Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Lis and I arrived in Bloomington, Illinois Sunday night. We are staying with Jason Feger and his partner Abby.
We have both been busy the last few days, working 12+ days. Lis, around the house, organising the washing and bedding for 3 transporters that haul both cars and accommodate the team at the track and sorting out all the merchandise in the t-shirt trailer shown below. And I've been in the shop all days helping get both cars ready for the Dream 100 race this weekend. One of the biggest dirt late model races of the year over 3 nights, paying $100,000 to win. The final race is 100 laps long. We leave for the track tomorrow night. More updates and photos of the operation to come.
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We said goodbye to the family in San Francisco and set off to Kansas City. 3 hour flight, so we arrived at our hotel later on that night.
Saturday we went to the Kansas City Zoo for something different. Seeing over 60 animals from 6 different continents. Later on, we went into town to the Power and Light District. A downtown area with bars, restaurants, big screens and live music. Also bumped into Tony Cardwell, my racecar parts supplier from New Zealand in our hotel lobby. Small world. This morning (Sunday) was an early start for the train. However it was delayed a few hours so we are off to a late start. Bound for Bloomington, Illinois today to meet up with Jason Feger. Today started with shopping in the Square and visiting China Town. And then onto the historical US Navy Submarine at the wharf, before going back to the Pier's in the afternoon. Later we caught the ferry to Alcatraz for the night tour, which was another highlight so far. Awesome to tick that place off.
Tomorrow we start our second leg of our trip. Flying to Kansas City, while the rest of the family fly home tomorrow evening. Thank you to everyone who is following our blog. I am amazed how many of you are, with over 500 views this week. We arrived in San Francisco yesterday evening, enough time for a quick look around the Union Square before dinner. Our hotel is located right in the square, so very central.
This morning we caught the cable car from the Square to Fishermans Wharf. Had a look around all the different Piers, including Pier 39 before hiring our bikes to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge. We rode the bikes from Hyde Street (Pier 47) along the cycle way to the Golden Gate. It took just under 10 minutes to ride the whole length of the bridge. On the other side, we then rode over to Sausalito for lunch. We caught the ferry from Sausalito back to Fishermans Wharf to return the bikes. After leaving the Wharf, we walked to the bottom of the famous Lambard Street. Known as the most crooked street in the world, being a one block section with eight hairpin turns. We walked up the street and then drove back down in our Uber (taxi) on the way back to our hotel. Tonight we went to our first baseball game at AT&T park. Playing was the San Francisco Gaints and the Washington Nationals. We had all the merchandise on supporting the local team, but sadly we lost. Tomorrow sees more slight seeing around the city and shopping in the Square. Before heading back to Fishermans Wharf to catch the ferry to Alcatraz for our night tour. Also going to the USS Pampanito, a restored Navy submarine from World War II. We left Virgin and Zion National Park yesterday morning, and we set off to Las Vegas. After a few stops on the way, we arrived in Vegas around midday.
The afternoon was spent with more outlet shopping, this time at the north end shops. After that we finished off the evening at the old Las Vegas strip for dinner and drinks. This morning, we said goodbye to our RV and dropped it off at El Monte RV here in Las Vegas. Now we are getting ready to board our United Airlines flight to San Francisco. We will spend 3 nights in San Fran, before the others fly home to New Zealand. Lisa and I will then fly to Kansas City, Missouri for 2 nights before heading to Bloomington, Illinois for the start of the speedway leg of this trip. We left the camp this morning and headed back through the middle of Zion National Park like yesterday and parked up at Springdale again.
The day was spent hiking, biking, and a 2 mile tube down the Virgin River this afternoon which is a highlight so far. Tonight we camping 13miles down the road in Virgin right on the Virgin River. We have a great spot, little restaurant and shop onsite, as well as a swimming pool and games rooms. Camp fire is cranking, ready for smores (toasted mashmellows, with melted chocolate all in a biscuit sandwich). Tomorrow, at this stage we don't have any great plans but we will probably end up in Las Vegas. So maybe we might squeeze in another show on the strip. This will be our last night before flying to San Francisco, California on Tuesday. This morning we left Kanab and reached Zion National Park late morning, after stopping and checking out a 2000 year old Cave. The cave used to be a bar centuries ago, but now is a museum and gift shop.
