From coast to coast

The main focus of my trip other than crossing the US continent was visiting a number of National Parks. So far, I have visited six of them (Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Great Basin, Zion and Bryce Canyon) and one National Monument (Craters of the Moon). Sometimes people ask me which one I liked most. That's a difficult question because each park is so different. They each have their own highlights. But if I had to choose one, it would probably be Bryce Canyon, the last one we visited. Perhaps nowhere are the forces of natural erosion more tangible than at Bryce Canyon. It's amazing how water has carved Bryce's rugged landscape for millions of years.

Another great aspect to this park is its abundance of wildlife. Maybe it's a matter of luck but on an evening ride through the park we spotted a fox, turkeys, elk, deer and all sorts of birds.

That evening we also discovered that there are few better places on planet Earth for astronomy! The night sky at Bryce is so dark you can see 7,500 stars on a moonless night! That night it was half moon so the amount diminished but it was still impressive. Jupiter is actually that big that you can see it without a telescope. The park rangers picked up on the success of their sky (they now call it part of Bryce Canyon park) and they decided to have a multimedia show twice a week followed by sky viewing with telescopes. And that's what we did that night, looking to the craters of the moon, gazing at Jupiter with 4 stars in its proximity. Very impressive. This is a picture taken after the show, of our typical tipi tent. You can see the moon and Jupiter on it.

On Saturday I dropped off Lut at the airport of Vegas, after being stopped by a police officer. He asked me why I was going straight where I had to turn right and why I ignored a red light on the Strip. Good questions and I guess I wanted to get out of the scorching heat (again 107 degr F) but I obviously didn't tell him that. Just being polite and apologetic did the job again. His last question was: "Is that a Tiger?". I acknowlegded and he replied: "great bike" and he jumped on his Harley Davidson. I like these kind of cops ;-)

So the best way to get out of this unbearable heat was to go to the west coast, my next destination. Over there temperatures were much milder. On Sunday I staid at a wonderful campground near the beach, about 150 miles from San Jose.

On Monday I did the Big Sur, a road winding through the mountains all along the coastline. Unfortunately half of the trip was covered by low clouds and fog but I still got some great vistas of the Pacific and saw some elephant seals!

Yesterday, my Tiger got a well-deserved service in the Triumph dealership in San Jose after about 6,700 miles (10,700km). The bike as well as the rider were treated as kings by Maya, the hospitable shop manager. She owns about 10 bikes herself (including some vintage Nortons and Triumphs) and some really great cars from the sixties and seventies.

So now I have another week to get to my end destination of this trip: Seattle. That's where I am going to have my bike stored at a local Triumph dealership (http://www.i-90motorsports.com/aboutus.asp). They will showcase it as the ultimate bike that crossed the US twice (the first time my buddy Willem took it all the way from South Florida to North Alaska). The reason why I have it stored in Seattle is because it's closer to Alaska. Yes indeed, I am already thinking of my next trip ;-)