Time check; late afternoon on August 1st 2009. My 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R and I roll into Niagara Falls State Park and it is here I realize my great trip of 2009 has begun and there is no turning back now. The first destination planned for my 3 week trip that will take me as far North as Cody Wyoming, as far West is Las Vegas and as far South as Yuma Arizona.
There is nothing better than spending warm summer days on top of a powerful two wheeled machine exploring such a greatly diverse place as America. I rode through dense lush forests to dry desolate desert where I must have been the only living thing around for miles.
I have always been impressed by the vastly different landscape America has to offer. Living in Northern Virginia I get tired of only seeing trees and green fields. The landscape seems to change slowly from East to West but around Iowa the landscape takes a noticeable change. The large trees are gone as are the lush green grass. You are left with a yellowish brown grass with dashes of green patches and smaller coniferous trees surrounded by massive farms that seem to grown mostly corn.
Utah, Nevada and Arizona are in a group of their own I believe. What’s great about these states is you can see for miles, they have massive rocks and awesome color. The land is open and inviting. Most of my time in Utah was spent in National Parks, Utah has some great ones. I tried to camp as much as possible on the trip, both to save money and to really enjoy the outdoors.