An update on the last part of our trip, which went: Moab - Gooseneck canyon - Sedona - Grand Canyon - Hoover Dam - Las Vegas - And back to Palo Alto
The coolest ride of our whole trip was in my opinion Porcupine Rim. This is a ride in Moab, which we did as a loop from town, riding up the gravel road and down the trail. The rain poured down, and it was awesome! :)
Martin on Porcupine Rim.
Martin on Porcupine Rim, riding along Jackass Canyon.
After a full day biking in Moab, dinner and beer at the Moab Microbrewery was awsome. Cozy cheap place with good food and great beer :)
In Moab we stayed at a cheap motel. They had bike wash area and bike cleaning rags at the room. Kind of used to mountain bikers around there :)
Christmas eve day we did (parts of) the most famous trail in Moab, the Slickrock trail. This was really cool, but a bit to hard for me... Biking on the steep rock i found kind of scary...
Martin however, did not really suffer that problem :)
For Christmas eve we drove south, and (actually randomly) stopped at a view point called Gooseneck point. There we had Christmas dinner consisting of beef and potatoes, gingerbread and gluwein from Ikea, chocolate from home and presents.
We woke up Christmas morning to this view...!
And sunrise. Before driving on to Sedona.
First day in Sedona we biked with a group of people we met at the local bike shop. Fun to meet other people after mostly only talking to each other for a week. The next day we biked at Broken Arrow trail, an area where many Western Movies are shot.
Me looking focused...
Martin and a Cactus he got acquainted with... Worst thing with desert biking was picking cactus needles out of his ass....
Cathedral rock. Apparently it is some energy vortexes here. New Age people and also others pray in them and make stone circles because apparently they give you more energy and luck or something like that, we didn't really catch exactly what they do. I think it is originally based on some Native American traditions. But I admit it really is pretty!
After a couple of days in Sedona we drove on against Grand Canyon, and slept there, together with this guy.
Next day was our big touristy day. We started out with morning coffee with the view over Grand Canyon.
We then drove all the way to Hoover dam to stand in line (first to get into the area through securety where we were stopped and our car searched because it was so messy, then to park, then to get into the visitor center) and watch a dam... It's big, and the brigde is pretty. But i kind of preferred the more quiet nature of Moab and Arches national park.
Then we ended the day in Las Vegas staying at the Flamingo casino.
Where we lost a dollar each on slot machines, and ate a big buffet dinner.
The last days and new year eve we spent in the bay area. We got to see the fire work at the pir 14 in San Fransisco. And first day of 2011 we went to the Tech museum in San Jose. Really fun museum. They let you build things like this fish feeder, where toys are coupled with sensors...
My last day in US we spent kayaking in Santa Cruz. We paddled up the Elkhorn Sloght in pooring rain.
We saw a lot of otters and seals.
And birds (no idea which species...).
The coolest ride of our whole trip was in my opinion Porcupine Rim. This is a ride in Moab, which we did as a loop from town, riding up the gravel road and down the trail. The rain poured down, and it was awesome! :)
Martin on Porcupine Rim.
Martin on Porcupine Rim, riding along Jackass Canyon.
After a full day biking in Moab, dinner and beer at the Moab Microbrewery was awsome. Cozy cheap place with good food and great beer :)
In Moab we stayed at a cheap motel. They had bike wash area and bike cleaning rags at the room. Kind of used to mountain bikers around there :)
Christmas eve day we did (parts of) the most famous trail in Moab, the Slickrock trail. This was really cool, but a bit to hard for me... Biking on the steep rock i found kind of scary...
Martin however, did not really suffer that problem :)
For Christmas eve we drove south, and (actually randomly) stopped at a view point called Gooseneck point. There we had Christmas dinner consisting of beef and potatoes, gingerbread and gluwein from Ikea, chocolate from home and presents.
We woke up Christmas morning to this view...!
And sunrise. Before driving on to Sedona.
First day in Sedona we biked with a group of people we met at the local bike shop. Fun to meet other people after mostly only talking to each other for a week. The next day we biked at Broken Arrow trail, an area where many Western Movies are shot.
Me looking focused...
Martin and a Cactus he got acquainted with... Worst thing with desert biking was picking cactus needles out of his ass....
Cathedral rock. Apparently it is some energy vortexes here. New Age people and also others pray in them and make stone circles because apparently they give you more energy and luck or something like that, we didn't really catch exactly what they do. I think it is originally based on some Native American traditions. But I admit it really is pretty!
After a couple of days in Sedona we drove on against Grand Canyon, and slept there, together with this guy.
Next day was our big touristy day. We started out with morning coffee with the view over Grand Canyon.
We then drove all the way to Hoover dam to stand in line (first to get into the area through securety where we were stopped and our car searched because it was so messy, then to park, then to get into the visitor center) and watch a dam... It's big, and the brigde is pretty. But i kind of preferred the more quiet nature of Moab and Arches national park.
Then we ended the day in Las Vegas staying at the Flamingo casino.
Where we lost a dollar each on slot machines, and ate a big buffet dinner.
The last days and new year eve we spent in the bay area. We got to see the fire work at the pir 14 in San Fransisco. And first day of 2011 we went to the Tech museum in San Jose. Really fun museum. They let you build things like this fish feeder, where toys are coupled with sensors...
My last day in US we spent kayaking in Santa Cruz. We paddled up the Elkhorn Sloght in pooring rain.
We saw a lot of otters and seals.
And birds (no idea which species...).