Day 6

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Miles: 204.4
Total Riding Time: ~8 hours
Beaver -> Green River

By the time we were ready to leave, there were wind and rain. I asked a local about taking back roads, and she said our best bet is to continue on I-15 and onto I-70 since some roads are still closed. Because Anne's bike is on the light side, we packed as much as possible on her 650 to weigh her down.

Beginning of I-15 from Beaver was windy, but nothing compared to yesterday. Once we got onto I-70, we started going up in elevation. Between Cove Fort and Salina, we encountered rain, snow and more wind. Even though there's no packed snow on the ground, this was the first time I have ever ridden while snowing. Not knowing what to expect and having a novice rider with me stressed me out tremendously. Luckily, our tires held up and kept us upright.

We stopped at Mom's Cafe in Salina, Utah. When I was researching for must see/eat places for this trip, someone on the BMW forum highly recommended this place. If you ever wander into this place, definitely order their scone and top it off with honey butter. MMMMM.... honey butter. This diner had that old-town diner atmosphere with waitresses in old-school waitress uniforms. Definitely makes you feel like you were in a different decade.

We continued on I-70 and got ourselves beaten up by more wind and more rain. However, the scenary was breathtaking. The view approximately 20 miles from Green River heading east was just gorgeous. No pictures taken since I was holding onto my bike for my dear life.

The goal for today was to hit Moab. However, condition worsened approximately 10 miles from Green River. We found out later that the winds were gusting up to 50 mph at times. I believe this was the worst wind I ever encountered on a motorcycle. Kudos to Anne for surviving this!

Our original plan was to spend a quiet evening at a nice restaurant since this was our 2nd year anniversary. We were hoping to do this in either Moab or Cortez, CO. However, after riding through that horrible stretch, Green River is just fine.

After filling up at a local gas station, the dreaded dying-engine-turning-sound was produced as Anne pressed on the ignition button. She learned the hard way that battery tends to drain when heated jacket, heated grips, and 2 PIAA lights are turned on WHILE THE ENGINE IS NOT RUNNING. I was most certainly annoyed thinking that THIS would be the cause of ending our trip. Thank goodness we had phone service, because after a quick consultation with my bike shop (Beemers and More), I opened her bike up and asked someone to jump the bike. Thankfully, the bike started with just a jolt of juice.

We pulled in to Motel 6 shortly after and found ourselves a nice little restaurant along Green River. That rib-eye steak was so delicious. We took a little stroll across Green River (rain and wind died down by then) to a local trucker stop to pick up some fine beverages (MGD!). We were very thankful that we lived (literally and figuratively) to see our 2nd year of marriage come to completion.

早上一起床風很大, 又下雨, 等我們全副武裝完 (機車裝備+可加熱外套+雨衣) 已經過了一小時了. 剛開始騎車時很冷, 所以安全帽裡都起霧看不到, 後來Eric教我把安全帽留一個小縫, 之後就好多了. 不然騎起車來怪可怕的, 什麼都看不到. 騎著騎著, 居然就下起雪來. 我此時非常慶幸投資買了件可加熱外套, 這外套是利用摩托車的電, 穿起來全身熱呼呼的, 就算下雪也不怕. 可算是這趟旅行最棒的投資.

中午到達一個小鎮Solina, 在Mom’s Café吃了暖呼呼的中餐. 這家小餐廳很棒, 一切都很原始, 感覺很像回到50年代, 服務生還穿制服耶. 招牌fried scone真不是蓋的, 像炸過的甜甜圈加上蜂蜜奶油, 真是人間極品啊! 吃飽喝足再度出發, 這時候天氣愈來愈差, 之後風大到整台摩托車都快要被吹走的感覺, 你好不容易找到平衡點抵抗強風, 一台大卡車從你身旁開過就把你掃的亂七八糟. 之後查了氣象, 才知道那時的風速高達50 miles/per hour. 我只能說我們很慶幸能活著過我們的結婚二週年慶 (沒錯, 就是今天!).

到了Green River決定在此歇腳, 加完油後我的摩托車突然發不動了. 原來是電池沒電了. 悲情的Eric只好再度把我的摩托車解體, 有一台好心的車主把車的電池借給我們, 解決了我們的危機. 後來我才知道摩托車燈+加熱外套+加熱手把+PIAA大燈是很快就會把電池的電用光的, 千萬不要在車子沒發動的情況下把全部打開. 算是一個慘痛的教訓.