Covering off on two days at once here as yesterday wasn't very action packed. Started off with us leaving Monument Valley for Flagstaff which seemed like a bit of a weird place. It's our first Route 66 town and we stayed in the historical precinct which seemed a little dodgy. In hindsight, it was nothing compared to where we are now but I'll get to that later.
So, the ride from Monument Valley was quiet, through a lot of Indian reservation country and the roads were absolutely dead straight. We passed through many small towns this way that looked deserted, plenty of boarded up houses with half missing roofs. Not all of them were though and it was a little sad to see people living that way out in the middle of no where.
Had a scary moment on the bike that morning that reminded me of the importance of positioning your bike in the lane where a cars tyres would normally be. The roads were wet and there was a section of road covered in clay, probably from last night's rain. I managed to hit the fresh stuff which caused the bike to start squirming around at 70 mph. Not fun and one of those times when things could have went either way.
A little further down the road we hit Winslow, Arizona. The town appears to be barely functioning and the majority of traffic seems to be from Route 66 or people wanting to stand on that corner. It was our gateway to the interstate which would take us to Flagstaff at 90 mph though so after a quick bite to eat we were off again.
We had one more stop on the way to Flagstaff at the Barringer Crater which wasn't a planned stop but interesting nonetheless. The bloke who discovered the crater was caused by a meteor and wasn't the result of volcanic activity believed there was over a billion dollars worth of iron from the impactor buried somewhere underneath. His math was a little out and he spent 27 years funding drilling and digging trying to locate it but came up empty handed. Unfortunately for him he had no way of knowing that it had all mostly vaporised on impact. Doh!
So, the ride from Monument Valley was quiet, through a lot of Indian reservation country and the roads were absolutely dead straight. We passed through many small towns this way that looked deserted, plenty of boarded up houses with half missing roofs. Not all of them were though and it was a little sad to see people living that way out in the middle of no where.
Had a scary moment on the bike that morning that reminded me of the importance of positioning your bike in the lane where a cars tyres would normally be. The roads were wet and there was a section of road covered in clay, probably from last night's rain. I managed to hit the fresh stuff which caused the bike to start squirming around at 70 mph. Not fun and one of those times when things could have went either way.
A little further down the road we hit Winslow, Arizona. The town appears to be barely functioning and the majority of traffic seems to be from Route 66 or people wanting to stand on that corner. It was our gateway to the interstate which would take us to Flagstaff at 90 mph though so after a quick bite to eat we were off again.
We had one more stop on the way to Flagstaff at the Barringer Crater which wasn't a planned stop but interesting nonetheless. The bloke who discovered the crater was caused by a meteor and wasn't the result of volcanic activity believed there was over a billion dollars worth of iron from the impactor buried somewhere underneath. His math was a little out and he spent 27 years funding drilling and digging trying to locate it but came up empty handed. Unfortunately for him he had no way of knowing that it had all mostly vaporised on impact. Doh!
Today we went north to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Stopped in at Cameron for breakfast which was nice. Again, semi -deserted town in the desert but had a massive Trading Post full of handmade goods from nearby reservations, lots of traditional bows and jewellery, usual tourist crap but good quality.
Next up was the Grand Canyon, which is impressive to say the least. We hopped between the different viewpoints to check out the view to the river 1.6 km's below. Unbelievable how many people were posing for selfies inches from the edge. Surprised to see a lot of prams and pushbikes only a metre or two from certain death as well. No one seemed too concerned but hey, maybe I'm just not used to the no fences thing yet.
In Seligman now and this place is... Different. Had a few at a local pub tonight and enjoyed the entertainment. They hit it hard around here and it was a great show! Appears to be another town struggling to survive on the trickle of route 66 traffic.
Next up was the Grand Canyon, which is impressive to say the least. We hopped between the different viewpoints to check out the view to the river 1.6 km's below. Unbelievable how many people were posing for selfies inches from the edge. Surprised to see a lot of prams and pushbikes only a metre or two from certain death as well. No one seemed too concerned but hey, maybe I'm just not used to the no fences thing yet.
In Seligman now and this place is... Different. Had a few at a local pub tonight and enjoyed the entertainment. They hit it hard around here and it was a great show! Appears to be another town struggling to survive on the trickle of route 66 traffic.
Vegas tomorrow for a few nights to wind down. The ride only has two days of riding left so it will all be over soon :-(
Until next time,
Bill
Bill
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