Day Tripper

 Ulysses Macarthur Branch ride to Greenwell point (near Nowra) Sunday 23rd Jan 2011.Starting time 8-30am The temp for the day was forecast 34decc

We arrived just as the briefing finished and estimated 22- 23 bikes and 1 trike.Leaving Narellan McDonald's we took the bypass through Camden, picked up Stuart, John and Margaret at Bargo and  headed to Yerrinbool.

Morning tea was at Robinson after a very bumpy ride on the back roads, the road had deterioratated since we had been on it last.Vic notices the bumps even more has he was on his 650 Kawasaki.Many riders bought their own morning tea whilst others bought coffee and cool drinks and sat in the Park
After being entertained by Shane about his brand New Harley we set of  going pass the lavender farm and the scenery was just beautiful, the fields are green and lush
.We ride towards Fitzroy Falls and Kangaroo Valley.
The traffic is very light so we all had a good run up and down the mountain. Kangaroo Valley village was very busy with day tourists as the temp was at least 4 deg cooler in the valley.

Arriving at the junction of the highway roundabout it was very busy  with traffic, so we took quite a bit of time crossing onto the Highway.Moving through Nowra we turn off to our destination and ride to Greenwell point
It is beautiful little fishing village on an inlet of two rivers, we had fish and chips on the banks of the river with a cool breeze just magic.
We said our goodbyes and rode home again up over Kangaroo Valley we beat the rain got home about 3pm.
It was  a great day trip

Mid week ride

Meeting at McGraths Hill at 9-30am 6/1/2011 first mid week ride

.

After a big discussion Vic and I decided not to use the M7 tollway, so we took the scenic route, which took in many traffic lights from home. Onto Mame Road then St Marys then through Dunheved onto Richmond Road through Riverstone onto Windsor Road to McDonalds at 9-25am just in time to get a briefing from our ride leader Keith. It took us ¾ hour to arrive at the starting point. I made a statement by wearing my new jacket and helmet.

24 riders, including two virgins, assembled at McDonalds, McGrath’s Hill ready for the 9:30am take off. Two late arrivals made the number 26.

 Our route was directly over the Bells Line of Road, where there was some drizzle and fog, through to Lithgow and then on to Bathurst.

There were no regroups, apart from a wet weather gear stop, so as a result we were strung out like the proverbial ‘Browns Cows’. Stopping at a little park just on the outskirts of Bathurst we had morning tea and by the time the tail enders arrived the early arrivals were almost ready to leave.

Worth mentioning that one or two decided to see how much he weighed and diverted into the Bell Weighing station.

At Kelso a few topped up with fuel before arriving at the morning tea park. Big thanks to Ross who did a splendid job of being “X” marking the spot. After morning tea it was off over some fantastic roads through Sofala and on to Rylstone for lunch.

Some decided to patronize the local coffee shops, others ate their packed lunch in the main street and three enjoyed a very pleasant lunch in the park by the river. After lunch it was off again taking the Windamere Dam road as Keith had not been this way for a while Vic took the lead  to the Mudgee road out of town and then on towards Lithgow. It was on this stretch that we again became spread out. I was stuck at the back looking after a couple that did not know the way, and they just did not overtake any traffic I was getting quite frustrated.

 Leaving the riders at Lithgow, Vic and I rode down the Great Western Highway through the mountains, Vic stopped off in Penrith to catch up with Peggy whilst I carried on home. It was long but a good day’s ride, we clocked up just on 480klm

3 day Sojourn

Monday 27th December the weather is overcast so we put on our wet weather gear just in case we have a drop of rain we are to meet other riders at the Waratah Retirement Village at Bargo, where our ride leader lives.

Arriving at 7-30am  Bruce is waiting, after a few minutes Pauline and Neil arrive, our ride leader John turns up and his friend Margaret and her fluffy white bitch come to bid us farewell.

Just on 8am Big Bill arrives,and the heavens opened up. A heavy down pour does not dampen our enthusiasm for a ride.

Setting off at 8.05 we travel down the back roads .
Having morning tea at Marulan and riding south towards Goulburn  to Crookwell ,meeting a herd of cows that just would not get off the road until the farmer came with his ute to hurry them along then to  Rugby, Boorowa we pick up Ed (John's Twin Brother) and have lunch in a little corner cafe as there is no parking in front of the bakery.

The weather has improved and we remove our wet weather gear as the temp has risen to 19deg.

