DAY 26 - Kanab, UT - Ceder City, Utah

After a good night's sleep and being well rested we left the small town of Kanab and headed towards Zion National park. We have been getting really lucky with the weather and usually miss being showed on or riding through heavy heat waves. I won't jinx it, but I am glad and very fortunate to drive in comfortable conditions. The sign up the road showed 33 mi to Zion, so we were glad we were near. The drive up the windy roads was gorgeous, and even though we had to slow down we still enjoyed the scenic route which lead us to the entrance of the park.

We pulled up to the entrance gate and with a big smile I showed my National park pass, the clerk was very kind and let Dovid (which isn't one of the co-signers on the card) through with no charge. We stopped at the side of the road before our way in, to attach our Contour video cameras to the bikes. We have been taking a lot of footage with the HD cameras and I plan on making a short documentary after we are done with the tour. We started heading down the road through the canyon and were just amazed by the colorful yellow and red cliffs which looked as if they were to collapse any moment. We drove through a tunnel which cut through a huge mountain, and as we popped out at the other end we were stunned by the high peaks which overlooked the whole area.

There are plenty of hiking trails at Zion National park and a vast collection of odd and beautiful scenery to see. We got to the other end of the road and pulled of to eat lunch. As we parked we noticed a small creek right beside the road, so we undressed quickly and jumped into the dazzling cold water. It was so refreshing after the short ride in the 100 degree weather, and we were glad to have found a spot with water. We sat down and cooked a delicious meal of onions, garlic, potatoes and rice. We sat by the water and reminisced about the fact that it looked very much like the Dan river back in Israel, and we may as well could have been cooking lunch there. After filling our stomachs we packed up our gear and headed out of the park. At the visitor center I noticed gorgeous photos of caves at Zion and asked how do we get there. I wasn't happy to hear that in order to enter or hike in those caves you need to get a permit, so that idea quickly vanished.

As we headed toward Bryce canyon the wind got extremely strong and it made our ride very unpleasant. We stopped at a KOA campsite in Ceder city and pitched our tents for the night. At the campsite we met some nice people and invited these 2 girls who are doing a cross country bicycle ride from New York to California. They sure are doing something exotic too. After long conversations by the fire, we went to bed to get a good nights sleep before we head up to Bryce tomorrow.

DAY 25 - Glen Canyon, UT - Kanab, Utah

I packed up quickly and went on a morning run on the dirt road to the lake. I didn't know how long it was down to the shore, but just the night before a guy who came up with his truck told us it was around 2.5 miles. The run was nice but it got hot very fast so I got a bit worried cause I didn't take much water. I got closer down into the canyon and saw a sign that said no vehicles beyond this point, which made me happy we got stuck the day before. The road got really muddy and my running shoes were getting heavy from all the dirt and mud that stuck to them. As I got closer to the lake I remembered Uri and Dovid were out of water so I tired to search for a place to fill up the empty bottle I brought with me. Unfortunately there were no facilities down by the shore so I had to resort to a different plan.

I saw from far up that there was a large boat docked by the shore so I ran towards it in order to fill up my bottle. The people on the boat we really nice and even offered me a banana as we sat and talked about what I was doing in the area. They came up from California and have a time share on the boat, so once a year they spend a week or so at Lake Powell with their whole family. After the conversation I ran back up the dirt trail with all the water they gave me back to our parked bikes. The run up was a lot harder and I stopped a few times to walk due to the heat beating on my bare back. I got back to our camp site and found out that Dovid drove back to the main road to get water too, so I was relieved no one was upset I was gone for too long. I gave Uri some water and then he headed up back to the paved road because It takes him longer to ride on gravel with his bike.

I got dressed and packed my bike and as I was turning around my motorcycle tipped over onto the ground. I didn't get nervous cause I leaned at my MSF course a way to pick up the heavy 600 pound bike. However after much effort I didn't succeed in getting it up, and I was stuck in this dirt road 11 miles away from any civilization with no one to help. I knew Uri or Dovid would come back to get me if I was taking too long, but waiting in the heat didn't sound like a good idea. Luckily a GMC truck came driving up the path and the two young Dutch boys with their dad helped me pick up the bike. I thanked them and was all ready to go, when I realized my Honda wouldn't start. Now I was getting a bit mad. The Dutch family got back out of their car and asked me if i needed help, I nodded in approval. I thought the issue was with my battery or something like that, so I suggested to roll it forward with some help and start it in first gear. However the Dutch father got to the conclusion that it is an ignition issue and my fuse is burned out due to a electrical circuit failure.

Along the years I learned to listen to advise from people who seem like they are experts, so immediately I took out my spare fuses. Together we found the fuse box near the front of the motorcycle and the Dutch guy pulled out the dead fuse and replaced it with the new one that I handed to him. I was so grateful for his help and was extremely happy my bike was running again. I rode in front and he drove behind me in case I needed any more help, and after 20 minutes of riding we got back to the main road where I saw Uri and Dovid waiting for me. Wow, what a morning! I thanked the Dutch family again and hopped on my bike so as not to delay us any more. We drove around 60 miles to the near town to fuel up and eat lunch. We were so tired from our previous events that we decided just an hour ago to check into a local motel and reorganize all our gear and get our bikes back in shape.

DAY 23/24 - Grand Canyon, AZ - Kaibab National Park, AZ - Glen Canyon, Utah

We spent the whole day in Tusayan resting and we really needed it. We planned on going down into the canyon for a day hike but it began to rain, so things changed. It felt like Shabbat and all three of us were happy to take a day off from riding. The next campsite was in a National Forest and was free of charge. We carry all our gear and enough water for the night, so why should we pay money for a piece of gravel.

Right before we built our tents we saw two large elk roaming the fields and hoped they wouldn't bother us. They were actually scared of us and ran off as we got closer. The weather was perfect, not too hot and just right to eat by the small camp fire we made for eat dinner. Another advantage of staying away from designated camp grounds is the fact that we are all alone. No one else making noise and interrupting the sounds of nature. Dinner was the usual, pasta and sauce, and tasted really good.

In the morning we woke up early and set off to Lake Powell. Lately we have been riding a lot less and enjoying the places and sites we see on the way. We stopped on the way at a Navajo market on the side of the highway and looked at all the hand-made jewelry they had to offer. The tribe is so big, the women there told me, that their land is as large as West Virginia. We continued down the windy road and enjoyed the gorgeous view of the Grand Canyon on the West.

The ride to Page, Arizona was around 150 miles which gave us plenty of time to spend at the visitor center at Glen Canyon dam. The dam is the second largest in the United States, after Hoover dam (in Nevada), and looked very big from the scenic view at the visitor center. Lake Powell is the result from building the dam and is quite a beautiful scene, due to the combination of desert and marine blue water trapped between the brown mountains. Dovid read in his traveler's book that it's legal and free to camp anywhere along the lake, so we decided to find a good spot for the night. We found out further on that it is free of charge to camp on the shore, however only if you come by boat. Well that got us a a little pissed, but we found a road after the entrance to Utah that claimed it led down to the lake. We started our way down and a few miles in it became too rough to continue. Our Motorcycles aren't designed for off-road use so the unpaved 11 mile ride sure was a mistake. Uri's trunk snapped of it's hinge and to fix it we needed time, so we set camp ride beside the dirt road.

Even though our spirits were down and we hadn't gotten to see the lake from up close, we still enjoyed the food Uri made, which for a change was delicious rice. We sat in the dark under the bright sky lit by the stars, and tried to relax from our eventful day. The fact that there was no cell coverage gave us the feeling we were all alone and made the experience more unique.