Wigwams, Salt Flats, Aliens, Casinos.....

Almost in that order....or as Chris has just said, 'Wigwam Bam, Fast Motorcycles Man'.......ok.....anyway I digress. After leaving Ruth and Al at Laramie, we thought we were all set for a rather boring ride on the Interstate to Salt Lake City in Utah...... fortunately this turned into a great ride as we turned off at Rock Springs towards Flaming Gorge. We had already decided we weren't riding all the way to Salt Lake that day and had roughly picked a turn off to find a campsite on. The road to Flaming Gorge was great, views, dams.....sunshine and on the loop round we found another KOA Campsite.....with a wigwam. Chris decided that's it we're 'aving it' and so we did. A wigwam and wi fi ..... and electric....pretty cool....they opened up the top of the wigwam as well.... so we slept with the stars above us.......wonderful.

The next day (Tuesday 29th August) we got back on the interstate and headed for Salt Lake.....we weren't planning on staying there......Salt Lake is a bit too far from the Salt Flats.....we were actually heading for Wendover which is about 10 miles from the Flats. What a great day we reached Salt Lake and rode through as quick as we could.....too busy....and headed out, finally reaching the famous Salt Flats......much fun had here....we rode out onto the salt.....not the racing section by the way....just out there onto the salt......nothing but salt......a massive expanse of salt....amazing. After messing about taking daft photos, (keep a look out for them on the website) we headed to our campsite for two nights.

On Wednesday 30th August we rode back to the Salt Flats......not to the little bit we'd been on but to the actual speed area. We had discovered from some motorcyclist on site and the fact that there were some racing bikes on our site that there were some motorcycle speed trials actually on. Excellent and 'Yes....it was'.....at the entrance gate (temporary tables and blockade) we paid $25 each to ride onto the Salt down to the Pits. We were only allowed to do a maximum of 45mph down there.....a little way to our right......motorcycles sped past trying to break records. We parked up in the pits and spent most of the day wandering round talking to the riders and watching the record attempts. One bike caught fire....but everybody was ok. The most amazing thing I though about being there was the fact that there was a Rolls Royce out there.....seriously....towing a 'Triumph Speed Bike' you know the special sort of bike I dunno, rocket shaped stuff. Anyway there it was a beautiful old Roller happily getting caked in salt......at least this car was still getting used and not locked away in a garage somewhere.

After the Salt Flats we wandered off...rode off.....to see if we could see 'The Curvature of The Earth'....a claim made by Wendover.....that at a certain point you could actually see this. Apparently this is only possible at certain points on the earth ??? We found the view point......and took some photos......could we see the curvature.......I think so........you have a look when you see the photos.

Thursday 31st August we rode down to Ely.....pretty much just a riding day to keep us on track.

Friday 1st September we rode a section of .......wait for it......'The Loneliest Road In America'......which wasn't by the way......we were treated to an old steam train on several occasions and had to stop at the side of the road when we came across about 12 old cars parked up by the side of the old railway waiting for the train......fantastic photo opportunity. After that we continued ..... we knew where we were heading......you'll find out in a mo....read on.....first we ended up in the town of Tonopah in a motel......but hey this was no ordinary motel....this was 'The Clown Motel' ....... if you're scared of clowns..........with 'clowns to the left of me' and to the right and in front and on the doors and over the bed......jeez....this is so not the place to be......and.....and.....a cemetery at the side of it. Apparently the American series 'Ghost Adventures' have been here !!!!

Ha,ha......after an uneventful night....we carried on down the road a bit to.....'The Extra Terrestrial Highway' (or the 376 if you like numbers).........this was linking us to our next port of call 'The Alien Inn'.It's actually called Little 'A Le'Inn and .......earthlings are welcome !! What a laugh we had here....for those of you who don't know where this is.....it's on the edge of 'Area 51'.....according to the locals......who we ended up sitting with that night.....Area 51 is not the one to be scared of or curious of.......it's what's behind that.....Area 54.........try finding official information about that one then.....TOP SECRET !!!!...... struggle to Google it.....just bringing up fantasy stuff about the Transformers movie. The rooms there though comfy and clean were just mobile homes or units as they call them......so we got to see how thousands of Americans actually live out here in the Nevada Desert.

Sunday 3rd September we were actually a little sad that we had only stayed there one night.....it really is quite interesting round there and even more so listening to the locals. Anyway onwards yet again....just to a place called Overton about 65 miles outside of Las Vegas. There was a reason for this.....we were meeting two more friends Sarah and Ben.....who were starting their hols in LV.

The motel we stayed at here was quite new or seemed so and it was such a hot day we wasted no time in getting our motorcycle gear off and got in the pool.......all to ourselves.....perfect.

And so Monday came....and we headed off through the 'Valley of Fire', ........a lovely little ride to Las Vegas....here we went straight to the Harley Davidson dealers and got our bikes booked in for a service and new tyres before we checked into the 'Luxor Hotel'. We were lucky here. we'd managed to book the same hotel as Sarah and Ben. Later that evening we met up and went for a meal.....great choice of restaurant Sarah xx......as well as a little flutter on the Black Jack Tables.....no we didn't win. On Tuesday Sarah and Ben were booked in for a sunset tour of the Grand Canyon so what did we do.....we went to The Stratosphere....what for...to ride the 'Worlds Second Highest Thrill Ride' of course....well we'd hate to disappoint those of you who know us...lol.

Wednesday 6th September we met Sarah and Ben for brekky and all said our goodbyes. It had been a brief meet up but Sarah and Ben were heading for Death Valley and we were funnily enough going to the Grand Canyon. We arrived at our campsite after visiting the Hoover Dam and riding a section of Route 66.....pitched the tent and more or less went to bed. Thursday we had a pool day, Friday we went to look at a meteor crater and rode round the area of Sedona...lovely....and today Saturday 9th September......our plan was to ride the South Rim of the Grand Canyon but the weather has been awful so we have cancelled that until tomorrow as we have to ride that way anyway.

So here we are.....sat in the games/tv room of the campsite catching up on a bit of computer work and photos.......oh boy....the photos......hundreds of them.....well no better day to them than today.....sun is forecast again tomorrow and we're waiting for an email from The Indians...really.....to see if we can camp on one of their reservations......hopefully we'll get a reply before we leave tomorrow. Bye for now...again xx