Once arriving in Zion, we did the 30min drive winding and climbing through the National Park including a 1 mile long tunnel. That took us to Springdale, which is the main town and hub to the park and canyons. Hiking, rock climbing, canyoneering, biking, tubing and horse riding are just some activities on offer in the park. We chose a horse trek today, which took us along a river in the one of the canyons. Pretty cool experience. We spent the rest of the day in Springdale, including lunch and a few drinks. Later, we headed back out of Springdale the same way we came in, and set up camp tonight on the outskirts of the park at Hi-Campground. Tomorrow we stay another night in Zion, this time at another camp on the opposite side. We have a hike planned inside the park tomorrow morning and tubing down the river in the afternoon. Thursday morning we left Monument Valley after checking out the Navajo and Goulding Museum bound for Page. Page is a town in Coconino County in Arizona but close to the Utah border with tons of canyons.
We did a tour into the Antelope Upper Canyon, which was something else. The photos below look edited but they are not. After that we headed down to Lake Powell and sent up camp at Lone Rock Beach. This morning we packed up camp early and set off into the township of Page to pick up our Jeep 4WD's. We set off on another tour, this time heading off road 20miles north of Page in Hackberry Canyon. We walked 2 hours in ankle deep water in the middle of the canyon and stopped halfway for a picnic lunch. After that, it was a small trip up the highway to Kanab. We have set up camp for tonight, been for a swim and just about to head into town for dinner. Tomorrow we are off to Zion National Park for a few nights. Doing a horse trek tomorrow afternoon. We left Flagstaff early this morning and headed north into Navajo American Indian country. Dry red desert with giant red rock mountains and formations. Our first stop was Cameron, a small Indian village with a large souvenir shop selling local Indian made products. We then moved onto Tuba City, Red Lake and Kayenta, all still in the Arizona state.
We then crossed into the Utah state, stopping at the iconic Mexican Hat. A large red rock which looks like a sombrero hat. We had a picnic lunch here and Lee helped change a flat tyre on some elderly's car in 30+ degree heat. We passed small local American Indian villages on the side of the road and up in the mountains. Next stop was Monument Valley, which is where we are camping tonight. We are parked up surrounded by canyons and red rock mountains. The photos below really don't do this landscape justice. Off down the road tonight for a local Navajo Indian dinner. Off to Page tomorrow for 2 nights. I'm not sure what the internet coverage will be like so it may be a few days before the next blog update. Enjoy the photos of this unbelievable landscape here in Utah. This morning we checked out and popped around the corner to Bearizona, a drive-thru wildlife park. We took the RV off road and drove through the park catching a close look at Bears, Bison, Wolves and Deer. We also had a quick look around Williams town before getting on the road to Flagstaff.
Flagstaff is a city in the state of Arizona, surrounded by mountains, desert and ponderosa pine forests. It’s a gateway to the San Francisco Peaks, home to Arizona’s tallest mountain (Humphreys Peak) and the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort. Again we stocked up at Walmart here in Flagstaff. Another BBQ and camp fire tonight. Heading to Monument Valley tomorrow night, so a bit more driving than today. |
USA blog.Join my journey as my partner Lisa and I travel across America form the middle of May to early August. From the city life of America's busiest and most popular cities, right through to RV road trips through the great canyons and national parks. To most importantly the weeks on end state to state speedway racing with Jason Feger and his Late Model team across America. Featuring the Dream 100 at Eldora Speedway and the Hell Tour Summer Nationals, a series consisting of 29 nights racing over 32 days across 6 different states. Visit the Summer Nationals website for the full 2017 Hell Tour Schedule and Results.
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