My few days wandering around Kanab were uneventful although I must have been quite a sight wandering around town as my riding suit was completely covered in the same red clay that clogged up the wheel. Every time the sheriff drove by I looked over my shoulder to see if I was about to get stopped for vagrancy ala Rambo.

It has finally begun to cool off and as soon as I got the clutch lever I made a dash for Vegas. Although the sun was going down I could feel it warming up as I twisted down off the high plateau of southern Utah into the lower deserts of Arizona and Nevada. Cresting the last hill before the Las Vegas Valley after spending so long out in the desert is always a jarring experience. Most desert towns, Kanab included, are just the classic “Main Street” strip with a few blocks of houses on either side and a handful of ranches on the outskirts. Las Vegas on the other hand is like a carpet of lights filling almost the entire valley with an endless parade of airplanes zipping around low in the sky like bees around a hive.

I’m heading back east for a week to take care of some work and my original plan was to park the bike at the airport but a strange twist of luck has struck again: while refueling between Kanab and Vegas I managed to break the fuel filler cap off its hinge. A quick duct tape repair job got me back underway and a call to the BMW dealer in Las Vegas confirmed that this could be repaired under warranty and that it would take a few days to get parts in. Rather than paying $8 a day to leave the bike outside at the airport it will now be stored inside at the local BMW dealer awaiting parts and should be ready to go when I get back, at no cost. C’est la vie.

Tags: Red Roamer, Colorado Plateau, Mojave Desert