Massif and Gorges, Utah

This police-car had a dummy sitting in it on the edge of Lao




My office, complete with organic sat-nav



Scary stuff


Mexican Hat... not a Sombrero



This caught m


Just out of bed

Johnny and Billy, congenial company indeed



As good as it looks


The unpatented swinging grill


Best steaks in town, calm as.

Today had me start out of 'Mexican Hat', look it up. I've included a pic of the feature its named after. The stone weighs about 60 tons.

It's a town of 30 people, half of whom are related. I stayed at the first, of two, places in town. The menu included huge steaks (18 oz) cooked on a non-patented swinging grill (see pic) by the guy in the big hat. He was the father of Billy, fine company, who as always lived in Mexican Hat. The name sounds like something they'd come up with on South Park. 'Sombrero' is just a bridge too far for these traditional Utahans.

I had a great dinner and lots of low alcohol beer. Hard work but... I met up with a New Zealander who also dreamed of one day being able to stop one day to smell the skunks on the side of the road. Haven't you ever wondered what all the fuss is about?

I finished the night with Billy, his mum and his Dad (the guy with the great hat). I got a good run-down of the deeply held sentiments of the people in the region. Suffice to say that my references to the 'ineffables' went down quite well and my protestations at 'unfinishable conversations' was only heeded after the passion fatigued. Quite some mention was made of the constitution which is seen as 'shield of steel' against the aforementioned ineffables. But I was glad of the down-home nature of what was a good-natured exchange. Which was aided greatly by my not being a nigger.

My trip started with a quick trip down to Monument Valley, it was good but I was to be more awe-struck by my travels later in the day. I bought a few bits of jewelry from a young Navajo who had a dozen tables carefully covered with thousands of items. I didn't want to bore him with the question but it must have taken him hours. It had to be re-done every day.

I had to repair the electrics on the fat girl this morning. I had travelled into the valley of the gods with the terror of stalling, if I had I would have struggled to push-start it. The things I do.

It turned out to be a failed relay leading to the solenoid. I thought I'd solved the problem the previous day (wandering battery pulled out a connection) but I am still having problems at the end of this long day (300miles).

The scenery I've been through today was staggering. every corner had me twitching for my camera. But it just doesn't translate. I climbed a switch-back dirt road on to the plateau and took in hundreds of miles of canyons, massifs and precariously balanced slabs of stone over-hanging the roadway. I see a lot of this. One looks up and there are huge lumps of stone just waiting for a humming-bird to pass by to dislodge them. ( I saw a humming-bird in Taos NM btw). It's the American way.

I took a wrong turn today and went way off course. I expected to land on the Hoover Dam but am way north of that in Richfield, Utah. I usually check my gas-cap-mounted compass but was too taken by the scenery. I'm even further north, though west of, the Arches National Park. I went over a pass today at 8500 ft, followed by a huge downhill run. Huge drifts of snow on eitherside. If any of you come to America, this would be so good in an open car.

The Guzzi's starter stopped working again this afternoon. The motor is starting to knock as well. She has put in some hard miles but I didn't expect the motor to give this sort of trouble yet. We'll see. I was pretty fatigued this afternoon, so I booked in to a motel, bought some piss-weak beer, had a bath, put on some clean clothes and started on this. Duty calls.

I will look into the guts of the bike tomorrow, but I think it will get to LA. I can hire a full-dress Harley if necessary for the coast road. Might be more comfortable for Jane.

The volcano ash looks more hopeful. I guess. Until one falls out of the sky.