Wow - my last post was about posting pictures soon, and I posted it months ago. But now I am back! And a note about 2013 - I ended up taking 4 decent length motorcycle trips and am doing my trip reports in reverse order. If things seem a little out of sync, this is the reason why.
This is it - I'm finally going to do it. Colorado. Being always limited on time, this option never seems to be on the table. But this year is different. I am living a path of what I thought was three months without working (it turned out to be two), and I could justify the 8 days to get it done. So after the kids were back in school, off I went.
The only problem was two days of nothingness on either side of this ride. The express road between Alberta and Colorado is full of a lot of nothingness....
Hey look - A hill! Finally something to see near Butte Montana.... 
Day two takes me to Salt Lake City. Again there is a whole lot of nothing on the way there. The excitement for the day was a speeding ticket in Idaho (88mph in a 75...), but it was really the police in Salt Lake that blew me away. NEVER have I seen such a large concentration of police in such a small area, and this apparently leads to boredom. After checking in to my hotel I walk to the convenience store to buy beer. I passed a guy who was just hanging around on the sidewalk on the way there and shortly thereafter he had two cops cars stopped and working him over. By the time I walked back they were full on harassing him for what sounded like absolutely nothing. The more I am in some of the US the more I find that it is becoming more of a police state. It's shocking really - and reminds me of old movies about life behind the iron curtain. I keep my head down and slink back to the hotel....
As one would suspect, there is a whole lot of nothingness in parts of Utah. The long drone from Salt Lake towards Moab held little to see, and when rock formations finally started to appear it felt like the main event. Little did I know that things were going to get A LOT better very soon.
For now - this was as good as it gets....
Coming off of the interstate towards Moab brought a very dramatic change in landscape.
The heat in southern Utah was bloody intense, and for a Canadian boy with Scottish ancestry I was at my limit at the 39deg. C that was indicated on the dash of the VFR. I spent way too much time waiting in intense heat in a construction zone heading in to Moab, and the only think I could think of was finding an air conditioned restaurant and taking off some gear. When said restaurant was found, the waitress thought it was rather humorous to see me stripping down and dying in the "heat" because for her, it was a mild day! I must have drank three pitchers of water while I was entertained by the passing homecoming parade that just so happened to be occurring at that moment outside of the window. Looking around at how everyone else was handling the heat it was clear to me that I was going to have to adjust and suck it up, because the locals weren't even breaking a sweat! hehe
After the parade, and many jugs of water I realized that if I was going to see much of the park in daylight I had better get to it. I recalled seeing the exit to the park on the way in to town and I set about back-tracking until I found it - or what I thought was it....
As it turns out I had mistakenly turned on to US128 north but was preoccupied with the beauty of everything around me. Without knowing any better, I stopped to take dozens of pictures only to eventually realize that I had completely missed the park and I was nearly back to I-70 for my ride across the state line to Colorado. For a moment, I had to think about it. If I turned back to see the park it would have to be in the morning - which would mean putting me behind schedule, and would cause me to have to cut some of Colorado. On the other hand, coming this far to miss what was shaping up to be the main attraction seemed a little silly. So back I went to Moab, and without enough time to do the park justice in the evening I decided to get an early sleep and ride out before sun-rise to get the best light for pictures.
But then I got to experience US128 from the other direction - DAMN. What a stunning road. What a beautiful place. I paused many times to soak it in.
Morning came early but I scrambled to get on the bike while complete darkness still prevailed. I rode out of town and easily, in the dark this time, found the road in to the park. The advantage of being there so early is they do not have anyone manning the gate and apparently this means that entry is free! I'll take it!
Immediately the view is stunning as the road winds up the cliff in to the park. And honestly, it is much darker than it looks!
Again - this picture was taken at the crack of dawn and I'm not adept at taking the best sunrise shots. I am feeling the sense of urgency to make it to Delicate Arch before I miss the best of the morning light, but this sight is just too much to pass up. To pull over, shut off the engine and take this picture brought an indescribable peace. The best may be yet to come - but damned if this moment was worth the trip alone.
To be cont.... 
