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Texas, Arizona & California 2000/01
Nevada, Utah and home!


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Decided to spend a few days in Nevada, so we headed up to Laughlin on the Colorado River for the night, where the casinos let you stay in their parking lot in your RV for free.  It's a mini version of Las Vegas with several of the same casinos , like The Flamingo, Hurrahs, etc.   We found the buffets to be a better bargain than Vegas - we ended up having the dinner buffet (all you can eat and drink - beer and wine - for $6.99), the breakfast special (build your own omelette, hash browns, toast and coffee for 99 cents), and then the buffet lunch (same as dinner but no booze for $4.99) all at the Flamingo!   Took a bike ride in the morning to Lake Apache and then over the mountains before leaving for Vegas, where we stayed at the Showboat again (now called the Castaways) for 3 nights as we like the facilities there - full hookups including telephone for $18.  First stop on the Strip was at Bellagio where we watched several of their water shows (synchronized fountains and music).  Checked out the new Aladdin but didn't think much of it as it really just had an indoor shopping mall and the casino - no extravagant stuff like many of the others - and had a ride up the Stratosphere tower ($6 for Sandy but I got the $4 senior rate!).  Took a couple of very scenic bike rides - one to Valley of Fire and Lake Mead, and the other to Red Rock Canyon.
 

Laughlin, NV
Laughlin Casinos
No thanks !
 
Las Vegas, NV
The Strip, from the Stratosphere
Bellagio Water Show
Bellagio & Caesar's Palace
Red Rock Canyon
 Sandy at Rabbit Rock
 Red rocks
Sandy
Valley of Fire
 Arriving at Valley of Fire
 Squirrel Rock
 One of the Seven Sisters
 Multi coloured rocks

Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon in Utah were our next stops.  We'd seen many pictures of these parks and had wanted to visit for a long time.  Stayed in Zion two days before going to Bryce, which is much higher (8000') and still had snow on some of the roads and hiking trails.  Both parks were really good, but Bryce was more spectacular. Zion had the road mainly in the bottom of the canyon so the views were upwards, whereas at Bryce, you really didn't see anything when driving as the road was along the top of the canyon - so you parked, walked to the edge and looked down on it all - making it more breathtaking.
 

Zion National Park, Utah
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 Driving around Zion

 
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 Turkeys, climbers and coloured rocks.
We needed an escort through the tunnel as we were oversized (cost extra $10)
View from the hike above the tunnel.

 
Bryce Canyon, Utah
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Sunset Point - the main scenic overview

 
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 Inspiration Point (8100') was still snowed in.
Rainbow Point (9115')
Natural Bridge (8627')
Hiking path through the Hoodoos

The last stop on this trip is Moab (elevation 4000' and population 5000), probably one of the most scenic areas in Utah, with Arches and Canyonlands National Parks being close by.  Everybody in Moab has either a jeep, an off-road motorcycle or a mountain bike (or all three).  Moab is definitely the capital of off-roading in the USA.  Tomorrow (April 7) is the start of Jeep Jamboree week where 1500 jeeps will attend a week long meeting and every hotel and campsite in town is full.  I was planning to join the "Moab Spodefest" - about 40 riders, mainly from Colorado but some coming from California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Georgia - even one from Australia!  These guys have been coming here every April for over 10 years and the ride is organized over the Internet.  My first ride with a couple of them was an experience - the trail, Moab Rim, turned out to be the hardest in Moab and had several 3'+ rock steps on a very severe slope up the side of the Colorado canyon.  These guys were just hopping up the steps like they weren't there but I gave up pretty quickly after dropping the bike a couple of times and bending 'important bits'.  I rode with them at Slickrock and did pretty good, but I decided to join a breakaway group the next day who were doing an easier ride than the main group.  Turned out good overall and I had some really good rides - even though the weather deteriorated and was cold and wet for a couple of days.  Enjoyed being in Canyonlands RV Park as it's right downtown (and Moab is very small - the main street is less than a mile) and we usually just walked to the grocery store, restaurants, etc.
 

Arches National Park, Moab
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 A bike ride through Arches National Park
Rock "Fins"
Landscape Arch
Skyline Arch

 
Moab Trails
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 Rock fall !
The Schafer Trail in Canyonlands
Porcupine Rim Trail, before and after the storm
Colorado River from Slickrock
Spectacular scenery on the 2001 Moab Spodefest Bike Ride

Packed up and left Sunday morning (April 8) for a 3 day 3000 Km drive back home.  For the last leg of our trip we always just drive from 9 am to 11 pm and pull into a truckstop overnight.  Our route took us through Denver, CO, Omaha, NB, Des Moines, IA, Chicago, IL, then home, arriving late Tuesday night, completing a 22,000 Km trip - 17,000 in the truck and 5,000 on the bike.

There are also many photographs from this trip on the "Bike Stuff" part of my website - click here for a shortcut there or go back via my home page.


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This page last updated on May 4, 2001