274 miles- Coppell, TX to Liberty, TX
One travel day left in this year’s journey. It’s about what you would expect. I have made this part of the journey many times and it never gets any more interesting.
It has been a great trip, and it only leaves the question…where to next year?
357 miles- Amarillo, TX to Coppell, TXThis is the part of the journey that I never look forward to … the wide open drive back to the house. Just like previous years, this is a straight run down US 287. As we came into Decatur, TX the storm cloud that we has been watching all day finally intersected with us. We pulled off under an underpass to suit up into rain gear. As a side note to all my truck driving friends (and those in cars too) when you see motorcycles sitting on the side of the road putting on rain gear please change lanes instead of blowing water over the bikers. We had rain all the way from Decatur back to Coppell. This was one of those rains that we had to pull over to drain the water build-up from inside our goggles.One of the reasons that we pushed this hard today is that my iPhone 3G died on me at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, so we had an appointment at the Apple Store in Southlake Town Center to try reviving it. The Apple Genius (Erin) really tried, but was unable to bring it back to life. I am planning on upgrading to the new iPhone 4 in a few weeks when I can find one, so the Genius helped me get onto the priority reservation list at the Apple Store closest to my house. In the mean time, I was going to buy the iPhone 3GS and just pay the restocking fee. She went to the back and came out with a black 32 Gb iPhone 4 (just what I want), and nobody in the store knew that it was back in the store room (apparently, it was stacked in with the iPhone 3GS phones). I got lucky and I am now one of the first owners of the iPhone 4. And another happy experience at the Apple Store. For all other stores (regardless of what you sell), I do compare your customer service to what I get at the Apple Store and nearly everyone else fails.Tomorrow, the final leg of this year’s trip … Back home to Liberty, TX …
251 miles- Eagle Nest, NM to Amarillo, TXYesterday, I complained about the price of a hotel room in an empty hotel. First thing this morning almost made up for it. The morning manager made homemade blackberry waffles. These were awesome. Over breakfast, he also asked where we were headed and explaining to him that today’s destination is Amarillo, he told us that the bridge was out on our planned route and gave us an easy detour around it. Then he mentioned that if we wanted to do a few extra miles, we could cut up to Raton, NM and then over to Clayton, NM. About half way in between we would find Capulin Volcano National Monument.
Not sure what we would find or why a volcano in New Mexico deserves to be a national monument (we did not even suspect a volcano in New Mexico). US 64 runs just a few miles south of the volcano. When we reached Capulin, NM, we turned left and about 5 miles later we reach the gate to the National Monument. Once again, we used our America the Beautiful pass to enter at no charge (this thing is really paying for itself). The cashier at the visitor center did mention that we would need to leave the trailer in the trailer parking lot. After Mesa Verde a few days ago, there was no argument from me.The road to the upper parking lot was steep (over twice as steep as a typical mountain highway slope), with a pull off areas and educational information on how geologist could estimate when and how the volcano erupted in the past. At the upper parking lot, we found several more educational signs, an overlook into the vent, a overlook to the west, a sign stating the rim trail is about 1 mile long and the vent trail is about 0.2 miles long.After reading the educational signs, and taking pictures of everything within range of our lenses, we decided to hike a trail. We decided on the rim trail knowing that if we got tired or bored, it would be a downhill hike from our turn around point.Many times around the rim, there are signs pointing out vegetation, animal-life, terrain and volcano features. I think I learned more about geography and nature in this hour or so trek than I did in all of high school or college. Near the halfway point, we debated about turning around or hiking up the last remainder to the peak of the volcano. We continued on, and we were happy that we did. At the peak, the educational signs showed us what we saw in the distance (even on an overcast day like today). One interesting point is Rabbit Ear mountain to the extreme east, looking at the map, this is nearly Clayton, NM (53 miles away). Just try to do that in Houston, between the flat elevation, the humidity driven haze, and the smog. On the way back to the parking lot, it was about 1/3rd of a mile all downhill. While this is definitely easier than the hike up, we were both glad that we had our boots tightly laced. Even then, I could occasionally feel my toes getting crowded in the end of my boots.Since we made the long hike, we continues to descend into the vent of the volcano. The is only 0.2 miles from the parking lot, but this is not a loop like the rim trail, we had to hike back up the 0.2 mile trail to the parking lot. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the 10 mm fish-eye lens with us into the vent. We were both too lazy (and short of breath from the altitude) to go get it. I guess we are not real photographers or else we would have gone and got it. However we still got a few great shots.Where this vent trail meets the parking lot, the national park service built a sheltered sitting area that we both took advantage of to catch our breath before descending the volcano on the bikes. While we sat here, an intern ranger came over and chatted with us. She was a geology major from the University of New Mexico-Las Cruces. She said most of what she did at the volcano was GPS-mapping the terrain and features, which ended up being a good thing because she loved to create these maps.After our break, we headed back to the parking lot, packed the cameras, and headed down the volcano to retrieve the trailer and hit the road. While we were on the volcano, we realized that Rabbit Ear mountain is near our route. It turns out, that it was just before Clayton, NM … 52 miles away … and today was overcast and hazy. Just imagine how far you could see on a clear day.
