Ooops, forgot about this one and thundered on posting later stuff so this is a Dr.Who time machine step back in time.

Our day started out with an invitation to go to breakfast with a Chinese man, Xiao Pong, very nice guy we had met at camp the previous evening, a little unusual to see Chinese camping thus he caught Ellens interest.



We were there



Over breakfast we discussed the Arches park, Zion etc so he was a wealth of information, we trade info on where we had been too, on conclusion of breakfast we all headed on our travels all a little wiser and a little more prepared, something you can not buy off your GPS or map.

Only just north of Moab the Arches Park was well worth the ride and walk, we loved the place.

Only a small report with a few photos as the place is not big and the main event is The Delicate Arch which pretty much everyone knows about.



There are the twin arches and the windows too, all providing fascination to viewers including Ellen and I.







The rock formations and colours are seriously cool and nothing like we have in New Zealand, we were lucky enough to be there firstly when it was fine and got some groovy pics, secondly a thunderstorm came across and soaked the place in matter of minutes.

Due to the heavy rock base the water has nowhere to go accept along the ground thus only a few mm of rain and the place was running like a river and it totally transformed the colours into different place.

With nowhere to hide we got a bit wet from our shorts down, we had seen the ominous looking clouds from a distance so took our wet jackets with us, it wasn’t until we were at the end of the walk at the Arch that the rain fall was imminent, somewhat of a treat in the desert.

Upon returning to the carpark some Harley riders had been caught in the rain, seems as though the fingerless gloves and waterproof bandanna’s were not quite as waterproof as they though, they all looked a bit cold.:rofl

Back to camp and pack up to head on to Monument Valley which you have already read about, on the way we went through a town called Mexican Hat .. not sure why??

__________________
Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

I feel like Max Headroom here talk..talk..talking to myself.!!!!



<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZEPq0FvFm3g?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ok back on the time machines we fast forward to Zion National Park.

On arriving at Zion it was clear the rock formations were very different to the others.

They consist of large waves of smooth rock, all the faces on various angles giving it quite an unusual moonscape. :eek1

Soon we disappeared into the 1 mile long tunnel only to pop out into a completely different world.

As we were running a little late in the day we decided to go to the camp ground first and set up, too late, FULL!!

We rode in anyway looking for a fello rider to share a site with, the camp host came over and asked us what we were doing so we explained to him, he said follow me I will take you over to a motorcycle which he did, we wrote a note and left it on his bike, we were going to head out of camp and leave our bikes with the host.

No sooner we decided to do that the neighbours (Steve and Roye) turned up on the other side, I went over to them and told them we chased a Squirrel out of their chilli bin only to find out it wasn’t theirs anyway.

So we got chatting, we ended up sharing their site that night and taking it over the following day when they left.

In between times we bought some red wine for a treat and they served up some tortilla chips and had some pre dinner chat and nibbles, very nice indeed, thank you to Steve and Roye for your welcoming hearts and hospitality, it was very nice for us.



Given they had been to New Zealand and even in Wanaka in March this year they new of where we lived which was really neat.

That following morning it was a bubble and squeek cook up of leftovers and need to finishes, this set us up nicely for the big day ahead of us that we had planned of stomping up a the Narrow River Canyon on the Virgin River and visiting the pools etc.

The day was stinking hot, up in the late 90’s or about 38 degrees C in normal language so it was really nice to get back to camp already set up, we spent the day canyoning and climbing, beautiful place.







Under a waterfall



Rock faces reaching to the sky that really stuff around with the human gyroscope








Next morning we packed up to the next leg of our Journey to to Henderson which is part of Vegas.

Stinking hot so we decided to go for a swim in Lake Mead, the water temperature was 84 degrees F ... not far off steaming!!! yay that is how I like it.

Off into Henderson to make an assault on the big city, Starbucks was calling for a Frapaccino and some food for travels.

__________________
Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

I went to Las Vegas about 18 years ago so was interested to see it again, Ellen never having been there was in two minds, we decided to jump onto couchsurfing to see if we could get a host for the night as it would have been very uncomfortable with the temperature in a tent.

We contacted a couchsurfer, Chinese guy called Dave and sent a request to him.

He replied promptly to us and it was when we were sitting in McDees loading our photos so the timing was perfect, he agreed to host which was cool.

We arrived at his place, whoa ... we went for 3rd world tenters to 1st world Vegas stars.

Dave has a very nice home to say the least and very generously offered to take us into town so we could see the strip from the safety and comfort of a local driver and an air cond car, a 550 Merc nothing less, we said ... o u w h OK.

No need to go to town to lose all ya money tho..



The Merc was twin turbo thus was not lazy in any aspect, Dave drove us around in to town and down the strip, we stopped at one Casinos and parked the car to go and watch the water display which was amazing to say the least.

Casino ceiling.... similar to our tent :huh



Our host Dave, Ellen and I, actually I look like the odd one out



The water display in front of a casino .... o u t s t a n d i n g !!









While we were there two hot young lusties were getting their photos taken with all the guys, this is her, I had a little bit of trouble focusing on her face, something must be wrong with the camera but I don’t think I will get it fixed.:eek1



After the water display we went out for tea to a Chinese restaurant and the food was outstanding.



Mmmmm duck :clap



We returned back to Daves and sat with a wine that we had bought for another treat (two in a row) and had a chat about life for a while.

Dave was flying out the following morning so we all peeled off to bed not too late, Dave thanks for hosting us you made our stay in Vega very memorable, we will catch up again for sure.:clap

In the morning breaky was had, some photo instructions were given on how to use our camera and we were on our way to cheat Death Valley.

Death Valley was HOT, also the lowest point on our GPS read -264 ft, we stopped for lunch at -7 feet and 45 degrees C, the thermometer went to 50 degrees C then hit the stops ... Whoa, we were just dripping.



Hard to photograph sand and make it look cool .. at least with our gear





I should have stopped at -264 ft below see level but I failed :cry .. so -7 will have to do. :clap



Lunch was a little on the warm side, be fair to say we were Two Toasted Kiwis with a half side of roasted Chinese :eek1



Having made it through and cheated Death Valley we carried on towards Sequoia National Park taking a small back road to a cool camping spot 6000 feet above stress level.



Nice camping spot that we had to ourselves





A fire was had, tea was eaten then off to bed to recharge our batteries.

__________________
Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Every time i log on yours is the first i check,once again wonderful photo's and commentary.Noel

Bloody great. The colours of those rocks are amazing.

Cheers

Nigel in NZ

__________________
The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

Great pics and writing! And no your not like max headroom talking to yourself. :-)

We might meet you somewhere on your way down, we will be heading up next year.

Merv and Sarah.

That will be great, you know how to find us...

Cheers
Andi and Ellen

__________________
Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere