Kanab, UT

Slow news day. We slept late today and did almost nothing. Wonderful rest after all that intensely healthy hiking and whatnot. Have a pretty little cottage here in Kanab with a complete kitchen and lots of comfort. (Can share our source if you ask.)

Went to the store today. Filled up our cart. Didn’t remember we had to fit it all on the bike until we’d paid the bill. Just fit. Just. But we had the pleasure of making chili with our gleanings and it’s festering now. A home cooked meal is very appealing after so many days on the road. Seems a long time since Bill and Jane Hadley.

We did manage to get to the Kanab Visitors’ Center, run by the Bureau of Land Management, and got some wonderful background and advice on what to see from a woman named Cheyann. Got some help yesterday from a real, lanky, booted cowboy named Sky. Sometimes people match their setting perfectly. Yep. We are not in Jersey anymore. 😀 Beautiful country.

Tomorrow evening Connie’s sister, Val, husband Bob, and mother, Pat, are flying in to join us. We will have some company with whom to share our discoveries for a few days. Looking forward to it.

Well, the chili is almost done, there’s a storm brewing that’s begging to be watched, so that’s all for tonight folks. Have a great night. Be well.

Grand Canyon National Park and Kanab, UT

Sadly, we left the Grand Canyon this morning but not without seeing another sunrise, this time from the rim at Mather’s Point. We were up at 4:00 to catch a shuttle to see the sun come up just before 5:30. It was very cold, but just as beautiful as yesterday’s sun up. And a lot less work. 😉 

 When we arrived at the Park on Friday, we were lucky to meet two men, Cole and Chris, who know the Park intimately. Chris is a guide for hiking and river tours. Yesterday, he hiked a group down 9 miles and then another up the same way.  We can’t even imagine the endurance that requires. They both shared some good suggestions with us.  Coupled with Ranger Rick’s ideas, we felt we got a lot out of our two day stay at the Grand Canyon.

Before the Grand Canyon was declared a National Park, it was governed by the Park Service which had close ties to a number of industries, including mining and tourism. For example, the Santa Fe Railroad ran a line into Grand Canyon Village and established hotels as a money making enterprise. The rail line still exists and has daily runs. We found it interesting, and think Bill Hadley might find it so, too. West of the village, approaching Hopi Point, there are remains of a copper mine started around the turn of the last century, and of a uranium mine that operated from the late ‘40s to the late ‘60s. Unfortunately, that area remains contaminated with high levels of chemical and radioactive residues. It is fenced off until money can be made available. Frankly, we find the sight and pollution a scar that should not be. Clean up will depend on the coming federal budget years (Interior; National Park Service) since the owners cannot be made to pay. Something wrong there. But I digress. 

We had such a wonderful time over all. It is just impossible to get your mind around such a magnificent place. We are tired, but so happy to have come. We are also determined to return and do some hiking down into the Canyon. We totally get the joy and wonder of those who have done so. (Thinking of Tim.)

We left the Park by the East Gate and headed north on US 89 through Page, AZ to Kanab, UT where we will stay for the next two weeks. We rode about 215 miles with sunshine but strong, gusty winds. Nothing dangerous, but tiring. Glad to be here with our feet up. We’ve covered almost 3,200 miles overall. Day excursions coming up.

The terrain we saw was fascinating and beautiful, though sometimes in a rather stark way. There is not a lot of water to be seen so agriculture is somewhat limited. But the geology is stunning. A lot of red rock in myriad forms. Amazingly, we are not yet tired of red rock.

Thank you so much for your interest and kind comments and support. You make our trip even more fun. Best to all.

Sunrise from Mather Point

Our route to Kanab, UT, where we are staying for two weeks.

Oh wow, oh wow.  No other words describe the Grand Canyon.  We had a great day.  Met people from all over the US and the world.  Hiked down Bright Angel Trail for 1.5 miles to see the sunrise.  Then this evening hiked the East Rim Trail for several miles to see the sunset.  What a great day.  We are both a bit sore and tired, but content.  Hope you enjoy the photos.  

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon.  

More to follow later…

Petrified Forest National Park and Grand Canyon National Park

What a day! We covered about 300 miles today on a round about route from Gallup, NM to Grand Canyon Village, AZ on the south rim. We first stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park in AZ off Route 40. Taking some good advice, we stopped in the Visitors’ Center and approached Park Ranger Richard Ullman (Ranger Rick) for some advice. What we got was a veritable “data dump” (his words) on what to see in the park. And since he was stationed at the south rim of the Canyon for 12 years, he had so much to tell and advise us about both parks. He is such an enthusiastic representative! He reminds me of Ken Hartman and John Filippini. We followed the park road to several scenic lookouts, including Kachina Point with a view of the painted desert, the Route 66 stop with a 1932 Studebaker permanently parked in the sand, and Blue Mesa with its stunning view of Billings Gap and the desert resting places of many, many petrified trees. Our first “wow” of the day. We met a couple along the way, Menno and Lucie, from the Netherlands who were also on holiday in the Southwest. Interestingly, they were traveling in comfort in a rented RV. (In our experience, 90% of all RVs are rented by Germans on foreign tours, but I digress.) We earned some cred when they saw we were traveling by motorcycle starting in NJ. Have to hold up the reputation of the side!
We left the Park in the south by Route 180 toward Flagstaff and ended up in Winslow.

I was standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona with one special woman on my mind.

Had a great time mugging on the corner with others of the same mind. The corner is at 2nd and Warner and has a couple of bronze musician statues. There’s also a Great Wall to lean against. (See the accompanying pictures for a distinguished example.) It’s a façade, by the way. We then went to lunch at La Posada, at Ranger Rick’s suggestion, and had another meal to write home about. Connie had a lamb stew and I had a fried bread with lamb and salsa that leapt off our plates into our mouths. Lunch was so good and so generously proportioned that a siesta would have gone down well. The restaurant is a small part of a great old hotel first built by the Santa Fe Railroad to serve its customers in the heyday of rail travel. It had fallen into disrepair and was slated for demolition. But some intrepid investors took a chance and recreated its splendor as a hotel, restaurant and historic site. It’s fully modern, even having electric Tesla car hookups. It’s truly beautiful. So go stand on the corner and have some lunch.

Then off to the Grand Canyon, one of the focal points of our planning. We took US Route 89 north to the east entrance of the park. (Again, thanks to Ranger Rick.) coming in that way meant very little traffic and no wait to enter the park or village. The south entrance is much more heavily travelled. We stopped at Navajo Point for our first look of the Canyon; it took our breath away. Wow just doesn’t do it. The Colorado River was the tiniest ribbon of water about a mile beneath us flowing to the west. The grandeur of the Canyon walls and rock formations extending miles on either side eludes the power of description. We tried to wrap our minds around the sight of layers of beautiful sedimentary rock that were revealed over the course of hundreds of millions of years. Nature won that round: we were and remain awed.

We made our way to the village and checked into our cute little cabin. Connie’s magical planning made this possible. (It’s a duplex, if you can imagine.) It is comfortable and very nice, and located about 200 feet from the head of Bright Angel Trail. We unloaded our bags and took a stroll along the rim to see the sunset. We walked about a ½ mile over all, but stopped every few yards or so to stare in wonder of this sublime act of creation. (Tim, we think you can relate.)

We wound up settling at a beautiful scenic outlook to enjoy the waning moments of daylight. We met two wonderful young folks traveling from Norway. Chris and Anna both work with the same company in Norway that focuses on civil engineering projects (as best as I can relate). Chris is an American ex-pat from Minnesota, and Anna is a native of Poland. We had a great time sharing he pleasures of our travel experiences. They are on a 3 week holiday and we found their enthusiasm and kindness so engaging.

Okay. There is so much more to tell. But all the words in the world’s vocabularies cannot adequately describe what we are experiencing. You will just have to come to this wonder of the world and experience it for yourself. You will congratulate yourself for your wisdom.

