Sturgis Family Circus Trip 2013
This trip would be a first for my daughters family as they have never been beyond Las Vegas, NV or Lake Havasu, AZ in their travels so they will get to see new states and a lot of new sights.
Left home just before 8am on Monday July 29th and headed out the 210 freeway towards Las Vegas.
First stop is just past Barstow, a small blip on the map called Yermo, known for Calico Ghost Town but we're stopping for breakfast at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner.
We've stopped here many times to eat and gas up.....the motorcycle group I ride with meets there twice a year with quite a few other chapters.
Here we met up with daughter Anna, her husband Scott and my grand daughter/riding partner Lily.
They live out in Santa Clarita so they take Hwy-138 on the north side of the mountains from where we live.
After breakfast we head out towards Vegas again....next stop will be at State Line just before Vegas to gas up which we will do many times in the next two weeks.
After State Line Della and I had no plans to stop in Vegas but the kids did, so while they did their thing, Della and I headed on towards St. George, UT stopping in Mesquite for gas again.
Found our motel just north of St. George, UT a Quality Inn.
After getting settled we hit the pool.
The rest of the crew showed up after dinner time.
Tuesday morning after our free breakfast we get things loaded up and were headed to Zion.
From St. George to Zion is only about 40 miles to the entrance so that will be an easy ride. On this leg of the trip Lily would be riding with me while Della rode with Anna and Scott in the car.
This is their view of us a little farther down the road.....
Shortly we come to the Zion west entrance.
Zion entrance station......got my Senior Park Pass which gives free access to all National Parks.
In Zion we stopped and checked out the Visitor Center.
After the Visitor Center we took the shuttle that runs through the main part of the park where only permitted vehicles are allowed.
When I was here as a kid there was no shuttle so this was different.
After the shuttle ride we continued on while stopping for photo ops.
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| Anna and Scott |
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The small hole in the rock face is an opening in the mile long tunnel for light.......there are three or four such openings but even with them the tunnel is totally black inside.
Photo op break.
Spent a lot of time waiting for the crew......
So finally we get to the tunnel and we have to wait for a bit as there is some maintenance work which requires them to limit traffic flow.
This is one of those light windows in the tunnel. There are no lights in the tunnel so when your past them it's really dark.
You better have good working headlights and not be afraid of the dark!
Now it's time for lunch so as we exit Zion we head east on Highway 9 towards Mt. Carmel.
I've stayed in Mt. Carmel before at the Best Western Thunderbird Inn.
The restaurant is excellent! We got lucky and slipped in between two bus loads of tourists.
After lunch we're on our way to Bryce National Park and the landscape changes a bit.....
Even with two camera operators somehow the Bryce park entrance sign was missed.
They did catch a cool place to stay near the entrance though...
These were here when I was a kid so they must be popular.
Continuing on into the park we stopped at some overlooks for the spectacular view.....
When I was a kid I took pictures from that high point across the canyon.
The colors are amazing!
The following picture is looking east towards Escalante Petrified Forest State Park and Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park, all of which I rode through back in 2006 with some fellow riders.
Scott - Anna - Lily at Bryce Canyon National Park
Since it's getting to be late afternoon it's time to head for Richfield, Utah and our accommodations at another Quality Inn.
Wednesday morning we're up early for our free Continental breakfast, pack our gear and off we go.
Leaving by 8am we should should get to the Super "8" Motel in Longmont, today's destination, 550 miles away, by 5 or 6pm in time for dinner and hopefully meet some friends of ours who live just up the road in Loveland.
From Richfield we head east on I-70.
Our next pit stop will be a rest stop at the San Rafael Swell about 30 miles west of Green River, Utah.
This year I notice they've added solar powered lighting for the area and apparently they've had a lot of rain as things look really green by comparison to previous trips through here.
The light poles have signs on them stating that soliciting or selling is prohibited......seems the natives must not be able to read the signs....
They have truckloads of this stuff laid out along the sidewalk and those who stop gladly empty their wallets.
Every piece they have is available in multiple color versions for any style of decor.
It is nice but how much of it can you buy.
Good thing I can't carry too much extra on the bike......
Of course no road trip would be complete without stopping at the state entrance signs......
I can't seem to get away from the Avon lady.
Entering Colorado the scenery changes again to lots of trees and real mountains. We pass through towns like Fruita, which was initially a fruit growing area but today is a recreation destination.
Grand Junction, Rifle, a settlement of trappers but today is also a recreation area, Vail, known world wide for snow skiing, Eagle, Copper Mountain.
The highlight for Lily on this part of the ride is getting to ride through the
Eisenhower Johnson Tunnel.
Out the east side of the tunnel and it looks like rain ahead......
Several miles later it started to sprinkle on us.....since it wasn't that cold we decided not to stop and put on any rain gear......good thing as it only lasted a few minutes.
Obligatory shot from chase vehicle.....
The ski resorts have found ways to make money even without snow. Mountain biking was the first thing that they opened the ski runs to and the latest is the Zip Line as evidenced by these towers that have sprung up.
Some of them are pretty tall.
A few miles farther along we come across some construction. They are widening the tunnels which is a pretty awesome project.
Around the detour, on the other side of the tunnel, we saw a structure used for working on the tunnel.
We've finally hit our turn off to Golden, Colorado, which will let us bypass the heavy traffic heading to Denver.
About an hour later we arrived at the Longmont Super "8".
Checked my voice mail and had a message from our friends wanting to know if we had arrived.
Called them up and they came down and we all went to eat at a Mexican restaurant next door.
That was a dining experience to remember as when everyone ordered drinks I ordered a 7&7.
A few minutes later the waiter came back and asked what I ordered so I told him and said if
you don't have Seagram's 7 use Canadian Club and 7-Up or Sprite.....pretty easy drink order for any bartender.....NOT......another few minute go by and the bartender comes over and asks again. By this time everyone else has drinks and is cracking up over my drink order.
When I finally get the drink to be kind, it wasn't worth the wait.
Food wise it was a C+.
After dinner our friends left and everyone is ready to hit the sack.
While they were doing that I went up to my buddies place since it was his day off.
We just hung out and talked shop.
Later that day the whole gang got together for BBQ at my buddies house then took some pictures.....
Hilarity brought to you by camera operator error.......relatively new camera with too many functions........
A few more hours of chit chat and it's back to the motel for a good nights sleep.
Friday morning and time to get back on the road......just a short 377 miles to Custer, South Dakota and our base until Tuesday.
Headed north on I-25 towards Cheyenne, Wyoming so of course we have to stop at the Wyoming sign......
Then of course the Nebraska sign.....
Our trip is going a little different than our usual
route, we are heading into Nebraska this trip to
Della and her imaginary friend....
Detroit's Legacy
Some crazy monsters out there too......
After spending some time wandering around Carhenge it was time to hit the road again.
Headed north and picked up highway 385 which would take us all the way to Custer.
Along the way we passed through Wind Cave National Park and saw a lot of buffalo grazing.
On the way into Custer you pass the old Custer Saw Mill.
Finally our destination....The Buffalo Ridge West Western.....
This will be our third time staying here.
After getting settled we head across the parking lot to the Captain's Table for a really good dinner.....
This place has some of the best food I've ever eaten and the pricing is not bad either.
Time to kick back and relax.........
To be continued.......
