Sunday, July 3



I keep forgetting to mention that Birdie and I were hoping to go to PAWS near Sacramento to see Maggie, the elephant. In looking at the website there were no visiting hours, so I called. It's not open to the public, so unless you go on the elephant tours they do once or twice a year, or see her through their webcam, you won't be seeing Maggie. In my mind that SUCKS big time.

We got on the road fairly early, and it was cold. I always forget that when it feels just right standing still, that it will NOT feel right at 70 or 75 mph. It was not feeling right. But I'm rather stubborn, so would not say I'd like to stop. I figure that if I am so cold, it will take a long time to warm up later once we hit the really warm temperatures.


Bryce Canyon was everything it has ever been ... beautiful, with rock formations that defy the imagination. It's hard to believe rocks can look like a fairy land, or a castle, or a tunnel. They do that and so much more. We stopped at nearly all the viewpoints, and I walked up to one of the upper viewpoints to take more photos. Film is very cheap with a digital camera.



Birdie and me at Bryce Canyon July 3, 2011



We left Bryce and headed south, toward Las Vegas. At one point the temperature was so hot we decided to stop at a Dairy Queen, in memory of the one in Soldotna that burned. We were in there for probably more than an hour getting our body temperatures back down.


As we got closer to Mesquite, Nevada, it seemed as though there was a smog over the entire land. Luckily for us it also shielded us somewhat from the sun. While it was still hotter than the bowels of hell, at least we weren't getting the direct rays.

Vegas was also covered with what appeared to be smog. Then from the distance we saw lightning, and that is never a good sign. The closer we got the darker the cover was, so we started looking for a hotel ... thank you, Tom Bodet, for keeping the light on for us. We got a Motel 6 room, had just gotten in and the skies unloaded.

This is the rain pounding down, and creating rivers.  According to the news, this was the first monsoon of the season, July 3, 2011.  Sure glad we were there to participate in it ... NOT!!!  Glad we got inside before the main event.

There was thunder, huge lightning strikes and rain coming down in sheets. We quickly offloaded the bike as the wind was blowing everything sideways across the parking lot and everywhere else. Outside the room door, water was rushing across the parking lot. Looking at it rise so quickly, I thought it would come in the room door. It was only a few inches away. Then it slowed, and we took off across the street to the Boulder Station Casino for food and game.


Mexican food is always in style and this was pretty good. What was great was a salsa bar, so we tried a few different ones, including an avocado salsa which was okay, and a pineapple salsa that was quite good.


Then it was game time. I immediately went and lost money on slot machines. Birdie had gone to the roulette wheel. I found her and decided to also try my hand at it. Came out $12 ahead. Woo hoo ... big winner.


Back to the room as we want to get on the road early and head over toward Bakersfield to see if we can get some service on Tuesday morning before heading to the Women on Wheels rally in San Jose.


All for now, my friends.