Author: Oliver

Getting on the road in the morning usually takes longer than planed. Besides loading the bikes we also have to get the house ready for our trip. It’s not a big deal … just a lengthy checklist. We left Albuquerque around 10:30. Knowing that we would leave later in the morning we picked a destination that was reachable by mid afternoon.

Our route took us on US 550 to Cuba, NM. We were eager to leave the four lane highway and ride on smaller, less traveled roads when we turned north on NM 537 which connected us with US 64 and then to Navajo Lake State Park. Fun day of riding :-).

The challenge for the day was finding a level site in the campground since the camping area is along side a slope. I did a lot of walking around to check sites while Diane was cooling off in the shade ;-). Just kidding. <<Diane here: no shade for me! I was busy chatting up one of the campers to get the scoop on campsites and playing with Corky the Corgi.>> We were appreciative of the fact that the weather was cooperating especially since we had been having one of the wettest monsoon seasons in years. We eventually found a flat site and after setting up camp and taking advantage of the free showers, we finished off the rest of a bottle of wine we had started but not finished at home. We called it an early night and fell asleep not long after the sun went down.

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Camping gear and riding gear is spread throughout the house – it’s one big staging area :-). It looks (somewhat) chaotic but there’s order as we are putting our things together to go on another motorcycle trip.

The plan is to do more hiking and exploration this time. We’ll still get to spend plenty of time on the motorcycles but if we are in a state or national park/monument that has interesting hiking trails we want to explore them – staying more than one night so it’s not a constant ‘set-up-camp, sleep, take-down camp’ routine.

To avoid the summer heat and monsoon season as best as we can we will first go north, into Colorado. That’s the extent of our travel planning :-o. We have the first three stops mapped out but after that we’ll play it by ear.  See what the weather does, what we are interested in, etc. That’s no accident since the absence of a fixed, multi-week route with daily targets can be quite liberating. Once temperatures start to cool a little we’ll head south towards Southern Utah to explore Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  Those are our current plans.

We’ll post pictures and updates as we make our way across the West.

Sounds easy enough but it can be a bit of a challenge as vegetarians. That was one of the reasons why we made our own breakfast (oatmeal and banana). We usually had an apple and some nuts or an energy bar for a mid morning snack. Lunch was usually late (after 13:00) and in the beginning consisted of cheese and bread and a vegetable, eating at the store or in the parking lot. Later on we alternated cheese with hummus. Continue reading Eating while on the road

Kitchen? Yeah right, you’re thinking, he’s joking. No, I’m quite serious. We were able to fix breakfast, make coffee and cook our own dinners while we were on the road. There’s two different philosophies: (1) camp only and eat at restaurants or (2) camp and cook for yourself. We followed (mostly) #2 since we are ‘picky’ eaters and like to start the day with our oatmeal/TVP/banana breakfast and coffee. We prefer this approach since we don’t have to worry about having to find a place to eat once we get on the road. It takes a bit longer in the morning to get ready but is less stressful for us, besides introducing a certain amount of continuity and familiarity. Continue reading Gear: The Kitchen