June 15 2025 Day Ten

June 15, 2025 – Moab Utah – Day 10

 

Tonight, I’m in one of the few bars open after 10 in Moab Utah. Not sure whether it has anything to do with the Mormons or not but let me look into that. They do serve alcohol so I should be good for the night, at least until bar time, which I’ll have to look into how late that might be. 

 

Damn, I just can’t get away from the heat and thought I was on my way part of the way, get it, but heat to some comfort back to the heat again and it’s getting old. One thing I did do yesterday which I may have forgotten to mention was looked into a timed entry to drive thru the Arches National Park. I had a difficult time signing up with the Recreation.gov app where I bought my pass cuz it just didn’t work doing it thru my phone. I actually had to do it on my computer to get it to work right. Got signed up as a member and looking into what was required of the Arches drive and it suggested a timed pass that I figured I should buy one, once again, a waste of my money and more on that later. 

 

So even though I woke up early today and thought I should probably get going, both because of the time zone change and my time drive thru Arches I got myself up and my decision for packing the bike was, wait, was, wait, ok, easiest was to get the cart haul my stuff to the bike, pack it and get back for a shower. I figured I had plenty of time and with about a 6-hour trip in front of me, leaving before 10 should get me there. Oops, that’s 10 Mountain time, not the Pacific time I’m in. Oh, and I did get a text from Pat this morning that him and Terry were back home in Cheshire CT even after a lot of plane issues. Glad they were home ok. 

 

For today’s ride I did map out a stop in St George cuz Cassie, the boy named Sue did invite me for bbq today and I had let him know the night before I might stop in. I did forget to mention where I was coming from and time but should’ve been on top of that myself. 

 

Ok, back to today’s ride. Yep, hotter than all hell packing the bike and I think I did do it right and a good thing I parked the bike int the parking ramp and not in the lot. That does remind me of a conversation that I had with a security guy this weekend when I was trying to figure out how I might want to pack my bike, and I kept mention parking ramp, and he kept saying garage and didn’t understand what I meant by parking ramp. To him whether it was multiple levels or not, it was a garage and to me, if it is multiple levels, it’s a ramp. 

 

Got my shower in and I should be making good time since it is before 10, but once again, Pacific time. The bike did its own thing again with directions with a drive around the Excalibur until it found the way point and now, I’m on my way. Yep, a few U-turns, but if that’s what it takes to apes her whatever. I was back on the fast track and still had to warm up to the speed, I guess warming up isn’t the right term for as hot as it is, but once I was comfortable at 80, then 85 a little further out of town, 90 came easy after that. 

 

My first stop was the bbq place in St George and a good stop for a gas stop cuz the bike was already thirsty. Not like she was in the mountains where I could get a lot of miles in, but in this heat, I think even worse than even home cuz I seem to be burning up a lot of fuel. It was a easy drive to the bbq joint and I did ask if Cassie was in, but not today. I sent him a text and told him I couldn’t stick around since I had a time entry for Arches but should’ve given him a better eta. He did say “I would have taken care of you brother.” Oh well, if I ever do make it back to St George there is someone, I can look up again.

 

St George was just as hot as Vegas, but the further I headed North it did start to cool off. Ok, today it was Nevada, with a helmet law thru Arizona back into Utah, just the reverse of a couple of days ago and I got away with a lot of riding that day in Nevada without a helmet. It wasn’t until I almost reached the Hoover dam before putting it on. One of the first things while getting as in St George was putting the helmet away for at least a few more days. 

 

Like I was saying the further North I was getting the cooler it was getting and at one point even wondered about putting the jacket on, but as soon as I hit I-70 heading East, nothing but heat and strong cross winds. Caught me by surprise a few times, but fortunately I was far enough away from traffic. Some wanting to try and go as fast as me, I’d be able to get around traffic quicker and more open road for me until the next group that wanted to speed. 

 

I did check my bike a few times on the temp on my right today and it was anywhere from over 110, close to Vegas, down to 86 North Utah back go 105 in Moab. I did find the entrance into Arches and although I was way past my timed entry, I did stop into the visitor’s center and asked, and the guy said from 7 – 4 is the only time you need a timed pass. Ok, I guess I spent $2 for nothing other than to still support the parks since DOGE may have had some kind of effect on them. I can drive the park and it’s about 18 miles in and back that I guess I better get gas, cuz I’m not sure I’d make that. 

 

Gassed up and it was a nice ride thru the park, and I captured it all on my GoPro. it didn’t seem to compare to anything I’ve ridden before, but not difficult at all. I did make passes a few times even though they only have a very short section of a passing zone, but when riding behind the gawkers, sometimes I need to hit it a little harder. It was a nice ride and although I didn’t stop for any pictures of you want to see the GoPro video, just let me know.

 

I made it to my hotel, I guess Motel, the Apache Motel and I really like this place. Just a quarter of a mile from main street and they do it right with a John Wayne theme and everything having to do with Westerns. Reminds me a lot of what our tour guide thru Monument Valley was telling us about how many movies were made in the area, John Wayne being the big one since he really helped the area. There was even the John Wayne cabin at Goulding’s lodge. Our guide did say he and his family were in a number of movies as extras since they lived in the area. Oh, and another fact, apparently there was a movie where the calvary was fighting the Indians and they had to use all Indians even for the calvary in the movie because they were the only ones who could ride the horses right. A fact I wish I would write then, but not you go get the rest of the story – per Paul Harvey.

 

I got a shower in after a long day of riding, needed more Gatorade and can’t get enough in this heat and made my way downtown to the Spitfire Smokehouse where I could use some bbq and a few drinks. Well, there is no more chicken, tips or ribs that about the only thing they still have is brisket, so I guess I’ll have to settle tonight. The bbq in st George looked much better, but nothing I can do about it now. Ok, that was my day and according to the bartenders the place to be tonight, even if it is Sunday is Woody’s Tavern cuz they’ll still be open. 

 

Once again, “and now you know the rest of the story” thank you Paul Harvey.

 

Ok, nothing to do with Mormons not allowing the bars to stay open, but they have problems to deal with. The bar is a great place to bring people together, but once the fights start to breakout, they have to decide whether it’s a good idea to stay open late when everyone is drunk and wanting to fight or close. How I remember those days so well while young how after drinking all night, you might have to fight. Another thing, pool is a big deal at the bars in Moab. A number of people walking around with their pool sticks and a number of tables in at least the 2 bars I’ve since visited.