We were up at about 7:00am and after a complimentary breakfast at the Super 8 motel we packed up the bike and headed along the old Rout 66/Highway 89A out of Flagstaff and then headed south on a 50 km ride to Sedona. I would have to say it was the ride of the tour do far. The morning was nice & cool, the road undulating and winding and lined with Ponderosa pine. About 20km out of Sedona we cornered a bend and then saw a draw dropping sight of high buttes of red rock covered in pine. The road gradient dropped away as we descended and wound our way down a canyon into Sedona. The town looks like a very tidy Alpine community surrounded by some amazing scenery - I recommend you make the effort to visit if you ever get the chance.
After fuelling up we made our way back to Flagstaff and then took the 180 up to The Grand Canyon National Park. We had lunch at Tusayan and then drove a short distance to the Park entrance. We had purchased an annual National Park pass during our flight stopover in San Francisco for $80. This will get us into any National Park in the States. If we did not have this we would had to have paid a $25 vehicle fee at The Grand Canyon. The Forest Ranger who checked our pass advised us to ride past the Grand Canyon Village and pull into a park about a mile past the village. We parked the bike and then had a short walk of about 400 metres to the South Rim. The view was stunning. I sort of new it would be impressive - but the vastness of the canyon stretching out to the horizon cannot be portrayed accurately by a photo in a book - you have to see it to appreciate it.
After this walk we rode away from our parking area a short distance and took the Canyon exit on to Highway 64 and headed east. It was great riding, again undulating winding road with stunning views over the Grand Canyon with viewing areas on the side of the road. There was even a warning sign to watch for mountain lions! We saw some deer grazing by the side of the road and I pulled over so Tracee could get some photos (you have to watch they don't jump out in front of you when you are riding along!).
One thing about a major tourist attraction like The Grand Canyon in the USA vacation season - is that there are a lot of distracted holiday makers around in cars. We were riding past a viewing area when a young motorist decided it would be a good idea to pull out to cross the road in front of us without looking! One thing they teach you at Defensive Driving is to scan the road about 12 seconds ahead - so I saw what was happening and had enough time to react. She saw me at the last moment and slammed on the brakes to stop half way across the road while I nicked around past her. I had all 3 headlamps on and back in NZ had the baffles on my pipes opened up a bit to make the bike a little noisier - so I must have looked and sounded like a John Deere tractor coming down the road!
As we rode down 64 we saw a lot of Native Indian roadside market stalls selling crafts and jewelry. We turned left at the Junction of 64 and Hwy 89 and pulled over into Camerons Trading Post to spend the night. This is run by Native Americans and has a Store, Gift shop, gallery and lodgings. The Native American craftwork is of high quality and Tracee & I enjoyed looking at the extensive selection on display (we even purchased a few small momentos!).
The food is great value for money here. Tonight we had a main meal at The Trading Post with complimentary bread, soup or salad and drink - all for $11! And the word 'small' does not seem to feature much in the American culinary vocabularly - the helpings are always generous. Love this place...
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