In 2007 on our first road trip, we stopped at a small Mexican restaurant in Dalhart, TX. Both Dad and I were in the mood for this place, but neither of us could remember the name. Lucky we remembered that we had just stumbled onto the place as we were coming into town from Amarillo. So we just reversed the trip and hoped for the best. We found it! It is La Española II at the corner of US 385/87 and E 16th Street. Their hours are Monday through Friday 11 am to 3 pm for lunch and 5 pm to 8pm for dinner, and on Saturday 11 am to 8 pm (they are closed on Sunday). The meals here are Tex-Mex, but using more authentic ingredients and recipes than your usual chain-restaurant offers. The prices are good, just pass on the chili-con-queso it is just canned nacho cheese (the waitress warned us of this). After dinner, we headed to Amarillo where we stayed at the Homewood Suites on the west side of town.Tomorrow is nothing but open highway back to Dad’s house in Dallas…
234 miles- Durango, CO to Eagle Nest, NMToday was mostly a travel day. We started by washing the bikes at a car wash in Durango (about $10 each at the coin-op). As we left Durango, we noticed that we invited the rain. This is the same rain that has been rolling out of the mountains everyday for the past week. Our first goal was to get a far down the road before finding the rain. We got lucky and made it Chama, NM without any rain. Since we were here, we decided to photograph the train that was not able to run due to the trestle fire. After this pit stop, the rain caught up with us as we were turning onto US 64 headed towards Taos, NM. We dodged in and out of the rain, and after talking to some RV’ers that were just ahead of us, we realized the we really just caught the beginning of the rain.Deciding to avoid the rain, we went to the Taos Indian Reservation casino. Neither one of did well, but the rain did pass us by. Continuing on US 64, as we were passing through the mountains the temperature started to drop to the low 50′s, and to add to the excitement, we had a Nissan following us closer than either of us would have preferred. So instead of slowing down and hoping they would pass us (remember that we are on a mountain road with very few places to pull off or for the car to pass us), we stepped up the pace. We were both proud of the bikes and their handling ability (by now, we had fully refreshed our mountain riding abilities). More surprising is the Nissan kept up with us through the curves. I was in the lead as usual, and I was paying close attention to how hard I was applying the brakes. A few years ago, we learned that the Goldwing stops much< em> quicker than Dad’s Harley. Keeping this in mind, I wasn’t sure if this holds true while I was pulling a loaded trailer. After we were finished with the day, the 3/4 brakes that I was applying, was pushing the full braking ability of Dad’s Harley (another win for the Goldwing!)After the mixed showers and the cooler weather, we decided to call it a night in Eagle Lake, NM, just 9 miles shy of the campground we intended on staying at. We stayed at the Econo Lodge where we were one of just and few guests. Even then, we weren’t able to secure a very good deal ($79 instead of the normal $89 rate, this is aSki resort town after all).Now we are truly on the final leg segment of the trip. Tomorrow, we stay in Amarillo, TX…
185 miles- Kayenta, AZ to Durango, COYesterday while we were on the road, we received a phone call from the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. We did not check the message until after their offices had closed, so we called them first thing this morning. Apparently, they had a fire on a railroad trestle. This trestle is 4 miles north of Chama. The railroad gave us the option to cancel our tickets or they will provide a courtesy bus ride to and from Antonito, CO and take the ride from Antonito to the halfway point and back. The big problem with this is that the bus would not be back to Chama until about 7:30 pm. We are planning on camping at the Cimarron Canyon State Park tomorrow night. We decided to cancel the tickets. Since we do not have the plans in Chama tomorrow, we called the Branding Iron hotel in Chama to see if we could can these reservations. After explaining our situation with the manager, she decided to let us cancel our reservations even though we were under the 24-hour cancellation policy. Because they were so great with this, I will be staying with them once the train is back in full operation.
