From Playa Hermosa we head to Volcan Arenal. The route plan is to take in the Cloud Forest (it is what it sounds like) but this is a gravel road and the recent heavy rains mean it is a no no. Only five people have done it in previous tours and two of them blew their rear shock absorbers. So we climb into the volcano range and the clouds close in and the humidity drops. We ride with Kevin and Julia and stop for lunch at a German owned café / gallery. It looks OK from the road but when we walk through it surrounds a stunning football pitch size lagoon. Howler monkeys are heard in the trees and the variety of brightly coloured birds is huge. Humming birds are feeding on the flowers and are ... read more

San Miguel Allende is a very beautiful town. Almost Moroccan in style with roof gardens and narrow entrances to opening courtyards with cafés, stalls and shops to explore. However before this we need to get there and the road works means diversions through narrow cobbled (more like rocked) streets in small side towns. Then we need to navigate through San Miguel Allende itself. This took only two attempts. The hotel is indeed an old converted monastery and while basic the rooms surround and large courtyard, now festooned with motorcycles. No luxuries like air conditioning or too much hot water. We wander about the town and head for a recommended restaurant called Mama Mia's, for Pizza. Yes Yes I know but there are only so many tacos, enchiladas and burritos you can have. As Kevin says Mexican ... read more

So out from Cody and the Rodeo and a dry day to Vernal. More stunning scenary that changes frequently with tiered rock outcrops all at thirty degrees to the horizon, looking like huge slices of cake, lakes and resevoirs, canyons and gorges of terracotta rock. Vernal is another one horse town but the local council obviously decided to spend the entire budget on flowers. A properly hot (38.5C) day as we arrived at Vernal and I was first in the pool at the Dinosaur Inn! Neighbouring rooms were occupied by four guys coming back from the BMW Beartooth Rally. Three were brothers who all lived in different states. Two old air cooled and a couple of vaguely newer bikes. Very nice chaps. Wandered down the road to another (!) local bar with a pool table. Food ... read more

Or Should that be Yukon not be serious... Anyway the tale moves on. What can we say about the Yukon. It's not smokey anymore. The scenery is vast, huge, enourmous. Its really difficult to try and explain it. Suffice to say in two days we rode from Haines Junction to Bell II Lodge (Really a Heli Ski'ing resort but this is the summer) we had covered 775 miles or Lands End to John O'Groats. The Yukon is slightly more than three times as large as the UK and has a population of 30,000 or about a third of Jersey! We passed Whitehorse the capital (population 20,000) and stayed outside Watson Lake (Third largest town population 750). Big days riding that were very tranquil. We spent all of the day from Nugget bear spotting to no avail. ... read more

Ok So don't get used to this amount of blogging but... First ride out yesterday and all went well. We rode to Whittier through the longest tunnel in North America which is just 2.5 miles! However it is single lane and shared with trains, which makes it interesting. We went off and did a Glacier Cruise and wanted to share a couple of images. First day out and we have seen Bears fishing, Sea Otters, Bald Eagles and a whale, or in my case a big splash. PLUS The bluest glaciers which obligingly cracked off and crashed into the sea. What a first day out that was, but does set the bar pretty high. ... read more