My Cross Country Log - Day 1

While cleaning up the living room, the notebook where I recorded my ride log was finally located. There is some bad grammar and strange thoughts throughout. Looking at it from the vantage point of today, much of it makes sense, whereas when it was penned, it seemed like only so much gibberish at times. 5,800 on a motorcycle trip does something to a person.

So, with pictures interspersed throughout, here is my ride log. Some grammar and spelling errors will be corrected but for the most part left as-is to keep my basic frame of mind intact. Italicized items are additions made to clarify something that may may not be clear, like dates and names.. Here we go...
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Day 1 - Vegas to Cedar City, UT (September 26, 2008)
Hotel - Nice, about $50
Didn't eat out, had trail mix from my ex-wife.

Ride was hectic, about 100 miles in Vegas doing errands.

• Went to DMV to renew my bike's registration. My number was nearly 100 more than the current number, so I attempted to use the automated kiosk. SHAZAM! Worked like a charm.
• Rode over to see Brianna (my daughter) before I left. There was an auto show going on in downtown Henderson and all streets were blocked off. I managed to get close to where she works and walked the rest. They were BUSY! She works at Lenny's Sub Shop. We exchanged goodbyes.
• I rode over to pay the rent which unfortunately is on the other side of town.
• Then, on the way out, stopped at the bank and got $200 in travelers checks and $100 in cash. That is all I could safely take without possibly causing issues with the account.

Traffic was horrible. Now I truly know the meaning of 'road warrior.' Even after Mesquite, traffic was nasty. Weaving in and out of mountain gorges with no shoulder to speak of, with vehicles ten times my bike's weight is not a lot of fun.

After passing through St. George (Utah), I passed the Walmart distribution center that Dave and Heidi (folks from where I work) mentioned. My goal was to make Parawan before nightfall. There was just no way.

Before Cedar City I stopped and put on my clear visor. It was getting dark rather quickly.

I was hesitant to do any guerrilla camping when I can't even see where I am going, so decided to hotel it the first night.

It was nothing spectacular. With all of my adrenalin, it was hard to sleep but got about six hours.