What makes the four corners so special is this is the only point in the US where four states come to a common intersecting point. These states are: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. This location is on the Navajo tribal lands, and is recognized as a tribal monument because of this. The America the Beautiful pass will not get you into here, instead, you need to pay a $3 per person fee.We learned a few days ago that the four corners monument was under construction. That did not stop from checking it out. This is the first time that I had ever been there, and Dad and I both wanted to use our GPS photo-loggers to mark the spot to see how accurate they are. There is a controversy over the actual point of the four corners. The century-old survey places the four corners at it’s current location. However, using GPS, it has been found that the original survey may have been off by 1800 feet to 2 1/2 miles. The difference is that the GPS technology is much more accurate than previous survey and mapping equipment. This debate has been settled in the Supreme Court. In the early 1900′s, Congress declared the current location a notional monument, thus this is the correct location for the four corners as recognized by the US government.
9 miles after passing through Cortez, we turned off US 160 into the Mesa Verde National Park. As we exiting the highway, we saw the warning signs that the road leading into Mesa Verde was under construction for the next 10 miles and the sign promised that the construction would include loose gravel, rough and uneven roads, and grooved pavement. This road construction is part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (also known as the stimulus plan). As we approached the gate, there is a staging area for trailers to park. Park requirements require that visitors park and secure all trailers here. The exception is motorcycles pulling trailers. However, if the roads are under construction, I would recommend leaving the trailer in the staging area.Once again, since this is a national park, the America the Beautiful pass will allow 2 motorcycles to enter all national parks for only $80 per year. Once leaving the entrance gate, it is 15 miles to the Far View Visitors Center. Stop here to buy the ranger guided tours of several of the cliff dwellings. The fee is $3/ person and it is the only way to see theses dwellings up-close. We made the mistake and passed it not realizing that you needed to buy the guided tours. Talking to the woman behind the counter at the bookstore, we learned there is actually over 600 cliff dwellings within the National Park, and over 10,000 cliff dwellings in the Four Corners region. This was a surprise to learn because before this trip, I had only known about Mesa Verde’s Cliff Palace.Since we are no longer taking the Cumbres-Toltec Scenic Railroad tomorrow, we decided to stay in Durango, CO. In the past, we have enjoyed this town, found great beer (a micro-brew from the Denver area called Avalanche), and good food. Tomorrow, we are headed through Pagosa Springs, CO and Taos, NM and camping in Cimarron Canyon State Park…
232 miles- Grand Canyon, North Rim to Kayenta, AZ[note-I know that the map isn't quite correct, I will correct this when I get home]
View Larger MapWe woke up early, packed for the road and headed for the Grand Canyon Lodge for a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon. The food was as great as normal.As we were leaving the North Rim, we noticed some dark rain clouds to the north and east of us. We decided to play it by ear and go. We followed the road back to Jacob’s Lake and we have remained lucky and dry. Stopped for fuel (the gas here was $0.46/ gallon cheaper than in the park), then headed towards Page, AZ.
After leaving the mountains surrounding Jacob’s Lake, we headed east through Marble Canyon, stopping frequently to take pictures of the surrounding terrain and the interesting storm clouds hovering over them.
Storm Clouds over Marble Canyon
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Marble Canyon
Navajo Bridge National Register of Historic Places plaque
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Storm clouds over the Navajo Bridge
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Standing between the Navajo Bridges
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Rafts on the Colorado River
After traveling across the Hoover Dam, we wanted to see another dam. Since the Glen Canyon Dam was just a few miles out of route, we went there. This time, we went to the visitor’s center. Before entering the visitor’s center, we noticed the plaque about the dinosaur tracks found during the dam excavation.
