a night. The next morning I hopped the shuttle a rode the trail, my second time ever, and it was awesome! Lots of rocks, sand and some big drops. I never crashed once!
I kept bumping into this couple from Prince George, so they just said ‘why don’t you just ride with us?’ We had a great day bombing downhill, rode into town for burgers and shakes, and from there, I hit the road back home. We have things to look after at home, so it was a bitter-sweet end to the trip. I was gone just a couple days under two weeks, and I really could have stayed out longer and was really enjoying camper life. Next time, maybe RB and I can actually go somewhere together for a change.