Running again? SLC, UT

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

It is Friday night and the verdict is "running again"… Ron at Motorcycle R and R will not release the bike yet till he checks out the rest of the wiring, which I understand he finds to be desirable. I started smiling on the phone as, yes, much has been changed on the bike when many components where taken out, replaced by a chip for some extra boost, specially having to roll with a sidecar on its side. I might not have washed Old Faithful in ages, but I am pretty "picky" when she needs the professional touch as in who works on her and it turns out that Ron is even pickier than I am! And, yes, Old Faithful as I might have made an error recently on the previous Blog, is a "she"… She has always ran with fresh oil, best of plugs, her valves, rocker arms and throttle bodies always checked, and even though lately getting into a certain age she does not change much anymore, if any,she still receives her due maintenance.

come along

They are predicting snow again tomorrow, big difference in the weather between Moab and Salt Lake City… With temps around the 40’s we should be able to get back in the evening safely, even going up and down Highway 6. So we will not return to this kind of situation as above! And this was really a stupid (another one) move on my part. It was a deep narrow canyon sort of going up Onion Creek Rd the other day, vertigo if you remember, there is a deep ledge (you cannot see it very well!) so I hugged the cliff which was on my side, not enough power and my rear wheel started spinning in rock and sand. Of course now that I look at the picture… it looks like a highway (not!) and with seemingly such a smooth surface… (not!).

creek 3

Now this road above was smooth! At least I got to play with the come along to pull the bike out of the rut, it works very well, much better than the electric which I use to have mounted. It sure looks like I had a lost of space, but not really. As the warning on rear view mirrors… everything looks larger in a picture! Besides all this "Onion Creek" is a nice trail to ride and as the pattern of an onion, the same creek is crossed 24 times. Very shallow water, just enough to cool one’s feet through their boots and as on many other trails many free campsites in the wilderness are available.

riders

It will be 72 hours all together here in Salt Lake City by the time we leave, maybe more. Besides the kind gesture of a reader named "Cole" from Orem, "Mauldus" is his handle on the BMW MOA Motorcycle forum, inviting us to dinner at the "Porcupine Grill" (very good food), we have not gone anywhere. Probably should have made some arrangements for transportation but it just did not happen that way. I am glad that the shop fitted us in, the same mind weight and non comfort when being in a city has been back to haunt us, today even looking at the clock as to when we will hear the good news about Old Faithful.

onion creek rd 1

Being in such circumstances makes me realize how strongly I just want to live amongst the rocks and the canyons away from it all. It is not even about people as I love people, it is about this "space" around us, wide open, uncluttered, seemingly bringing peace and serenity within me. As of right now a Life in a City would be just impossible for us as I feel like I would just crawl into a corner giving up on everything around me that would be so different than where we would want to be.

spirit  

Spirit?… well, I know that he is bored! He sure can sleep, quietly besides his occasional dreams and snoring, never a complain. We went for a couple walks up this narrow street where the cars back and forth, uphill and downhill seemed to be testing their horsepower, urban smells still triggered a bit of tail wagging, but I know that he is also anxious to return to Moab as I am.

Fischer Towers 1

Going back to that day on Onion Creek, when returning, we rode a bit further more by the Colorado River and took another trail that lead us to the Fisher Towers. It is one of the most scenic landscape on the river, containing sedimentary rock layers in various red-brown, red-purple and maroon colors. The colors being the results of varying amounts of hematite, an iron oxide. The layers date back from from 320 million years ago to the present, and I finally got to see much older rocks, the conglomerate which contains sub-rounded to rounded cobbles and pebbles of quartz, feldspar, mica, granite, schist, and quartzite that were eroded from nearby Precambrian (over 1 billion years old) metamorphic and igneous rocks. When one can touch something that is 1 billion years old, one’s own Life takes a different perspective.

La Salle Mtns 2

We then rode to Castle Valley, a small community separated from Moab by the Mountains. There are no stores there, the black top turns into a nice gravel road and this below is what they call the Castles…

The Castles  

thin castle

Again there is much camping available, behind those trees, reachable by the roads forking off, busy on the weekends and right now during spring break. The outskirts of Moab never feel crowded. There is too much land in all directions to be and that is the real attractive aspect of the whole area. We were warned about the craziness of Jeep Safari week, Spring Break, but we have never felt it as none of the three million visitors a year are all there at the same time!

Jeeps 1 Jeeps 2
Jeeps 3 Jeeps 4

And a few more four wheelers pictures remaining from last week… the older red truck below being one of my favorites. I had many favorites!

Jeeps 5  

Jeeps 6

Hopefully we will be writing the next Blog from Moab, amazing how much I have already missed that place!

Can you… "Throw the Dog a Bone!"… T-shirtsMouse padsPhotography

We are always under deep appreciation toward the readers that have send in a contribution helping this website’s expenditures. For those who have not, continue enjoying the site, pictures, recipes, and if you feel it’s worth $1 a month, the contribution button is above, snail mail is below…

Ara Gureghian   853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245   Naples, Fl 34108

You be well and stay well…. Ara & Spirit

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