A 1-ton, carnivorous Dilophosaurus was strolling through the area
Dilophosaurus tracks in the local sandstone
Glen Canyon Bridge
[/caption]After leaving the dam, we stopped for lunch in Page, AZ. Driving around Page, we noticed many billboards offering Jeep and Hummer tours through the Antelope and Secret Caverns. Next time that I am through the area, I need to make time for one of these canyon tours.Like earlier this morning, we spent that afternoon under cloud cover. We got very lucky because this weather could have easily been over 100 degrees. Checking into our room in Kayenta, AZ, we learned that all hotels in town are booked through summer, good thing we had reservations. After settling in our room, we decided that we weren’t that hungry, but a beer sounded good. When we asked for a place to have a drink, the clerk at the hotel informed us that the Navajo reservation is alcohol-free, but they had beer in their restaurant. Fortunately, we ran into another person staying at the hotel who informed us that the beer was only the non-alcoholic type. Neither of us was willing to pay $3-$4 for a non-alcoholic beer. Afterwards, we looked around a bit more, and we noticed that we did not see a casino nor a smoke shop on the reservation. This is unique.Tomorrow, we are heading to Four Corners and Mesa Verde, and we will end in Chama, NM…
Staying at the Grand Canyon North Rim from June 22 through June 25Today has been a lazy day with the notable exception that I woke up to a dead battery this morning.Last night I was charging my phone (and again this morning), then went for breakfast. Except my battery was now dead. The headlights turned on dimly, and the neutral, and fuel injection lights came on, but not the navigation screen. When I tried the starter button, nothing. No clicks or anything.If you check my packing list, it has never had jumper cables listed on it. Until now. Before I left I had the idea of how to make good jumper cables that pack easily using the quick disconnect that I plug in my trickle charger to. When I get home, I will be making these cables so watch for the how to.After breakfast, we stretched out in the hammocks and relaxed. The we headed to the General Store where they have free WiFi. Also learned to that they have a power strip where we can plug in our laptops for the recharge while we are here.For dinner we went to the 1 restaurant in the park, the Grand Canyon Lodge. We learned when arrived hat reservations are highly recommended for dinner. However, they did have a table because someone did not make their reservation. The food here was exceptional. I had the meatloaf. It wasn’t just normal, it had this great, slightly spicy sauce that they put across the top of it. In the real world, this would be the equivalent of a 3 star restaurant, except everyone came dressed how they were. Figure the cost of dinner around $25-30 per person plus alcoholic drinks.Tomorrow, we leave for Kayenta, AZ on our return trip home…
Staying at the Grand Canyon North Rim from June 22 through June 25Unlike at the South Rim, we had friendly neighbors. When we talked to them this morning, they pointed out that there is one restaurant the North Rim, Grand Canyon Lodge. There is also a saloon with coffee in the morning, a deli, and the cookout experience. Instead of cooking, we headed to the Grand Canyon Lodge, located overlooking the Grand Canyon. Breakfast is served until 10 am and lunch begins at 11:30. For breakfast we both had the huevo rancheros, and a single pancake because the aroma of the syrup when we walked in was wonderful. I did not know that a pancake could taste so good, and this was one of the better versions of huevo rancheros that I have ever had. The cost is the only rub on the breakfast…I have had dinners for two that costs less, but it was good enough to go back.
After breakfast, stepped out on the deck on the canyon side of the lodge and took a variety of pictures…almost all of which would make both of my Grandmother’s nervous. Then we headed back to camp to minimize the gear that we would take with us to go explore and grab some extra bottles of water. We took off to Point Imperial first. This is the eastern most vista point that you can drive to on the North Rim. Then we worked our way 16 (road) miles west to Cape Royal. In between Point Imperial and Cape Royal, there are many pull-off areas that you can stop and see various points along the canyon (and to learn a bit about each area). Once you get to Cape Royal, you will hike about 1 miles to get to the actual Cape Royal point. Along this trail you have the opportunity to see the canyon a few different points, learn about the vegetation of the area, and see Angels Window. From the Cape Royal parking lot to the point, plan to spend an hour to an hour and half walking and photographing. By time we made it back to camp, we had rode our bikes 48 miles and we were gone 4 1/2 hours.
All over the North Rim, I have been seeing advertising for the Grand Canyon Cookout Experience. I talked with the attendant at the service station who told me that it started at the Lodge with a “train” ride to the cookout at 6:30. Also when we bought the tickets we were told the same thing. We arrived at the Lodge at 6:20 to catch this train, that didn’t show up. We found out why, it picked up at 6 and the we were told where the cookout was.The cookout menu was great, I really enjoyed the brisket. There was live entertainment during dinner, playing kid-friendly songs by Hank Williams Sr, Willie Nelson, etc. Not to mention Happy Birthday to some unsuspecting kids. However, for the $35 per person that it cost, it left me wanting more…much more.
Tonight, you will be glad to hear that we had more luck starting the fire. The wood we did not use last night, we placed in the fire ring close to the coals to help dry out. This worked.Tomorrow we will still be at the North Rim…
293 miles- Henderson, NV to Grand Canyon, North Rim Campground, Site 074[Once again, I realize the map looks crazy, and I will fix it when I get home]
View Larger MapFirst thing we have to today is get through Las Vegas. A little construction traffic on I-15, but other than that, traffic was what you would expect in any good-sized city. I forgot that Dad has never seen Vegas. When we stopped on the north side of town for fuel, he looked like a kid on the first trip to the candy store…and we saw it in the daytime (nighttime is when it is truly spectacular). Stop often leaving Las Vegas, the towns are 30-45 minutes apart. We stopped in an oasis town of Mesquite, NV just before leaving Nevada to cross into Arizona (again).
