Weather, as it has been for quite a while now, sunny and warm.
Left Gallup at about 8:30, destination the Petrified Forest National Park. On the way we enter our 7th state, Arizona. We get there and are “cut loose” as Gary says, to do our own thing. There is one road through the park, so we can’t get lost but it’s about 35 miles and we have just two hours before we have to rendezvous at the other end. Seems plenty but road speeds vary from 15mph in some place to 45mph in others and you have to factor in the time taken to stop, view and photo stuff. In the end, none of go over the time.
The first thing you come to is the Painted Desert. This is a variety of reds, pinks, whites, etc, of both flats and small hillocks. It could almost be, what one imagines, the Mars surface looks like. Very barren. They call this the badlands. Those poor people travelling in their wagons all those years back must have been totally disheartened to come across this place.
As I move round the park I come across what they call newspaper rock. This is a couple of big rocks with ancient script carved into them. A photo op but not sure how it’ll come out. Moving on, I’m beginning to wonder where the petrified forest is, when I turn off to Agate Bridge. This is a petrified tree that has fallen down over a ditch. Or, the rock might have been eroded around it. In any case the fallen tree forms a bridge today. Snap, snap. I continue until I come to the edge of what would have been a very lush and dense forest, I imagine. Here there are petrified tree trunks in abundance. Some are just in chunks, others in line, just as they were the day the tree fell. There’s plenty of photo opportunities here. Finally, we all meet up at the rendezvous point and hit the road again.
As we travel along, there are a large number of signs for native American crafts. This is the heart of Navajo country and no opportunity is lost to relieve travellers of a few bucks. We can’t go on all parts of R66, because some of it is on Navajo land and they won’t upkeep it. It’s therefore too dangerous to attempt. For a lot of the time we are on interstate but that is because they laid the road right down on top of R66, so it kinda counts.
Next up is our lunch stop. This is at another famous diner, Joe & Aggies. It’s been in use since the early days of the road. As usual, Gary knows the owners well and has rung ahead to make sure we are catered for. Lunch for me is another toasted sandwich washed down with lemonade. We take a few photos, as always, and once again jump into the saddle but only for about ¼ mile. There we stop at the Wigwam Motel. Another very famous R66 landmark but unlike many others, it is still in use. The rooms are, as you might have guessed, all separate little wigwams. To retain the nostalgia of the place, many of the wigwams have old vehicles parked outside. It’s quite a sight, the cars being the perfect touch. It’s almost like another motor museum.
We hit the road again, this time bound for Winslow. Now anyone who listens to the Eagles will recognise the name of this town straight away. This little town has been made famous by the song Take It Easy.
Well, I’m a standing on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me
There is a bronze statue of a guy with a guitar, not sure who (google it) and just up the street is parked a red flatbed Ford. Behind the statue is a high wall with a mural on it. It is a hotel scene, windows, basically. Once upon a time though the other side of the wall was a hotel and it was here that the Eagles stayed when in Winslow. I think the story is they were only their because their tour bus broke down. This is a huge photo opportunity so we do it justice before heading out on the road again.
We motor along the interstate bypassing Flagstaff. From at least 60 miles away we can see what is clearly a big fire, we can see the smoke and it’s drifting for miles and miles. We pass through it briefly and for a short period you are breathing in the smoke. No harm done though, we're soon out the other side. I notice a helicopter over the area and though I can’t say for certain, I think I saw it drop a huge load of water onto the tress below. The sort of stuff you see on SKY news, not in real life. This trip has provided so may new experiences and memories. I’m sure they will stick with us all for a very long time.
Once passed the ‘danger’ our next stop is Grand Canyon Harley Davidson. Another chance to drool over new HDs and also for some to get their caffeine fix over the way. From here it’s just a brief run down the road to Williams, where we spend 2 nights. Tomorrow we will take a ride up to the Grand Canyon. A few of the group have opted for the helicopter ride. The rest of us will be free to do what we please, hoping there will be some stunning canyon shots available to us.
This evening we all met up in the bar for some beer and dinner, then Gary put on the video of Wild Hogs. Not sure Bill was all that happy once he saw what Dudley was like in the film but he’s a good sport.
Signposts are now showing the mileage to LA. A bit depressing really, as that means our journey, this fantastic journey is nearing its conclusion. It’s going to be very hard to beat this as a biking experience. So much more than just a holiday.
That’s it for day 10.
Neill
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