After lunch we ride through Harden, Murrumburrah Coolac to Tumut then the loggers road around Batlow which was a great road with no traffic with  sweeping bends.
 Afternoon tea was at Rosewood on the edge of the Pine forest, big milk shakes with triple ice cream was the order of the afternoon., leaving Rosewood the back roads through Jiingelic and over the Victorian border to Walwa or destination for the evening after 597 klm we were all ready for a cool ale.
.Dinner was served at 6pm and Trout, Steaks ,Chicken were all ordered, after our hardy meal we walked the 800metres (and back) to the see the swollen  Murray River.

A good nights sleep, toast and cereal for breakfast  we are ready for the days ride .Clutch out at 8am to ride through the snowy mountains. Tintaldra, Towong to Kahancoban morning tea , Vic and I shared a bacon and egg roll whilst others had a whole breakfast, then the ride through the Kosciuszko National Park

passing Thredbo and onto Jindabyne for lunch. The weather has really warmed up and the temperature is now 27deg .Along the highway we head for Berridale  then to Adaminaby for afternoon tea Ed took us on a detour to see the sights of the old AdamiabyTownship then onto the Snowy Mountain Highway and catching up with the fellow riders who were waiting by the side of the road thinking we were lost,as we are heading  to Talbingo we are caught up with a some holiday traffic caravans ,4x4 with boats, and cam pa vans, for the the road it quite twisty heading  down the mountains our nights destination is in Talbingo our accommodation is  in 3cabins 8 people 4 single guys and two couples  3 guys shared one cabin

 Pauline and Neil the other we shared our cabin with John it was a  beaut day of riding and clocking up 490klm .

Vic went to the Pub and brought back some cool ale, and we sat on the verandahs,and reminiscing of our days rides, Pauline was testing out her new camera and snapping at any thing that moved.

Dinner we went to the Steak house and had some cool drinks and after dinner went for a long walk along the bush tracks .

No breakfast facilities so we shared what food we had  and clutch out at 8am we head to Tumut for a real breakfast but we stopped of to see the dam wall at Blowering Power Station and the  Blowering Reserve the water levels are quite high due to all the rain in the area.Then onto Tumut for breakfast, after leaving Tumut we head for Brungle along a narrow twisty road and we come across a herd of cows we manoeuvre pass these and head for Coolac where we say goodbye to Ed, and ride back through Haden and then to Boorowa for Lunch (at the bakery) across to Rugby then onto Goulburn and the Highway to Maurlan to say our good byes then the Highway home

We rode just on 1500 klm and the temp ranged from 11 deg to 31 it was a good three day event

Christmas Day 2010

Most of our extended family turned up for our first cold luncheon, doing away with the hot turkey and the trimmings. The day's temperature started off quite comfortable so we had our nibbles on the back patio; cheese ,biscuits, dips, chips,and drinks. When all guests had arrived  we had the gift giving  which was another change of tradition. All children under 16 were still to receive presents but the older members of the family had pot luck gifts where everybody got a number and had to pick from the parcels and if you did not like what you picked you could swap it. It was all good fun a different way of giving .

Lunch was spread out on the kitchen bar and our guests helped them selves to chicken (brought by Brenda ,Daron and Rob Brenda's Dad) poached fish and prawns brought by Tyson and Elise, pork, turkey, ham, potato salad brought by Roe, Shaun and family,Waldorf salad brought by Elise and Tyson, Cesar salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, Tahnee brought some wonderful choc biscuits Dianne made all the savory plates and it was a  feast fit for a king.
 Some ate their lunch on the cool patio, whilst others sat inside with the air conditioning, the sweets were then laid out, old fashion trifle soaked in lots of sherry with ice cream and custard was a real winner, then the hot plum pudding with custard.

Baby Peter entertained us with his Wiggle dances and is just so cute, his new Ducati motorcycle was just a tad too high for his little legs. Alex had her super camera and was snapping all day and catching the mood.

Rest day

Rest day in Paradise

Kristy, Alan, Vic and me, with Maxie the dog meandered  through a forest until we reached the Snake river which was towered over by the Teton Mountains with the peaks still having snow on them. It is very hard to describe how beautiful this place is. This little walk was only 4kms but it was so nice to give the bum a rest.

We rode in the car to Jackson so Alan could get new tyres for his Mustang, then he took us to where he had booked us in for some excitement. We were going white water rafting down the Snake River, the same section that President Clinton took when he was here on holiday. We travelled by bus for about 16 klm to where our dinghies were waiting,  where  we were given instructions about our life vests, and if we fall over board how to float on our back. Vic got an oar and I sat in the middle up front (yellow hat). The rest on the inflatable were all from one family. Well what good fun we had, one guy fell over board on a huge rapid and the water was freezing . We got soaking wet but it was a hoot, this took 3 hours, Alan and Kristy picked us up then back home to change then back into town, just in time to see a shoot out in the main square, played by some actors promoting the show Annie get your Gun and Wyatt Earp playing in the local playhouse, this was fantastic - then off to the Million Dollar Bar where we sat on saddles stools and drank local beers, Snake Ale Pale Ale, Million Dollar Cowboy beer. We then moved on to the Silver Dollar bar which has thousands of silver dollars under glass on the bar, then on to Worts Hotel, and then the dinner at the  Gun Barrel  Steak and Game House.. another great day

USA Tour Day 26

Day 26 Kanab to Las Vegas 10^th August 2010

214 miles 344Klm  .

