What a day! I’m sitting in a Best Western hotel room in Cedar City with Phil asleep (from exhaustion), a nasty weak coffee and my trusty blogging tool, my laptop.

After a heavy night last night to celebrate Andy and Linda’s wedding we’d all agreed to meet at the Harley Davidson cafe at ten for a breakfast before setting off in opposite directions. Not only did Phil and I turn up late after spending too long packing the bike (more on that in a second), but we also found out the cafe is closed until 11am. After a quick call to Andy who himself was late we decided to set off without breakfast.

So this was it! We were off. Part of me dreading the long journey ahead, the other full of excitement about the adventure ahead. Little did I know at the time that today would end up being more like a ten-round wrestling match with mother nature.

Skipping back an hour, Phil and I had packed all our bags ready for the bike. We both knew we’d have to take clothes out of our bags again due to the shape of the panniers and the top box, but it would at least allow us to get all our gear down to the bike. With the bike ready to be laden it soon turned out that we’d been a bit too generous with our luggage. Packing a Harley for two is a matter of science as well as an art After some shifting around and some creative bungy cord placement though we were good to go.

Before - All the gear ready to be laden on to the bike

After - Proof that magic can be performed by Joe Blogs

Our aim for the day was to get to Cedar City in Utah 175 miles away. We headed North on the Interstate 15 towards Salt Lake City leaving Las Vegas in blistering heat. We got to Mesquite on time and having missed out on Harley Davidson Cafe breakfast we were keen to refuel and grab a bite to eat.

Stuffed and with a full tank of petrol we headed back onto the 15 north towards Cedar City. It wasn’t long until thing started to go seriously wrong. A gentle cross wind turned into a full scale sand storm. Words can’t describe the ferocity of it so I’ll let the movie clip do the talking.

Sand Storm outside Mesquite Utah

We made it out alive (just) often riding at an angle to avoid being toppled over. I stuck in the outside lane as well to avoid being blown into lorries and jeeps. As a rider it was great experience and I enjoyed the thrill and adrenaline rush of it. I’m pretty sure Dad would disagree (the fact that he is still fast asleep says it all I think).

Once we were past La Verkin the storm disappeared completely and the vegetation and landscape changed from red sandy desert to lush green hills full of trees and cattle (see photos below). The other sudden change was the drop in temperature with the hills now showing signs of snow fall. This wasn’t good news! Not only were we both freezing due to lack of proper clothing, but if the snow fall persisted we wouldn’t be able to ride the bike. It’s just too risky.

Desert Landscape

Lush Green Landscape close to Cedar City

We arrived in Cedar City about 4.30pm suitably chilled. We turned into the Best Western and got ourselves a room for the night. The video below is from the parking lot outside the Best Western in Cedar City, Utah.

Snow in Cedar City, Utah