I woke up early Friday morning. The night before I had the chance to do my laundry. It seems that a lot of the Motel 8 have this service. It felt good to have everything clean again. I was down to my last underwear.
It was a cold morning with 51 degrees of temperature. The sky was clear and I had my tank full with gas. At 9:00 AM sharp, I was heading West again.
The plan that day was to arrive to Flaggstaff, AR and while at it, see the Four Corners and the Grand Canyon.
Most of the morning, I was riding through Navajo territory. It was beautiful desert with snow covered peaks in the horizon. The cold weather was a great help for me and for my C. We were both riding comfortably.
I was fuelling my C every time I could. I was passing by some very deserted land with no end in sight and I didn't want to get stranded for lack of gasoline. I was pumping gas every 60 to 70 miles in average. I told you I got compulsive about it.
The first stop was the Four Corners. I took 64 W to get there passing Farmington and Shiprock. The Four Points is the only part of the USA where 4 states come together at one place. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado and for $4 dollars you can see it all. There I bought some trinkets.... I mean jewellery from the Navajo Indians, took pictures and started my journey again towards the Grand Canyon along RT 160.
For 4 hours, I rode through the desert and the temperature started to get hotter but not to the point where I was sweating . As I got closer to the Grand Canyon, I started to ascend higher and higher. The views more dramatic than before. There are a lot of trading posts along the road to the Canyon and I stopped by a few to see the merchandise. $12 for a bag of Beef Jerky!!?, I don't think so.
I arrived at the entrance of the park, paid $12 (for motorcycle) and continued forward at altitudes above 7,000 feet. The plan was to stay a few minutes in the Canyon, take a picture and move on to Flagstaff which was almost 1.5 hours away, but the plan backfired. The magnitude of this canyon takes a long time to absorb. As you go along different observation points the canyon change its colours and shades. It is something that you have to sit down and enjoy little by little and I did. I wind up staying 3 hours riding along the canyon through some very old trees and passing by “Puma in the next 2 miles” signs. I spent most of time at the aptly named “Grand View” overlook.
When the clock almost hit 6 o'clock, I put some more gas at the entrance of the park and moved on to Flagstaff, Arizona. What a beautiful little town Flagstaff is surrounded by a national forest and snowed covered peaks.
I couldn't find a room in town. It was graduation day for Northern Arizona University. It was almost 8:00 PM and I had to push forward, to the outskirts of town to find a room. I found a Motel 6, which I promised I will never use again, but this one looked new and it was.
Tired from a long day, it was time to relax a little, take a shower and wait for the next day comfortably in the arms of Morpheus. Las Vegas, Nevada was next!
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| Official photo of my entrance to Arizona |
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| I am usually crossing one state at the time, but this time I was in 4 states at the same time. |
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| The cruise control came handy when I had top cross the Arizona desert . |
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| On the road towards the Grand Canyon in Arizona. temperatures started to climb here but it was comfortable still. |
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| Grand Canyon |
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| These are the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona. Considered sacred by the Hopi Indians. Home of the Cachina people and the Navajo's Sacred Mountain of the West. The road I was travelling RT 160 got me very near just on my right hand side. |
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