Tomorrow we’re up we’ll before the crack of dawn to take a hike down the South Kaibob Trail to … wait for it … Ooh Ahh Point, to see the sun rise. Jersey prepared us for this how? So more tomorrow.

Finally a post on time. Rode 314 miles today to Gallup, NM, just on the edge of the Navajo reservation. We have ridden over 2,600 miles total so far. Beautiful countryside with red and white sandstone formations, buttes, cliffs, mountains and rolling hills. Gallup is over 6,400 feet above sea level and is cool and dry. Today’s high was 76F and tonight the temp will drop to 39F. We passed a mountain west of Albuquerque that had snow still on the summit. I’d never thought of NM as being so high above sea level. Turns out that northern NM is on the Colorado Plateau (which includes Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, and Southern Colorado – the four corner states). Learning all the time. 

Back to this morning (stream of consciousness) on the way out of Tucumcari (pronounced “Too-cum-carry”) we stopped by the newly renovated train station. It’s beautiful, though not yet open to the public. We learned that the city was a way-point for the Southern Pacific and the Rock Island railroads, and the Union Pacific line as well. Well blow me down!  Didn’t know the UP reached so far. Fellow Rail Baron fanatics will be amazed, I’m sure. The Burlington Northern line is also prominent here. We passed dozens of mile long trains along I-40 bearing the Burlington and Union Pacific logos. Thought you’d be thrilled to know.

Not a lot else to tell. (the state of our derrières will not be discussed) Tomorrow we head to Winslow, AZ and on to Grand Canyon Village on the south rim of the canyon. So looking forward to it. We hope you are all well. And we’re so pleased you look in from time to time to see how we’re doing. Now we wish you good luck and good night…

As advertised, we set out early and rode about 460 miles over 11 hours from Ft Worth, TX to Tucumcari, NM, a long, sometimes boring/sometimes exciting day. Ft Worth was once an important stop on the Chisholm Trail, and thought of as the Gateway to the West. It can be hard to imagine covered wagons traversing ground now covered by 8 lanes of concrete, and arterials the size if a NJ city, but you can if you try. We’ve covered about 2,300 miles so far.  
After double checking the weather, we left Bill and Jane Hadley’s home and headed north toward Wichita Falls and I-40 for points west. We stopped for fuel and some food in a old, small town called Henrietta, home of Stewart’s Sweet Shop located across from CityHall. Ms. Brenda Estridge, a patron, showed us pictures from when it was originally a boot manufactory, making custom cowboy boots for the discriminating Texan. When the boot makers moved to different digs, the shop became a café and bakery. Cookies and other pastries are in prominent view and promise gustatory delight. Mr. Pete Langford, (photo attached) is a distinguished looking transplant from Nokoma, about 20 miles to the south. He made our acquaintance and kindly bade us welcome, asking after our welfare and where we were from. Once again, we arrived as strangers and were graciously made welcome by Mr. Langford, Ms. Estridge and her sister, and the staff. They could have chosen to treat us as customers only but did not; we found kindness and grace. In addition they have our thanks for a delicious and filling meal. 

For most of the rest of the day, we pushed on through the Texas panhandle, headed to Amarillo and beyond to Tucumcari. The weather continued to be on our minds with threats of thunderstorms and hail beset us behind and before. With a warning from another biker in Claude, TX, we knew hail was imminent. We raced north to Amarillo to find shelter.  We made it in time to shelter in relative comfort under an overhang at the Comfort Inn in Amarillo (thanks!) as pea sized hail pelted the area. Connie, the weather maven, gets full marks for getting us to shelter in time.

The rest of the way to the New Mexico border was kind of boring, frankly.  It was so vast and flat.  There were some big feed lots for cattle going to market and we held our noses and felt sorry for the animals. A lot of wind turbines, which is surprising for a state known for oil. That was about it until we hit the NM border where the land immediately became undulating with little mesas and lots of scrub. It is beautiful! A little foretaste of what is to come.

