Life's Adventures

I had the good fortune this week to rent a Harley Davidson Ultra Glide for 24 hours and ride through some of the most beautiful Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada scenery you could ask for… Of course, as usual I was short on time so I didn’t have a chance to stop and smell the roses, or cacti. My buddy and I picked up our Ultras on Thursday evening at 4:30, and by dark we had ridden to Evanston, Wyoming and then to his house in Provo – right at 200 miles. In keeping with all of my previous treks, we ran into rain early in the ride and at one point had to go down a dirt road since the paving ran out. No Uncle Fester, I didn’t have my GPS along so it wasn’t due to the GPS being possessed. My buddy couldn’t read his Blackberry map so we turned on the wrong road heading out of Evanston. Turns out, it was to our benefit as the road we had intended to take was deluged with heavy rains, lightning and even snow, and the route we ended up taking took us through one of the most beautiful valleys I have ever laid eyes on.



The next morning we got up bright and early to see if we could make it to Great Basin National Park in Nevada and back in time to turn in our bikes by 4:30. Vern’s wife (Fawna) decided she needed to come along to keep us out of trouble. She and Vern got up even earlier to make a trial run so she could test his driving skills. I admit that I had my doubts about her stamina but she proved to be a real trooper. We went through three mountain passes and one huge desert, covering just over 450 miles and she had a smile on her face the whole time. I guess the rear seat of the Ultras is more comfortable than the driver’s seat ‘cause I was sure soar by the time we pulled into the rental lot.

Unfortunately pictures just don’t do the scenery justice. I was consistently awe struck by the expanses of desert, immensity of the snow capped mountains, colors of the sky, and smells of trees, bushes and flowers along the way. When we started out the temperature was in the high 60’s but by the time we started back across the desert it was easily breaking 100. About the time we were beginning to notice the desert heat (yes, we road with leather jacket, gloves, and helmet – but I never broke into a sweat), we began climbing into the mountains where the temperature dropped to the low 70’s. On this run we managed to avoid the rains up until the very last. Fortunately we were in the showers for only 15-20 minutes and by the time we got to the main highway the skies were clear again and we had dried out.
I could have ridden for weeks in northern Utah. There are so many mountain passes and valleys to run through that you would never get bored with the view. I’m going to have to figure out a way to get up there with my own bike so I can take my time touring… Until then, I’ll be content with the appetizer I had this week.