Trip over?

Well we made it to Aunt Barb's and Uncle Jerry's Sunday afternoon and have been relaxing and working on the van since.  We put new breaks drums and breaks on and a new valve cover gasket in (now I can stop and don't leak oil).   Aunt Jean is flying out the 13th and I will likely leave before that.  My trip is not over as I will be driving up to Or.  I intend to stay there and start research for a month or so before returning home for a month or so.   The plan is then to drive and climb across the country with my good friend Erik.  In other words the travels do not end and I hope they never do.  We are right now working on how many miles we did.  Once calculated I will post and post a reflection on the trip.  Thanks everyone who followed and kept us in your prayers.  I intend to continue to use this as an outlet to document my trips so don't worry there will be more to come, just maybe not as frequently.

Vegas/Ca here we come

We did meet up with Jason and Colleen and had a really good evening. They planned to do the angels landing hike in the morning and I asked to join. I wasn't sure how my feet would be but I figured with 'good' shoes(cleats out bike shoes) I would be ok. After running out of the park to get some breakfast and riding the shuttle to the trail head, we headed up the 1,000 some feet and 5.4 mile round trip trail. It was amazing and a ton of fun and my feet were great. It took us a lot less time then we expected and we got back and met Charlie at 1. We said our goodbyes (at the latest I intent to see these 2 for the eclipse in 2017) and hit the road. I had got in contact with Abigail and Aly and the were still in Vegas. After we checked in(long line, 'imperial palace'), got some food ('hash house', huge portions) and took a nap we met them to get some drinks. We headed to to fremont street (old vegas), and to a bar called 'don't tell momma'. The lights in that area are pretty amazing and the bar was real cool (the one bar tender could really sing). While there we got talking to a brit who bought us a round because he thought what we had done was very amazing(he is gonna ride with me if I do the UK). We had a really good time out with the girls and I hope too see them again.
Today we went and checked out the car museum in the hotel (it too was amazing) then hit the road after lunch at margaritaville Tonight we are staying in the san bernadine national forest We got in when it was dark and were lucky to find a sight quickly at our second option (first was full, had a bumpy ride up here) Tomorrow we head to aunt Barb and uncle Jerry's hopefully they are home when we get there(they had a golf torny this weekend).
I must note that Vegas was cool (we did not gamble) but the is no way I could spend time there.  I would much rather be out here in the woods.

Canyons, rocks, and good times

We hit the road and made it down to bryce canyon after a nice drive through boulder.We watched the sunset at sunset point and I ran most of the navajo trail.  We then went and found a camp site and Charlie went to go for a walk up the hill were he ended up talking to Jason and Colleen.  That night we went and hung out at their site and Aly and Abigail came over, we had a great time with them.  The next morning we got a late start and decided to stay another night. We went and explored the park; I went for a 10ish mile hike (not the best for my feet in water shoes, but beautiful). that night the whole group got together again at our sight and Jason and Colleen supplied smoors.   In the morning the sisters headed back to their brothers in Vegas and Jason and Colleen and us headed to Zion. Maybe we will bump in to them again here.   We spent the day exploring Zion and did a little hiking but my feet were a little to rough to do the ones I wanted to do (aka suggestions from Abigail and Aly). 
Tomorrow we head west to where ever.

I bought a van!

Well we decided we had enough of the wind and were looking at our options to get to aunt Barb's.  Just down the road from Lyman's was a 84' dodge van for sale.  We talked to Lanny and got his price down.  It is in great shape and today we got some work done on it as well as split wood for Lyman.  We have to wait untill Tuesday to get the van licensed but I have the title and Lanny has my bike because we owe him some more money yet (you can only get so much out of an atm).  Tomorrow we will be doing some more work on the van, it is great having Charlie here to teach me and help me fix the van up. 

Wind, hitching, and running out of space

Well we mad it to Lyman's, but not in the traditional way.  We started out the day and it was fairly windy and after a bit it got really bad.  Soon after we decided to thumb it but it didn't seem to work.  We stopped one time and a jeep drove bye before we got anywhere he cam back.  Brian was a great guy (brit) who really wanted to help but was full up.  We kept on and continued to thumb while riding.  I then realized people may not know what we are doing so the next vehicle we stopped and turned toward.  They stopped.  A nice rv.  Larry and Caroline were great and helped us get our bikes in and gave us some cold water.  At that point we had done 22 miles but it felt like 100.  We then rode with them 25 miles or so to Torrey.   They were headed home to st. George which now as we think of it we should have rod with them.  We are both tired and need a long break.  Charlie is ready to get a rental car or something and just finish it, we may do something of this sort.  A few options are in the works, but for now we are at Lyman's and he said we are welcome as long as we need.

You may notice a bit of a change to the pics.  My first Picasa sight ran out of room so I started another.  The bar across the top is still new photos and the one one the right is all those previous to Utah.  I hope it works, I'm not sure.  Let me know, thanks.

Civilization?

After 40 miles into the wind we finally made it to hanksville.  It's a small little town but we were able to get a decent meal and a shower(first in 4 days).  The ride was pretty and we road past one group of self supported riders and a larger group of supported; it is nice to see others that are nearly as crazy as we are.  Tomorrow we are headed to torrey some 40 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing.  There we will be staying with Lyman.

Glen canyon

We had a good night and hit the road by 740. It was mostly down hill now but the wind kept it feeling uphill.  We saw lots of amazing sights,  buttes, high cliffs, canyons.  Before noon we hit Hite national park.  We found out Charlie could get a life time national park pass for $10 and he can have guest come in with him, so we saved some dough.  We also stopped in the little store ( hours 11-2, we lucked out) and got some lunch. We spent the afternoon there swimming and relaxing in lake Powell.   We left there at 4 after filling out bottles and climbed part of the way out of the  canyon.  We made it another 14 miles and found a decent place to camp.  60 miles today. Tomorrow should be about 40 miles to the first town we have seen in 3 days.