Day 12

Bruce and I were rooming together. Chuck and C.E. were together and Jan and Ken were together. My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM, as usual, and I got up and got dressed. I was in the middle of packing when Bruce woke up to go to the bathroom. When he got up, I turned the lights on and turned on the TV to watch the weather channel. Bruce returned and got back into bed and fell asleep. I turned the TV off and turned off the lights. I thought that Bruce was up for good, but I was wrong. I finished packing, grabbed my laptop and went downstairs to the breakfast room. I was working on the computer, checking my e-mail and Facebook. I was in the breakfast room by myself for almost an hour when C.E. arrived to have breakfast. The others later came in also. We checked the map and it was decided that we would travel southbound to try and get out of the weather that was supposed to hit here in Pocatello. We were going south and try to get to Price, UT. or Green River, UT. We left at 9"15 AM.

Bruce was in the lead and took us southbound on I-15. We rode for 61 miles and stopped in Soda Springs, ID. at 10:14 AM for our first break. Since we had breakfast just a short time ago, we needed a pit stop. It was COLD , when we left Pocatello, UT., it was 43 degrees! We were all bundled up for the cold. From the time we left Pocatello, it sprinkled off and on until the end of the day. It also snowed on us at times. We thought that the further south we rode, the warmer it would get. When we stopped in Soda Springs, it was 41 degrees. The thermometer was going the wrong way! We got gas first and then entered the store, which had tables and chairs and a small restaurant inside. We had something warm to drink, coffee for me and Chuck. We were there for a while trying to "thaw." Ken was like a Popsicle. He was very cold and didn't bring enough warm clothes. He was wearing two shirts and his jacket. He was still cold. We we left Pocatello, I had turned on my seat and grip warmers. My tush was toasty! There is nothing like having a toasty tush on a cold day. By the way, I also had my heater on. Life is good! As I stated earlier, we were on our break for a while. We left almost an hour later. We left at 11:02 AM.

Since we gassed up, it was C.E.'s turn to lead. Just before we left, I told him to set his Navigation System for Green River, UT. That would lead him in the right direction. As we headed south on I-15, we turned onto US 89. We rode through beautiful country. C.E. was in the lead with Ken following, Chuck was next, then me, Jan and Bruce. Remember, we stopped in Soda Springs for a break and I had coffee. I was in desperate need for a pit stop and raced in front of C.E. when we were in Paris, ID. and pointed at a Sinclair gas station on the left side. I rode in front of C.E. and turned into the gas station. We all turned into the station and parked. It just seamed like I couldn't get the gloves and helmet off fast enough. Once I did, I quickly went into the store and searched for the restroom. What a relief! When I was done, there was a line outside the door starting with Chuck and Jan. We were done and felt much better. We left at 11:55 AM.

We continued south on US89. We passed through several small towns. There were numerous farms, cows, horses, mules, donkeys and more. We passed a couple of large lakes and mountains. It was beautiful country. We crossed the Idaho/Utah border. We followed US 89 and rode up and down a two lane mountain road. This was a different ride than what we were used to. It was very cold and it started to sprinkle harder and snow flakes were falling on us. The road had many curves. We were doing just fine with the conditions existing. We were very careful. We also go to a summit that was approximately 7,500 feet. The coldest it got was 37 degrees. We finally arrived in Logan, UT. It was passed lunch time and we happened to find a Subway, where we stopped for lunch at 1:07 PM after riding 61 miles. While we were in the Subway warming up, it started to rain a little harder. We went to our Motors, got our rain gear and put it on. We were ready now! We left at 2:27 PM.

C.E. continued to lead us on US 89 heading for the area of Salt Lake City, UT to get gas. As we were on US 89, we had to turn southbound onto I-15. C.E.'s was leading and the Navigation System indicated to turn left onto I-15. C.E. saw that we needed to turn left, but he turned right. We were all headed northbound on I-15 now. C.E. realized the error and got off at the next exit, made a u-turn and then headed southbound on I-15. This was good for a little fun later. C.E. said that he saw that he needed to turn left but didn't know why he turned right. There was no harm, just a little fun later. We stopped in the outskirts of Salt Lake City in a town named, Centerville, UT at 3:40 PM after riding 76 miles.

While we were in Centerville, we got gas. After filling our tanks, we took off our rain gear and most of our warm clothing. It was now 64 degrees and NICE riding weather. Since we were taking a break, we cleaned our windshields and headlights. They were filthy. By the way, we also made a pit stop. We were ready to leave so we did at 4:11 PM.

It was Chuck's turn to lead. Chuck got us back on I-15 and we headed southbound. We rode through Salt Lake City during rush hour traffic. For it being rush hour, it wasn't that bad. Salt Lake City has mountains surrounding the city. The mountains were beautiful. There was also some snow on most of the mountains. We got to the south end of Salt Lake City and it's suburbs and turned onto US 6. US 6 was a very nice road that went into the mountains. It was nice to see the different terrain of the mountains. Sometimes the terrain was green landscape and sometimes it was rocky. The road was curvy and if the traffic was lighter, the weather better and the road drier, we could have had a good "scraping soles" ride. Chuck kept the speed down. It was a nice ride. Chuck stopped at 5:43 PM after riding for 97 miles at Soldier Summit Rest Area. It was time for a break. We parked next to a white Ford with a young lady and old man standing in front of it. The hood was up and the young lady seemed distressed. Jan had asked her what the problem was and she replied that the fan belt broke. She had asked us if she could borrow a cell phone to call her parents. I took out my cell phone and saw that it was roaming and couldn't find service. There was a pay phone about 20 feet away and we directed her to it. While she was on the phone, we all went for a pit stop. When we returned to the Motors, I noticed that she had a child in the back seat in a child seat. He was sleeping. I asked her if he contacted anyone and she told me that she spoke with her father, who was en route to help her. It was time for us to leave. We got on our Motors and left at 5:59 PM.

We continued on US 6 with our destinations of Price, UT. We rode for 39 miles and arrived in Price at 6:37 PM at the Best Western. The sign said, "No Vacancy." Chuck and I entered to speak with the man at the desk. He told us that the motel was full. We left at 6:41 PM and headed for the Holiday Inn back at US 6. We arrived at 6:53 PM after riding 2 miles. We all went in, checked in, got our room keys and rode our Motors to the back of the motel. We parked our Motors, got our bags and tucked our Motors in for the night.

Today we rode for 378 miles. We rode through beautiful country, cold weather, rain, snow, clouds and great roads. This was a good day! As I type my blog, I don't know what is planned for tomorrow. I'm sure that during breakfast tomorrow we will talk about our destination. So, until tomorrow...