Moab....

(click on the pics to enlarge)

Driving across Nebraska....
Along Highway 128 near Moab....

Jackal getting ready to ride Mary's Loop on Kokopelli's Trail near Fruita, Colorado

"Where the hell are we?"

The view was beautiful....

The Colorado River....

Jackal rippin' the trail....

100 F....

We went rafting Saturday morning....

107 F....

The sign says it all.... Awesome!

You wouldn't believe that you could ride a bike out here....

Trailhead at Slickrock....

Jackal thought he was in heaven....

The heat gets ya....

Jackal on the rocks....

Jackal down below....

Yup, that's me acting normal at the Buchanan Family Reunion....

Porcupine Rim....

This trail was amazing.... It's a jeep trail along the rim of a very deep canyon which turns into singletrack at the 11.2 mile point. I didn't go as far as Jackal did.

The Yellow Bike taking a break....

It's a long way down if you fall....

Jackal returning from Porcupine Rim....

Leaving the cockpit of a B-52 at the SAC museum near Omaha....

Jackal and I flew the simulator. Wicked quick controls!

We left Waterloo last Thursday with the understanding that we weren't going to hurry. Carl and I both have to be back to work on the 25th and Judy and Amy had to be back on the 21st.... Plenty of time!

The trip to Utah was uneventful other than a little "two way" traffic in Glenwood Canyon in the Rockies. We stopped when we felt like it or when we wanted to see something interesting.

We made it to Denver in 12 hours and got a room for the night before heading on to Moab on Friday morning. Friday was clear and bright and the Rockies were beautiful! We made good time on I-70 all the way to Fruita, Colorado, where we stopped so the ladies could do some shopping and Jackal and I could ride a little bit of Kokopelli's Trail. The trail actually starts here and goes all the way to Moab. I think it would be a very long 140 or so miles if one were to try to ride or drive it. Anyway, we took off over the hill to go down in a valley and right back up the other side to Mary's Loop. It was breathtaking! We rode for an hour and a half or so in the 100 degree temps then went back and met Amy and Judy at the trailhead and set off for Moab. We took I-70 to Highway 128, which takes you the last 45 or so miles into Moab. Straight across the desert. Sweet! All I could think of was this would be a great place for a road bike! Lots of twists and turns and a lot of rollers alongside the Colorado River. A lot of it seemed so familiar because a lot of movies are filmed in this area. I had also been there with my Grandfather when I was a kid.

We got into Moab and met up with the rest of the family..... It was a family reunion, afer all. We spent Friday evening chatting with my dad and the rest of the family and showing Baby Rhea off. It was nice.

Saturday morning found Carl and Amy and me heading downtown to hook up with our guide for some rafting on the Colorado. That was a great time! After the rafting we all went downtown for some shopping and then had dinner at Eddie McStiff's. If you're ever in Moab, this is a good place to eat! Smothered burrito in a dried tomato tortilla! Yummmmmm....... Jackal and I got the bikes out after dinner and rode them out to Slickrock. It was only about 3 miles from the motel but the last mile and a half was a climb of about 700 feet. I gotta tell you, while Jackal was climbing like a freakin' mountain goat, that hill was kicking my old, tired ass! I couldn't shift to the small chainring so I had to stop about a third of the way up and do it manually. I didn't know if I'd get started again but I did and climbed the rest of the way without incident. It was a heck of a workout! We hung out at the top for awhile and then headed back down that monster to try to get back to the motel before dark.

On Sunday morning we went back out to Slickrock to do some riding. That place is unbelievable! You wouldn't think you'd be able to ride a bike there but you can! Jackal rode the entire Slickrock loop. I rode what I coud of it then went off and rode a bunch more in the park. I had a blast!

When we were finished there we went and took a shower then headed over to the Moab City Park for the family reunion. Later in the day we went out past Slickrock to find the Porcupine Rim Trail. Whoaaaaaaaa!!!!!! This is a jeep trail that is so rugged it's hard to believe that a vehicle can drive on it. On the one side it's about 500 feet straight up and on the other it's about 700 feet straight down. Wicked. I rode on the trail for awhile while Jackal went on ahead. I went back and rode some of the gravel roads and then hit Porcupine again. Jackal got back to the car about 5 minutes after I did. Great fun! I want to go back someday in the spring or fall. It was 107 F when we hit Porcupine. Hot. Of course it's a dry heat.... Kinda like sticking your head in the oven.

We headed back east on Monday morning and decided to stay the night in Eastern Colorado before heading home on Tuesday. Well, we got closer to Omaha and decided we'd spend another night and go see the SAC Museum on Wednesday morning. That was a good time. I got out and rode for a couple of hours on Tuesday night on some gravel and a few miles on Highway 6 near our motel. It was good! Jackal and I flew a simulator at the museum. Fighter jets are a little more "touchy" than the Pipers that I used to fly! Crashed it a couple of times, but other than that it was a blast. Actually, crashing in the simulator was fun too!

Made it home early Wednesday evening and slept like a rock that night. I wanna go back!

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!