Rock me, baby!

I'm in love. I'm so sorry, I can't help it. Please forgive me, my beloved Alpi. :-(
Riding my Road King today was just out of this world. And I have visual proof (pictures or videos, whatever requested) that there really are awesome winding roads in the USA! (Take that, disbelievers!)
I feel like I've never driven a motorcycle that securely around even tight corners and I really, really, really hope that with the ~3000 mi practice I got here I manage to be a better motorcyclist on my bike at home as well.

The day started rather unusual with just a 3 min ride to the Bluff Fort. We learned not only about why the pioneers came to Bluff, but also about their troublesome journey over the so-called Hole-in-the Rock trail. One of the original cabins, the Barton Cabin from 1880, was still there! In addition, replicas of the original log cabins and the Meetinghouse have been constructed. We walked around the Fort first and watched a short documentary about the journey mentioned above. Wow, we got a pretty good idea of how the pioneer life on the San Juan in the 1880’s was. Again, I talked to the people I met in the

Visitor Center. One of them was Hardy Redd, son of one of the pioneers (his grandfather took his then six year old father with him). Hearing his stories was SO impressive! How his father and grandfather helped founding Bluff, how the entire Redd family of ten children and 35 grandchildren still stay in the region around Bluff and of course the little bits that his father told him, such as no one having died on the expedition, but two children being born along the six month long journey. He and his wife were more than happy to share their memories with me and I'm very grateful for that. When they learned that I was from Austria they immediately began showering me with compliments about my beautiful country and telling me how visiting Vienna and Salzburg was so very special to them. I'm very thankful to have met these charming people!

After that we drove by the so-called Twin Rocks and stopped just for a few quick pictures before continuing (or rather: starting) our journey to the Natural Bridges National Monument. When we arrived there after a long ride along Highway 95 we were each given a map and told that we have 45 min to drive around and visit the three natural bridges (i.e. they were washed out of the rocks by the river and still are further shaped during flashfloods) in the area. It was a one-way loop drive, so at least we couldn't get lost in the park. ;-)

The 45 minutes, however, were not at all sufficient for me. I felt a little stressed, because we basically just stopped at a parking area, got off our bikes, took a few pictures, got back to our bikes and drove to the next parking area. So I told my mates I needed more time and would go on by myself. To be honest, I knew that the rest of the group would need a little break to go to the restrooms, buy something at the Visitor Center and so on. That's why, honestly, I didn't care about being late. In total it took me ~15 min longer than the others, but I could at least enjoy the impressive sights (and of course, half of the group weren't even at the meeting point when I arrived...)! ;-)
The ride through the park was amazing as well! Narrow, winding roads led from one viewing point to the next and it was so much fun to drive there!

We then continued to drive to the Capitol Reef N.P., but what I hadn't known or rather couldn't have imagined was the highway that led us there! For an hour (!) we drove along a beautiful road leading us right through Glen Canyon, winding its way up and down the hills. All the time we were surrounded by steep cliffs made of red rocks. It was really impressive. Halfway to Hacksville, where we took a really late

lunch, we stopped at a viewing point overlooking the magnificent Colorado River and parts of Glen Canyon. Un-be-liev-a-ble!!

After lunch we drove right into the Capitol Reef N.P., where we visited some of the famous Utah Petroglyphs. It's really fascinating how ancient cultures painted their stories on the walls that surrounded them. I just wished there was more information about the meaning of the petroglyphs though.

It was getting late, so we got to our hotel, which is a sight for itself. The "Broken Spur Inn and Steakhouse" is entirely decorated Western style. I'm in paradise! Of course, the first thing we did was jump into the pool to relax a bit. Due to being in another time zone (again) we needed to get up an hour early today, i.e. at 5 am, that explains the exhaustion... ;-) Tomorrow we're going to visit Bryce Canyon! I'm really looking forward to that and I hope that people stop reminding me that our journey will soon be over and everything we did and saw just a memory of the past.