Viva Las Vegas!

We left Fort Morgan with Joe and Lynn, they were heading South to visit family in Colorado Springs, so Sue agreed to ride in the car while I was condemned to a couple of hours of helmet singing. We said farewell to Joe and Lynn on the slip road to the I-25 and hoped that we'd meet them somewhere on the road in the future. Joe, you need to get your back fixed and get your journey South underway, in the meantime we'll keep you updated on our progress.

Not long after we hit the interstate it started to rain, the clouds in the distance looked like they were there for the day so we made the decision to don the waterproofs.

Why post a photo of rain when you come from the UK? well we haven't seen rain in weeks, so it was something of a novelty.

These are called waterproofs.

We covered the next 650 miles without much trouble, or interest for that matter and rolled into Winslow, Arizona. You can't ride through Winslow without visiting the corner made famous in the Eagles song 'Take it Easy'. There's nothing to say that this was THE corner but if the town can make a buck by sticking a statue on a corner and painting a wall then we're up for it.

If you don't know the words to the song, you're too young to care.

The flat bed Ford is parked here permanently, BOB was just visiting.

By now Sue was able to hold up under interrogation

After Winslow we headed West to Flagstaff before turning North to the Grand Canyon on the way we called in to see the world's best preserved meteor crater. For a hole in the ground it's quite impressive, 570 feet deep and almost a mile in diameter, the visitor centre also contains some NASA stuff including an Apollo test capsule. Best of all for me was a pen developed by NASA to write in zero gravity, apparently they spent millions on the task, the Russians however.......used pencils.

If you put seats around the outside it would make a top class stadium.

Everything you have ever read, seen or been told about the size and beauty of the Grand Canyon is true, it's impossible to take it all in in one go and to spend just a few hours riding the South rim is like listening to a few bars of a musical masterpiece. Unfortunately we arrived the day before President Obama was due to make a family visit to the National Park so there was probably more than the usual crowds.

Isn't she Grand?

What a sight!

I convinced Sue to stand precariously close to the edge for this shot, but should she slip that sturdy branch she is holding would stop me from claiming on the life insurance!

Enjoy the Views............

A mile down to the Canyon floor

We finished the tour of the Canyon South Rim and stopped overnight in Seligman, a small town which now exists on it's reputation as the start of the last remaining stretch of Route 66 and the usual souvenir shops. As soon as the sun rises the tour buses hit town which was our cue to leave, but not before our own tourist snaps.

One careful owner?

If it gets you into the shop, it's worked.

Loads of old stores like this selling the usual tourist tat, but this one had some nostalgic hidden gems.

What you would have swapped for this as a kid!

Our motel hadn't been touched since the fifties (not even the sheets)

Today was a fairly easy days riding, we'd just follow the old Route 66 through the desert to Kingman before heading North West into Las Vegas via the Hoover Dam.

There are only a couple of small towns left on the last stretch of the original '66' for the rest of the way it runs through desert. For some driving the 'Mother Road' is still the ultimate road trip, for us it was just hot!

We stopped in Kingman for refreshments and got talking to Andy and Christine a couple from New Zealand who are on an eight week tour with a group of 16 riders, Andy is originally from Chesterfield but left the UK in the early 80's. As they woud be in Vegas at the same time as us we arranged to meet up for a drink when we got there.

Kiwis:- Flightless, nocturnal birds about the size of a chicken (can't be right?)

By the time we got to the Hoover Dam it was silly degrees celsius, the temperature had been hovering around the low 40's for most of the way along the 66 which is just over 100 degrees fahrenheit, on a beach it's probably manageable but in bike gear?. At one point crossing the dam the temperature readout on BOB reached 43.5C -110F! we had had enough and just wanted to get to the air conditioned comfort of our hotel room.

The Hoover Dam is impressive, but what is equally impressive is the bridge being built across the gorge.

Soon you will not be able to drive across the dam

Lake Mead showing the result of water shortage.

We went on the Internet looking for accommodation in Vegas and found that you could get a decent hotel for as little as $20 a night, the cheapest was $9 including breakfast! We opted for the famous Golden Nugget Casino on the old strip at $49 a night and booked ourselves a four night break.

The Nugget

Here's Sue in front of the 'Hand of Faith' the world's biggest nugget in existence. (reportedly bought at auction for $1,000,000 but now worth twice as much)

The old Freemont strip has now been covered with a framework containing thousands of lights which provides an impressive light show after dark.

Lights on.

Lights off

We met up again with Andy and Chris and had a look round some of the other famous casinos, they were all very fancy but a week in this town would be enough for us.

Biker chicks joined at the hip.

The glass flower ceiling in the Belaggio foyer.

The fountain lake at the Bellagio

Paris Casino, Las Vegas

The canals at the Venetian

The ceiling of the Grand Hall, Venetian

St Marks Square (with painted ceiling)

The rest of the week we spent just lazing by the pool and recharging our batteries, we managed to hang on to our money even though you have to walk through the Casino to get anywhere. The next part of our journey was through Death Valley and on to Yosemite NP but that's another entry on the blog.................