Girl Meets World on FZ-07 Motorcycle - Chapter 2 - Part 3

Tiff and I met at the track, where she races her Ninja 250 with more enjoyment and positivity than anyone else on the grid. When Tiffani got word that she’d be getting laid off from her job in Los Angeles, she didn’t fret. In typical ultra-optimistic Tiff style, she saw it as an opportunity to hit the road on her newly acquired Yamaha FZ-07. What follows are Tiffani’s reports from the road, originally posted for her friends on Facebook but shared here with her permission for all to enjoy. — Ari Henning

If anyone ever thinks moto travel Tiff style is glamorous, let me update you from the inside of my tent in this windy dirt parking lot at the side of the highway to tell you you're right, haha!

Round up of the last couple days- after I got out of freezing Oregon, I made my way into freezing Idaho, where I continued to be freezing. I got into Boise about midday and as my first order of business, I hunted down a pair of heated glove liners. The rest of my Dainese gear was doing an admirable job of keeping me functional, but my gloves just could not handle the cold wetness. It must have been in the high 50s in Boise, as it didn't seem worth it to me to dig out my tools to install them right away. When it came time to hunt down a place to sleep, I was determined to not spend another night in a hotel for the sake of my rugged ego, so I rode up a gorgeous but very wet highway 21 near Boise and found a camp spot in the Boise National Forest.

I set up camp under the dwindling drizzle then attempted to hike around and enjoy the scenery for a bit. Of course, nature took this as a queue to start pouring rain again, so I huddled in my tent. Having avoided camping in rain up until now, this ended up being a fine time to learn that the floor of my tent is not very waterproof at all. A very miserable, cold, wet night later, I miserably loaded up, put on my miserably wet gear and miserably installed my heated glove liner wiring with freezing, hand numbing tools hoping to be less cold and miserable from here. I should have known that laziness would bite me.

But it actually worked out pretty well, surprisingly. I first attempted to find some hot springs to help further turn the day around, but as each and every one I encountered was only reached by way of wet dirt roads, I chickened out and started heading toward Salt Lake City in Utah where the forecast called for mid 60s. I made it about halfway there before veering off course last minute to check out craters of the moon. I'm glad I did, because that totally fixed my whole day. It was still cold, and it was ultra windy, but I was so taken with the environment that I opted to stop there instead of going to SLC (I really like rocks. Whatever. Leave me alone.)

Another ultra cold, rough (but cool looking!) night later, I woke up with my bike completely iced over from a late night drizzle and the below freezing air, loaded up, and rode toward Utah. Technically, this was the coldest day so far, but either all my nerves have died or I started to acclimate, because it didn't seem that bad anymore. I took the scenic route 89 into the state (well, according to a billboard it was scenic. If you really like cows), where I'm pretty sure it instantly became 20 degrees warmer. I got a hotel in Salt Lake City, celebrated the existence of the sun, then headed to Moab today.

Which, while it may be Tuesday, after checking about 10 different campgrounds over the last 4 hours and finding every single one filled to capacity, I made a last ditch effort of pulling into an overnight parking lot next to an OHV park at the side of the highway. It's really windy and I can't stake down my tent, but it only costs $5, so we're going to see how tonight goes. Arches and Canyonlands had better be freaking worth it...

That's all for now. 32 states to go!