Today I logged into the blog for the first time in months.  It has been a crazy year and although we have ridden quite a bit, I couldn’t even remember my last post.  To my surprise, I found this one saved as a draft from June 26, 2016.  I am sure I had bigger plans for it last June, but given the time-lapse, I am just going to post it the way I saved it.

Our vacation is coming to an end.  It started off really rough with the bike troubles, tons of rain & rushing to catch back up to our schedule.  But, ultimately it has been worth it.  After the first 3 days, we really started to enjoy our trip.

Today will be the first of 2 long days of riding.  I am not looking forward to those.  In the past when I have been on my Uly, the trip has been enjoyable, with the Lightening, the long miles are painful.  I won’t be taking this bike on any other long trips.

The road out of Ely was just as desolate as the road we traveled yesterday.  It was hot & we traveled over an hour before seeing anyone.  We have seen a few jackrabbits, but the wildlife out here has been scarce.  This morning we passed a long, hot, stretch where we saw 3 dead cows near the road.  A few miles later we saw a couple more.  It was sort of disturbing.   What a lonely road out to Great Basin National Park!  This is the only National Park in Nevada.

Once we reached the visitor center, we learned a little about the park.  I was interested in a prehistoric looking “shrimp” that can complete their full life cycle in less than 3 weeks, and their eggs can lay dormant for 20 years until the next big rainfall.  We learn all sorts of fun tidbits when we travel!

From Great Basin we headed towards Capitol Reef National Park.  I loved the drive!  We have enjoyed parks in Utah in the past, but we haven’t been to this one.  It did not disappoint!  There are so many different landscapes and rock formations to see.  The beautiful park was created from a Waterpocket Fold.  I had never heard of it until this trip.  The roads were twisty, and well maintained.  Perfect for a day on the bikes!

Leaving the park, we headed towards the North tip of Lake Powell and ultimately into Durango.  We had lots of opportunities to get some great photos.  I’ve had my Virb set to take pictures every 5 seconds.  I ended up with a ton of pictures to sort through, but I capture so many more moments by using the auto feature.