2017 trip west
Started out on Friday at noon, headed down US-54 to I-40 to Victorville, CA. We had rain on Friday till we got to Tucumcari, NM. stayed in the Historic Route 66 Hotel, had to as it had old Cessna’s out front ! Saturday morning we woke up to snow & 34 degrees. We waiting a few hours till the temps looked like they would stay above freezing for our trip west. Off we went, all the cold weather gear we had was on, still had cold feet. Had a hard time keeping the visors clear enough to see out of, and the temps started to drop, when they hit 24 degrees we decided to get off I-40 for a break and to think about what to do next. After lunch, we decided to stay in a hotel for the day/night and wait till better weather on Sunday. When we got to Moriarty, NM the sun was out, snow on the ground and the streets where making fog due to the heating of the sun and the cold of the snow on the roads, I’ve never seen it like that before, wish I could have taken a photo of it. We also learned that I-40 was closed passed Edgewood, NM. Not a good place to be on bike against trucks and cages !! Sunday morning was cold but clear, off we went passed Albuquerque, snow on the mountains, and fog after Albuquerque, then wind, strong winds.
Next stop was Painted Rim park, nice 28 mile ride through Painted Rim, Petrified Forest park & Blue Mesa. Then to see Meteor Crater, cool to see, crazy big hole in the ground. After that came Two Guns, I don’t really know what it is, but it gave us a small bit of off road riding, I was in heaven !! felt good to have dirt under the tires again ))
From there it was just passed Flagstaff for the night.
Monday morning was cold again but nice, off we went to hit Route 66 from about Seligman, AZ to Kingman, nice ride, great scenery, would have loved to take the whole trip on Route 66, but there wasn’t enough time. Maybe after I retire! From there we went to eat at “ The Death Star” in Yucca, AZ… But there wasn’t a “ Death Star” so I took a picture anyway, & off we went to California. Came to the lowest point in elevation at the Colorado river crossing at the Cali state line. 451ft lowest point, highest was 7319 just past Flagstaff.
Spend two days seeing my old friend Brent. Have not seen him in 26 years, another friend Edgar met us down the hill for diner and many talks about the old days of being in the USAF at George AFB. Newport beach was nice, perfect weather, nothing better than sand between your toes!! Love the feeling, water was cold, but good to see and hear after 26 years.
On the trip home I was alone……Don’t ask why !! I did enjoy the ride alone, very nice. A bit scared at first, but realized that I could make it, the bike wasn’t going to break down & all I had to do was stay away from the trucks & cages. I was surprised that there was not as many trucks & the traffic was always nice, & easy, not as bad as everyone at work said it would be. I have to say a huge thanks to Dave Woodward & the rest of the BTK group for the support on my trip home, I kept Dave in the loop on my trip home after each day, Thanks again Dave, your encouragement made the trip relaxing & enjoyable. I owe you one for this, you name it !!
Day 5 was going home, said my goodbyes, and off I went, the Road Kill Cafe was my first stop for lunch, had a mystery meat burger, don’t know what was in it, but is was very good. Then to Sedona, WOW is all I can say, I wish I had my Gopro on for the ride down to Sedona, great ride, winding road going through trees, and to see the mountains cliffs so close to you is awesome, loved it !! I was worried about traffic in Sedona as it is so small, but very busy, the city did a great job with turn-arounds everywhere, very few stop lights, side parking had lots of room to turn around so you would be facing the direction you wanted to go. But the views, breath-taking for sure. I didn’t have the time to ride back up the same way so I took I-17 north to the east side of Flagstaff. Holbrook I went to get my hotel at the Wigwam tee-pee hotels, so cool to see and stay in, rooms are a bit small, but cool to be in. Great little city to look around, & ate at Roma’s restaurant, awesome food, best I had on the whole trip, would not miss it again, if I go that direction again.
Day 6 was going to be great as I had a tailwind the whole way, awesome temps, for me, some cool, must warm in the 70 to 90 degree range. While coming back looking for a place to eat, I saw a sign for a Soaring museum, I’ve always been interested in sailplanes, so I stopped by, then a short lunch, next stop was Santa Rosa for gas, & to see the Blue hole, pretty cool, a 81 ft deep natural spring, water is always 61 degrees & pumps out 3000 gallons per min. The water was so clear, they say you can see down about 40ft. When I got to Meade, Kansas I only had about an hour of daylight left, being to close to home, I decided to make it by following a guy on a Goldwing to Goddard. Made it home at 10:30pm 835 miles that day, yes my ass was killing me, but it was really good to be home again.
Again I want to thank the BTK group for the help on the trip, & again a huge thanks to Dave !! I can’t wait till my next trip, looking at Moab next year !!
Link to the pictures on FB
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1448853388515021.1073741831.100001711224398&type=1&l=9b6bae277e