Today is our last day on this excellent tour Back to Vegas

Clutch out at 7am and we head for Zion Canyon National Park, it is quite crisp so we put on our jumpers and head out, back track a few miles and refuel, and head to the Park but the road is closed as the Ranger has not yet arrived for work, we wait for 20minutes and proceed thru this beautiful  canyon, the view is spectacular with cliff and canyon landscape and wilderness full of the  unexpected including the world’s largest arch, Kolob Arch, the longest and darkest tunnel, at this point  we find out that the BMW has blown a head light. As we ride down the valley on the new roadwork’s, again the water truck has proceeded before us as Vic has to manoeuvre through the little gravel and water puddles. I take photos again like a woman possessed as the views are just beautiful.

There is red rocks and more bloody rocks, rocks right, rocks left, and more rocks. It is all awe inspiring and just magnificent.

We ride through Zion, crossed the border to Arizona through the Virgin River Canyon, cross the border to Nevada passing the junction of the Valley of Fire where I hopped in the truck on the first day, (because of heat exhaustion being left in the desert for a while) and head for Las Vegas through the desert  and arrived to a Red Rock welcome home by lovely Kristy.

Kristy took me shopping at Costco, much better than WalMart... Just  mind blowing, I was gobsmacked with all the goodies..(no wonder there are so many overweight )I bought a new pair of LARGE tracksuit pants and I am sure they will fit me now...

Total  tour 6670Miles =  10750 klm. Am sure Vic and I have the hardest bums in the USA But it was all worth it.

Hoping that you all have enjoyed Alan’s Excellent American Tour.

As we are having a short ride around Red Rock tomorrow and leaving for Sydney after a Pale Riders Party, this will be our last bulletin.

Until next time

Lyn & Vic

USA tour Day 25

Day 25 Monday 9th August 2010

Torrey to Kanab via Grand Canyon - 640klm - 360 miles. (By Vic)

Alan promised a great day with a lot to see and do.

Had a thunderstorm during the night and woke to a clear crisp morning. We left Torrey about 7.30 am with all our warm gear on as we were to climb up through mountains again for most of the morning before dropping down to 6000ft for the Grand Canyon.

The road was wet from the storm but again great sweepers with a smooth road surface, we came across cattle (Angus) crossing the road and a few deer in the field but the antelope weren’t out roaming.

We went down the other side of this range through a few valleys and then started to climb through a section of the Escalante Park (means the Grand Staircase), wow what a road, at the top it runs and twists along a ridge with either side of the road falling steeply away and without guard rails of any sort. It was hard to look at the fantastic view and maintain concentration on the road.

Dropped altitude again and turned from the highway into Bryce Canyon National Park, we are running out of superlatives. The mountains have eroded into thousand of stalagmite like columns in varying hues of pink through to white, Lyn thought they looked like the terracotta warriors in China. There were individual monoliths caused when the softer layers below a hard cap rock is weathered away. See attached photo.

Coming out of the park we rode through a Prairie Dog jam and then an Antelope jam – bloody tourists.

For the animal lovers the Utah Prairie Dog is the rarest of its kind in the United States, almost as rare as the Jackalope.

Alan had planned to stop at a restaurant specialising in game steaks but it didn’t open until 4.00 pm so we went on to a place that specialises in fruit pies.

We passed through Kanab and rode on about 75 mile further to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon; we entered the Grand Canyon Park and meandered along at the speed limit of 45 mph on a road that could be ridden at twice this speed. But as all National Parks over here are policed by Park Rangers that carry handguns we don’t think it wise to speed.

What can be said of the Grand Canyon that we haven’t read or heard before; it is truly spectacular and much vaster in the flesh than we imagined. We walked out along a narrow path to an overlook that was on a point. Even though there were vertical drops on either side of the path, there were only the occasional 18 inch rock walls, and a 4 ft high fence only for the viewing section.

After looking around the visitors section and an ice cream we returned to Kanab for a shower and dinner. Went out to a restaurant that was a surprise, the meal was as good as you would find anywhere.

Kanab is known as the Hollywood of Utah as there have been many movies made in the area