Monterey/Carmel

The old # 1 is beautiful and amazing.

Morro Bay, California

So today we rode the historic route 1!

It is colder then what we experienced in the last two days in the desert. The smell of the sea is absolutely amazing. I know that I have to be close to the ocean to be happy. I do not regret everything that I have seen and experienced but being on the coast is great and I love it!

Mike took time to take pictures of this little town by the sea.

Forget to post pictures of Las Vegas

Mike reminded me that I did not post pictures of Las Vegas!

There is so much to see!

I will certainly go back.

Maricopa, in Napa Valley California

We are on our way to the west Californian coast. I do not want to go around Los Angeles so we are taking little roads trough the valley. Everything is so dry it is a pity .mike was able to take some pictures around maricopa.

It was to date our hottest day'

Was able to keep hydrated well.

Las Vegas

We are in Las Vegas . We left Hurricane around 9 o'clock and followed highway 15 south to Las Vegas .

We are in a room at the Monte Carlo right in the middle of the strip. We ate at the buffet... And now tying to get some zzzz.... To be able to walk the strip at night. So pics of the Las Vegas boulevard later...

Ps the route here was just breathtaking and amazing. Again lots of twisties!

Renee

Here are some of the Bryce Canyon pictures

Mike is taking way more pictures then me. I mostly take pictures for the blog. So here they are .

Utah I will come back you are so beautiful

We left Kanab this morning. Men from Moncton were staying at the same hotel as us. The chance of that!

So we left Kanab this morning en route for Bryce Canyon. The air was a bit on the cool side but the sky so blue that i knew that we would have a beautiful day. So on the way to Bryce Canyon we went trough red canyon! What a beautiful place.

After red canyon beautiful Bryce Canyon. More pictures of that in my next blog I still have to sort them up a bit. We left Bryce Canyon and got a bit of a summer shower with hail. So we stopped for dinner and back on the road with bright blue sky again. We decided to try to make it to LasVegas but went trough the Zion national park with lots of twisties. [Today my thoughts were with Frank... How much he would love to do those twisties!] We stopped for the night in Hurricane, Utah .

At times I felt I was in a western movie! Well Bryce Canyon is known for it's western movies.

Today is laundry day , so bye folks.

Renee

Kanab

We are in Kanab Utah . We followed the south rim of the Grand Canyon and decided to go towards Page Arizona that is close to the lake Powell and the Grand Canyon dam. The wind was still something that gave me a bit of struggle . But by the end of this trip should get the hang of it. It is quite tiring.

But enough of this and here are the pictures.

Grand Canyon

Yes folks we have done it. We flew over the Grand Canyon in an helicopter.

Yesterday was rainy so we stayed one more night in flagstaff .

The road to the Grand Canyon was beautiful. Amazing to go on highway 180 to the Grand Canyon with the changes that appears in the scenery!

But enough chit chat here are the pictures.

Flagstaff. 7000 ft

We spent a couple of hours yesterday in Sedona that is at 4500 ft. We climbed back to Flagstaff. I did not sleep at all that night and got up with a wicked headache and nausea. I have another bout of this altitude sickness. Of course mild symptoms but still annoying . It was also calling for rain at the Grand Canyon so we decided to putter around Flagstaff instead, to also give a chance to my body to acclimate itself to the altitude. Avoid alcohol and drink a lot of water is the most recommended treatment from most people. Diamox would have been a medication that could of help if it would have been taken before coming to Flagstaff . I hope to feel better for Grand Canyon tomorrow. Right now a fast walk and I am short of breath like I ran a marathon...

I did enjoy the respite from the road here in Flagstaff. The old downtown is beautiful and full of little bar, coffee shop, souvenir shop etc... We stopped at a great place called the lumberyard brewery. Good food at a reasonable price. The place was packed.

So that is it for tonight. Hope that tomorrow I feel good enough to take the road. Grand Canyon is about 1 hour 1/2 from Flagstaff.

Bye folks.

Renee

Sedona Arizona

We took from flagstaff I 89A south 

It is a beautiful scenic route.

Here are some pictures

That is it for now. Was a great day. A bit on the cold side. We got a little bit of rain and hail.

Besides that beautiful. Sedona is just amazing but pricy.

Tomorrow Grand Canyon .

Renee

Today is another day

We decided to book an extra night at the same hotel in Flagstaff . Then we realized that pretty much everything around here is going to be booked because it is Memorial Day long week end. So to be sure to have an hotel we booked at another hotel in flagstaff for 23 and 24 th . So today Mike is having a new tire put on is bike and after we are heading to Sedona . We are taking scenic route 89.

We will come back to this hotel tonight. Tomorrow we will go to the Grand Canyon and come back to Flagstaff for the night. We have 2 nights at that hotel who is situated on old Route 66 . So our last day in Flagstaff we might just putter around. There is a lot to see. So Monday morning on the 25th we will be back on the road to head over Utah . We will go towards Bryce Canyon and from there Las Vegas .

Well it sounds like a plan. That long weekend thing kind of trew us out of our original plan and is a little bit more budget wise also.

So tonight expect some nice pictures folks.

Renee

Flagstaff Arizona

6000 feet!

I felt dizzy and started having palpitations . Just did not felt good at all and it dawned on me I am over a mile high. This girl is certainly not made for the mountain. I was riding on the I 40 west with 20 to 30 mph winds. Cars and trucks going by me like crazy. The speed limit is 75 mph! So you guys can imagine the wind, speed wobbling and buffeting . Even with the size of me was almost lifted off the bike at times.  ;-/

30 miles from flagstaff I told myself at the speed I was going I still had 30 minutes of this and then what, same frigging thing tomorrow. The wind is relentless. I will take rain and cold anytime instead of this. The trucks passes you and it is like a big hand flaps at you right and left about twenty times. The wind was hitting me on the left so you are leaning to the left but because of gusty winds you go almost into a wobble at times. You have a break from the wind when truck passes you but when he is done passing you you get hit by a big gust of wind and almost suck right in the truck and that before he starts the slapping thing.  Yes I have to admit I cried. 30 miles from Flagstaff and I could not continue. You feel so helpless. Then I felt like my chest could not suck enough air into my lungs. Damn I need more oxygen!

So we are at the hotel for the rest of the day and tonight. Tomorrow is another day. I long for home so much. But I made it this far so suck it up suki!

I am f$&&$@*#}ng tired of the highway biking I have to say. So Mike , look for secondary roads if you want to please this girl and bring her back to her old self. You guys can not imagine the speed everybody do down here. Well now I have a headache ...

That is enough venting for tonight. I did expected a little bit of discomfort on the trip so ...

Goodnight everybody.

Renee

Albuquerque New Mexico

Coldest day yet!

41 F and we were in Texas !

I had a knitted cowl, my heated vest , a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, my biking coat and a rain suit and I could not be warm. It was raining and the non stop relentless wind. I did took some pictures of mike all dressed for the weather. The view started changing from lush green to more desert look

We got into the beautiful town of Albuquerque New Mexico and into the casino where we will spend the night. We did about 300 miles today and most of it in the worst of weather. We are the only Canadians freezing our asses in Texas ;-)

Here are some pictures of the Route 66 casino. That is kind of cool in fact, because interstate 40 for most part is the historic highway 66!

That is it for now. Good night.

Renee