Cornering Consciousness

We got off to an evening start, about 7:30 pm when Mindy finished her shift. Not much from SGU to Vegas except for the most expensive stretch of Interstate 15, which is the Virgin River Gorge. From Wikipedia: The Virgin River Gorge, located between St. George, Utah N37° 6' W113° 35' and Littlefield, Arizona N36° 51' W114° 1', is a long canyon that has been carved out by the Virgin River in northwest Arizona . [ 1 ] The Virgin River rises on the Colorado Plateau and created the topography of both Zion National Park and the Virgin River Gorge. The Gorge connects the southwestern rim of the Colorado Plateau and the northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert. Interstate 15 runs through the canyon and crosses the Virgin River several times. The Virgin River Gorge section of Interstate 15 is one of the most expensive parts of interstate highway ever constructed. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Due to the winding of the interstate, the canyon is also noted for its tricky driving conditions. ...

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The fun from last year's trip has been prolonged and relived through the stills and video shot for the documentary, so for this trip we're gearing up for the same coverage, just on a smaller scale. We'll be using a GoPro Hero Cam, a nifty little video camera that fits into its own protective housing and uses a variety of mounts so one can record from just about anywhere. We'll be using it mounted to its suction cup with an articulating arm, and as a helmet cam to get different perspectives. We'll also have a Sony MiniDV Handycam that Katie will be shooting handheld while riding pillion on the Blackbird. Here it is mounted on the nose of the Blackbird, but testing it this way showed that vibration was not the camera's friend. She'll be trading off with a Canon Sure Shot for stills as well. These two devices tether to her wrist and to a j-hook on the back of my Camelback when she not using one or the other. We'll also have a digital SLR, a Canon Rebel XT w...

Last year's ride taught me that I'd be better off with a throttle lock. Tried a number of market items, none of which worked as promised. In prep for this trip I picked up a Throttlemeister. Did a Vegas trip and it wasn't long before I forgot how much I paid for it. Also completed the list of goods for the trip and did a test pack and ride. While the Corbin Beetlebags aren't conducive to luggage, if you pack outside the box, so to speak, they'll hold a lot. The black compression bag lashed to the backrest holds the three-person tent, two sleeping bags, two pillows and three air mattresses. Mindy will port clothes and ride gear for her and Katie and the third sleeping bag. R side - two-person tent, tent poles for three-person tent, two Brunton stoves, my trusty Jet Boil, cook kit, three plates, coffee mugs, utensil sets, MSR water purifier, and a couple of dry pack dinners. L side - four days of clothing packed in a Space Bag. Last year my rear Power Pilot disintegra...

Link to PCH 2008 site, Tripping the Light Pacific

View SGU to PCH Loop May 2009 in a larger map

I’ve been known to bad mouth Harleys, more so Harley riders. There’s an etiquette on the road amongst motorcyclists, a wave exchanged between passing riders. Between bullet or sport bikes it’s a two-finger down salute meaning to keep both tires down. Between cruisers it’s a wrist flick out opening the palm of the hand. Everybody waves at everybody, except Harley riders, especially the hard-core, Glide, Fat-Boy, Road King-riders, they’ll snub me every time when I’m waving from the Blackbird. Mindy’s noticed this too and our observations had lead us to a general disdain of all things Harley, until last weekend. We were on the ‘Bird riding to Kolob to see Fall’s touches on this fantastic place, and along the way we stopped at the Harley-Davidson store near Coral Canyon to look at a cross-over Buell. Parked next to the Buell was the Sportster you see above. Mindy’s been trying on bikes, Honda Shadows mostly and hadn’t found the fit she w...