Today we head to Gallup, NM with Grand Canyon Village the day after. But first, we’re going to visit the refurbished train station here in Tucumcari. Very exciting! Really.
 

An editorial correction. The two firefighters we met in Knoxville were not named Don and Vaughn. They were and remain Tommy and Kenny as they will surely tell you. I apologize for them both. (I have no idea how my brain heard mixed up their names. Comments are not welcome.).

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Sorry for the delay, but we have just spent a delightful couple of full days with cousin Bill and Jane just outside Ft. Worth. They have been gracious hosts in every way. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful folks to put us up (put up with us?).
Cousin Rick and Janey joined us today for a fabulous supper of Texas ribs, brisket and sausage. It’s food to write home about.

The ride in from the east on I-30 was eye opening. It’s true, everything is big – really big, in Texas. We passed through 8 lane interchanges covering an area roughly the size of Hoboken, some with ramps crossing 80 feet above us. Amazing. A lot of pickups, all white or black. Turn signals are definitely seldom used options, too. Makes riding a careful enterprise.

Tomorrow we set out very early toward Tucumcari, NM, about 440 miles away. This will be one of our longest travel days, getting us closer to the Grand Canyon. This will test our endurance some, especially our posteriors. There may be some whining along the way. Connie has promised to be understanding. We’re looking forward seeing the renovated train station in Tucumcari, which is important for the silly reason that it is a destination city in the game, Rail Baron. Can’t resist.

Well, off to finish packing and to bed. More soon. Be well!

We had great weather and a nice ride into Texas.  We stayed up late enjoying our visit with my second cousins, Bill and Jane.  Hence, no post.  More to follow from the traveling story teller (Hank) later today.   Meanwhile, have a great day!  – Connie

Writing from Hot Springs, Arkansas at the end of a fun day. We rode about 225 miles from Cabot, AR mostly by back roads, our favorite kind of route. (If you look at our Spot map, you’ll see a rather convoluted track that avoided Little Rock, but not the National Park Hot Springs Nat’l Park and it’s neat roads.) After 5 days of mostly interstates, it was a welcome day.Early on, we stopped to check our location (and restore feeling to our butts) in front of a repair garage under construction. A man came toward us to find if we needed help. His name is Ron Davis and he took time from rebuilding this shop for his son’s business in Mayflower. Turns out this area was wiped clean by a killer tornado a few years back and the property (pad and land; no building) became available. He impressed us as a kind, hard-working man who enjoyed meeting us as much as we enjoyed his company. Ron, like so many folks we’ve met, was friendly and happy to be of help. He suggested a fun route and shared generously of his knowledge of the area. He also said nice things about our planned trip, which we found endearing.

A couple of hours later, we stopped to rest in a country church parking lot. The church was in Walnut Grove, AR, and, like so many, had a cemetery along side. We walked among the plots for a few minutes and noticed the entire cemetery was beautifully maintained, with nice, even expensive, monuments and flowers marking each grave. A few families were richly represented. We noticed markers for Bates, Fischer, Murders (you read that right) and Battleberry. There were others, of course. But it is clear that generations, from at least the late 1800’s, have visited and beautifully tended these family plots. We noted two brothers from the Bates family, who fought on opposing sides of the Civil War, but were killed in battle but returned home to be buried side-by-side. We found that moving. From what we saw of the area, folks don’t have a lot of money, but where, and who they are, matters to them. Memories matter. And they follow through generation after generation.

We arrived in Hot Springs and are staying in a little family owned Alpine Inn. Turns out the owners are Scottish (Glasgow) and very welcoming. Hot Springs was once famous for having geothermal spas that attracted some impressive people. FDR came here several times to recuperate and refresh during his presidency (though he also died here in early 1945 before his 4th term was completed). Al Capone and other gangsters of that era spent time here for R & R, though they held a perpetual truce while in town. This is also the birthplace of President Bill Clinton.  

Tomorrow it’s on to Ft. Worth to visit family. Looking forward to arriving. More later.