Never in My Wildest Dreams - Utah trip conclusion
The trip I planned for months in minute detail ,watched almost a bazillion YouTube videos of the route I would be taking and stressed over riding The Hog's Back has come to a successful conclusion. Of course, things did not go exactly as I planned. How dare Mother Nature mess up my detailed planning! LOL. Unexpected things and plan adaptations make for an adventure and stories to tell.
I traveled solo on my 2016 Harley Davidson Heritage Classic motorcycle for 8 days. 1587 miles total. Seemingly constantly assessing the weather and outrunning the rain and storms, using all of my warm and cold weather gear and finally ending with a 534 mile ride home in one day. I arrived home exhausted, sore and exhilarated.
I did end up spending an entire day hunkered down in a motel in the middle of nowhere due to heavy rain. There just was absolutely nowhere to go and nothing to do with the rain and mud keeping me out of the park. But I realized the next day that it was a blessing in disguise to be forced to rest. I started the next day in good weather, rested and rejuvenated.
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| Standing in the North Window arch in Arches National Park |
When I travel alone I always meet nice and interesting people. My motorcycle, Stella, always attracts attention everywhere we stop and then the fact that I am a woman riding a Harley alone draws people to ask questions, maybe share stories and wish me well. Some highlights of people encounters on this trip:
Asians are fascinated with Harley's. Twice I found myself surrounded by tour bus groups of excited Asians admiring my bike, taking pictures and chattering. And some motioning for me to rev the engine for them.
At a stop in Bryce Canyon, 3 young teenage girls made my day. They were super impressed with the color of the bike and the fact that my jacket matched the bike and my helmet. Then I really impressed them pulling out my iPhone and attaching it to the holder on the handle bar and it matched the color of my bike too. They thought that was so cool. And they thought I was cool. Now, getting that from teenagers at my age is a treat.
At the stop at the famous Mesa Arch in Canyonlands national park, a nice couple took notice of me and my bike and we took each other's pictures in front of the arch. We chatted a bit, sharing some stories of our similar travels through Utah, them in their car, me on my bike.
Then the next day, I ran into them on a trail in Arches national park. And then we proceeded to keep meeting up at stops throughout the park. This gave us the opportunity to walk and talk together. We laughed and teased about who was stalking who. I was actually a little sad to see them go the last time we met.
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| In front of Mesa Arch in Canyonlands national park |
Then, in Tuba City at a gas station, I was once again, changing out gear and adding a layer of clothing, which meant re-packing some of my "luggage". And then, a "little old Indian lady" rolled by in a beat up truck and stuck her head out the window. Due to where I was and already having been approached by beggars, I expected her to ask for money or something too. Much to my delight, she simply smiled and told me to have a safe trip. Touched my heart.
I had to take a 180 mile detour home due to route 89 being closed. This put me through well over 100 miles of desolate reservation land with NOTHING out there. This is where I found myself pulling over for a desperate roadside potty stop. At that point, I didn't care if anyone drove by.
I had thermal long johns, jeans, rain-suit pants and leather chaps on. Trust me, making that stop was not a casual choice. LOL.
The whole ride home I seemed to be out-running rain and storms, just barely keeping ahead but still getting rained on and hammered by wind off and on. I debated over and over in my head whether to stop and spend the night in Payson to avoid coming down the Beeline highway in the dark. I did a lot of praying and trusting God to take care of me and guide me. When I got to Payson, to the moment of decision, it was " go home, you got this, you know that road well and a storm is coming".
So I pushed on and made it home at 7:33 pm, exactly 13 hours and 3 minutes from when I left Moab.
Glad to be home to my Chinboys, my bed, etc.... It was a week of memories and adventure.
Often people are curious, surprised or inspired that I travel alone, especially on a motorcycle. I've traveled and tent camped alone via car, motorcycle quite a bit and many times had a plane take me to a destination where I vacationed solo. I came to the conclusion a few years ago that I was not going to waste time waiting for someone to come along and take me places or go with me. Most of my friends have spouses, families, their own lives, schedules of their own, so joining me has not worked out yet. I also decided that I wasn't going to assume that I would make it to retirement age in a healthy state, if at all So the time to get out and enjoy is now while I have my health and the means to do so. Traveling solo has advantages. I am free, I go where I want, when I want, stop when and where I want and eat where and what I want. And yes, I do find myself lonely at times and wishing I had someone to share the experience with or talk to at the end of a day. In those times, I try to call friends or family or I rely on social media to make contact and stay in touch. But I always feel the presence of God. I pray and talk to Him a lot and share my joys, gratitude, fears and desires with Him. There is no peace greater than that relationship with the Lord of Heaven and Earth. HE has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.
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