Day 15 Bryce Canyon National Park

Chuck told us last night that we would probably make today a late morning but C.E. and I still woke up at 6:30 AM to my alarm. C.E. looked outside and said that we would not be leaving anytime soon. There was snow and ice on our Motors. We got dressed and packed our bags. We didn't even bother going out to clean our Motors or take the covers off. We waited until the others were ready and we all walked to the restaurant for breakfast. We had a good breakfast and we returned to our rooms. We got our Motors ready by cleaning them and packing them with our bags. C.E. rode back to the front desk and checked out. Jan followed and then Bruce. We were all waiting on Chuck. C.E. had returned after checking out. C.E., Ken and I waited for Chuck and finally, Chuck was ready. We rode to the main building and met up with the others. We left the motel at 10:30 AM and headed for Bryce Canyon National Park.

It wasn't far to the entrance to the Park. We rode 3 miles and arrived at 10:35 AM. We entered one at a time, showing our passes and Id's. We went into the park and rode a wonderful road. Soon after we entered, we saw a sign that said, "Prairie Dog Crossing." There was a large meadow and I saw several prairie dogs. There was one by the street that was a big as a large chihuahua! Chihuahuas are large, but their size is large for a prairie dog. As we continued on the road, we passed by two antelope grazing by the side of the road. They were not fazed by the noise of the Harleys. We toured the Park and were in awe with the beauty of the Park. The winding roads, snow and the lack of traffic! Everywhere we went, we didn't have to fight the traffic or crowds. We stopped at just about every place there was to stop and took pictures. Some places we took more pictures than others.We spent most of the day in the Park. The weather was very kind to us. It was a lot better that yesterday. The skies were mostly clear. As we were heading back towards the entrance, we passed by the same two antelope, which were now on the other side of the road and still grazing. We dove by them slowly and I was able to take a good picture of the two. We went to one more location of the Park named Sunset Point. We finished the tour of the Park my exploring this area and taking more pictures. We left the Park at 2:05 PM after riding 44 miles.

We exited the Park and 3 miles later, at 2:09 PM, we stopped at a gas station and filled up. After the long day at the park and doing some hiking, we were all hungry. We were told about a restaurant a mile away which was supposed to be good. As we arrived at the restaurant, there was a Subway next door and can you guess where we went? Yup, you guessed it. It was Subway. We parked our Motors, went inside and ordered. This was the most expensive Subway that any of us have ever been! A sub, chips and soda cost just shy of $10. Normally we have paid about $6 for the same thing. The owner must have been very proud of his subs. We all agreed that we should have gone to the restaurant, but, too late! We left at 2:58 PM.

C.E. was in the lead now. We went west on Hwy 12 with a destination of Cedar City, UT. We rode for a couple of miles when Jan, who was riding in the 5th position, saw about 5 or 6 antelope on the right side of the road. Bruce was in the last position saw them also. We continued until we came to US 89 and turned southbound. The road got better. The scenery was awesome. We rode for a while and at 3:31 PM after riding 36 miles, we arrived in Long Valley Junction, UT. We made a pit stop and got some drinks and snacks. This was our "after lunch break." We left at 3:56 PM.

We continued and turned onto Hwy 14. This was a much better road than US 89. As the road started to start the curves, I saw a deer to the right side of the road. We continued on the mountain road. The speed limit was posted at 60 MPH. We did all of 60 MPH and it made the ride very enjoyable. We rode through areas where there had been recent rock slides. The mountain had scattered boulders and the pavement had been repaired. There were large meadows that was covered in snow. We climbed a mountain where the summit was at 9,910 FT. There was snow on either side of the road and some of the snow had melted and the roadway had melted snow on it. Don't worry, we were very careful! This great road had to come to an end and at 4:41 PM and after 42 miles, we arrived in Cedar City, UT. at the Best Western. We checked into our rooms, rode to our rooms and took our bags into our rooms. I know what you are thinking! No, we didn't tuck our Motors in for the night. We changed into our swim suits and went to the hot tub. It was HOT but it felt good. We returned to our rooms after about 45 minutes and changed our clothes. We rode to a nearby Appleby's for dinner. After dinner, we returned to the motel and then tucked our Motors in for the night. We couldn't believe that we were in for the night so early. I immediately uploaded all of the pictures that I took today. I took 117 pictures by brought it down to 100. I did my blog and then started on the pictures. I don't know what time I will finish the pictures. I'm sure that my roommate, Chuck, will be "cutting some heavy logs." (sleeping)

Tomorrow we hope to go to Zion National Park. It isn't very far from here. After looking at the map, Zion National Park is bigger than Bryce Canyon National Park. Who knows where we will end up. So, stay tuned and thanks for reading.