SLC RV Trip - Day 6 Uraling to Guardsman Pass

Hot day in the Utah Valley today!

We displaced via RV to the Pony Express RV Park about four miles north of the BMW Rally held in the state fairgrounds in Salt Lake City yesterday.

After work, RichardM (who's attending the rally) came by the RV and we then met up with Ry of the Two Wheels to There blog for a meet/greet and ride.

Ry led us via surface streets, in the sweltering early evening heat, to a nice Vietnamese diner where we had a nice chat and sandwiches.  Lots of veggies in those Bahn Min? sandwiches, probably healthy for me.

After eating, Ry lead us to the Big Cottonwood Canyon road which twisted and turned their way upwards and into blessedly much cooler conditions.  The road led us past the Solitude Resort and we eventually ended up on top of Guardsman Pass.

Quite the view from there, you can see to the east the valley where Park City is located.  You could use this road to get past the big mountains that form a wall to the east of SLC I suppose.

Ry and RichardM on Guardsman Pass, Utah

Ry, knowing my penchant for sunset shots, had timed things so that we were at Guardsman Pass at the right time to catch the sunset on the side of the road, just shy of the pass summit.

an attempt to capture the sunset on Ry's Moto Guzzi's

gas tank

 and the sun went lower....

 and lower....

and now behind the distant mountains

We stuck around a bit longer hoping for last minute illumination by the sun of the overhead clouds but no dice.

We headed back down the mountain/canyon towards SLC and after a brief tour of both the LDS temple and the State Capitol areas, were back at the RV Park by 10:30 PM or so.  No pics, we just cruised by these sights.

Thanks Ry for the tour!  Very good to meet you in person!

Note: we saw a low of 61 degrees Fahrenheit on the summit and temperatures in the mid to high 90s in the valley!

SLC RV Trip - Day 5: South Jordan

We checked out of the Lakeside RV Park at 11AM and by noon we were at our friends house in the city of South Jordan.

Brian and Jennifer had recently retired and moved to Utah to be nearer to one of their daughters and her family.  They generously allowed us to moochdock in front of their house for the night as our reservation at the Pony Express RV Park didn't start till Thursday.

We had a great time visiting with them and their daughter Hannah who lives nearby with her two lovely daughters, Norah and Nellie.

Sidecar rides were of course one of the events of the visit.

First up was Norah, the eldest daughter, held 

by Hannah, her mom.

 Second was Nellie, Hannah's youngest daughter...

she seemed unsure about me....or perhaps my

driving skills.

 Jennifer, our hostess and long time friend
from my active duty days.

Rides done, I was introduced to Hannah's neighbor Mike who in another example of "small world" owns a Ural sidecar rig!

Yep, he's got a 2006 Retro and he showed the rig to me in his garage along with a beautiful Moto Guzzi:

After a great dinner by Brian, we just sat in the cooling evening, reminiscing about old times and discussing life in general.  A very good time was had, and we even saw Jupiter in the night sky!

Pretty nice sunset too but I couldn't leave the great company to capture it, so here's one of Uma with the colors of the sunset showing:

Here's some more pics of the family the next morning after breakfast:

 Martha and Nellie

 Norah, Jennifer, Nellie, Brian and Hannah

Jennifer, Norah and Martha

SLC RV Trip - Day 4: The Alpine Loop Scenic Byway and a red sunset

After work today, Martha and I headed out on Fiona, my '99 Bural to cruise the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway which takes one around the mighty Timpanogos mountain that overlooks the Utah Valley and the towns of Orem and Provo.

We took the I-15 Super Slab to the town of Pleasant Grove and there caught Utah State Road 92 which comprises the scenic byway.  More info on this lovely twisty road here:  LINK

By the way, yes, its very twisty, full of blind curves and foolish/unwary cagers trying to take the unwary rider out.  Exercise due care.

Most the byway is twisting roads winding their way through thick pine and alpine forests. The highest points is just 8086 feet from sea level so you never really rise above the treeline like you can in Colorado.

Still, quite scenic indeed.  The wildflowers were out, traffic was very light and only one close call involving a cager trying to use both lanes of traffic at same time.

 First good views of Mt Timpanogos along the UT92 

scenic byway.

As we neared Robert Redford's Sundance resort, I realized that the road we were riding on was the one that had been closed due to winter when I'd last been in this part of Utah!

Here's a pic from the trip the previous year.

It had been a work gathering at the Sundance resort and I'd ridden then with Scarlett, my 2014 Patrol.  Here's a link to the first posting of that trip:  LINK

Past the resort (we decided not to stop for expensive food), we reached US 189 which we took towards Provo.  On the way we spotted the sign for Bridal Veil Falls and Martha wanted to check it out.

The entrance to the falls turned out to be just a bit further north along US 189 from the exit to Squaw Peak Road which we took for the first day of Provo Uraling.  Nice falls, don't get me wrong, but the Bridal Veil Falls in Telluride, CO were better I think.

Back in town, it was time to run some errands in the blistering afternoon heat.  We were very glad to get back into Uma, the URRV who had been running the AC the whole time we'd been out!  Aaaahhhhh,

Sunset approached and this time I rode alone to capture it at the same road we'd used last night.

 The first few moments were nothing exciting...

 Then as the sun fell behind the mountains....things got interesting

 For a few minutes, it was like the mountains

held back a fire behind them

 The last few rays from the sun illuminated the clouds nicely

SLC RV Trip - Day 3: Still in Provo

Monday, spent the day working on stuff after taking Martha over to old town Provo so she could do some shopping and sightseeing.

During lunch I picked up a replacement air filter for the Onan 4KW generator, oil had accumulated in the air box and soaked the old filter, effectively choking the air from the generator when in operation.

There's a fix, but it involves drilling a small drain hole behind the reed valve and I will wait till I get home to do it.

I met up with Martha in town and we had an early dinner at the Gurus Cafe.  Food was OK, wifi speeds were excellent!

After dinner, some relaxing at the RV after a brief stop at a storage yard near the RV park which apparently has made the roll at roadsideamerica.com for its plethora of old time signs.

We relaxed until 8:15PM and then headed out to the nearby Provo Airport and its Dike Road which runs around the western perimeter of the airport.

Tonight's sunset was much better and visible than yesterday's rain cloud covered sunset!

photo by Martha

The last gasp from the setting sun illuminated this cloud

to the east of us nicely....looked like cotton candy.