I have made many trips through mountains, but nothing makes you feel so small as this area. These canyon walls are mostly as man found the (without blasting to clear the way), and you look straight up at these walls but you have to strain you neck to see the top. I don’t know, I have been through the Rockies, and through various river gorges throughout the US, but this one is humbling.
Since we have the America the Beautiful pass that allows us to enter any national park without extra cost, we detoured through Zion National Park. Because we have talked to other travelers on this trip, we knew that some construction and road closure was going on in Zion. Before we left, we looked up the details of this construction online. But in general, Monday through Friday 9 am through 4 pm (Mountain Daylight Time) the canyon road to the east gate is closed. We arrived about 4:30 and as soon as we entered the construction, we found a sign stating no parking next 10 miles. The switchback portion of the road was freshly milled, so watch the groves. Through this section, we were in a flow of traffic that was holding a consistent 15 miles per hour. This is an important detail…read below “How to overheat a Goldwing”.Once we left the construction and the tunnels, we stopped and took as many pictures as possible. The striations in the rock were spectacular. They reminded me of the layers in the Grands flakey layer biscuits. Unfortunately, we could not stop and shoot photos through the road construction. But after this brief sampling of Zion National Park, both Dad and I will be back.As we left the east gate, we stopped at a station for bathroom break. We also found some of the best pizza that either of us had ever had. It is about $5 a large slice of pepperoni pizza…totally worth it. When I come back, I will stop here.
In the construction zone through Zion National park, the temperature was in the low 90′s, we were going uphill for about 5 miles and the followed by a series of tunnels for another 5 or so miles, all while following a slow moving RV travelling at 15 miles per hour. Those of you that have ridden your Goldwing in rush hour traffic at this speed, you know that the bike tends to warm up quickly. The reason behind this is because the cooling fans pull cool air from the side of your bike and push the hot air out the front. The problem is that at 15 mph, the fans are blocking any incoming air flow through the radiators. Honda’s engineers realize this and have the fans cut off around 17 mph. This means for your bike to cool as efficiently at a dead stop, you need to be travelling 30-34 mph. Hold this 15 mph no/little air flow speed for about 45 minutes, and the engine get scary close to the red-line mark. Find a stopping spot immediately and give your engine about 5 minutes of running time to cool back to normal temperature.
The navigation screen on my bike is showing that we are 107 miles from the North Rim gate. It was dead on, but it is another 15-20 minutes before you get to the campgrounds (or anything else). Since we knew that the general store might be closed by time we got there, we stopped in Jacob’s Lake and picked up 2 bundles of firewood at $4.99/ bundle versus the $7/ bundle we found at the South Rim. Very quickly in the weaning beams of daylight, we set up camp and then tried getting the fire to light. The problem is that the firewood we picked up in Jacob’s Lake was not season and was still ‘wet’ from the green growth. After 2 hours of barely a fire, we went to bed.We will be here at the North Rim until Friday morning…
284 miles- Grand Canyon, South Rim, Mather’s Campground to Henderson, NV
View Larger MapAfter being stationary for a day, it took us a while to pack up to hit the road. After three years of motorcycling road trips, we have got very good at packing our gear in and out of hotels. In addition to that gear, we also had our tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, chairs, and other misc camping gear to pack up. Since we have been using the trailer as an active storage locker while we were parked, it required me to remove everything and start from scratch. We had everything packed and loaded by 9:30, then we went to the General Store where there is a deli with some good breakfast burritos (almost worth the $3.99 price tag). We left the Grand Canyon the same way we came in but instead of taking the split towards Flagstaff, we went towards Williams. This was our preplanned route, but in this case we had not choice if we were going south because US 180 was closed to Flagstaff due to a forest fire. For the first time since day 2, we spent a considerable amount of time on the interstate (something we try hard to avoid doing). When we got to Seligman, AZ, we left the interstate and took historic route 66. (In 1985, the US government decommissioned US 66, but historical reasons, Arizona and other states redesignated it Historic Route 66.) The only real stop on this route was as we exited the interstate, they have made the town into a Route 66 museum/spectacle. We did not stop because we had just stopped and mistakenly thought we would find somewhere else. The next place we found was Kingman, AZ…110 miles later (that’s tough in a hot and arid environment).Four more miles on the interstate, take exit 48 for US 93 towards Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam. We stopped about halfway to the Hoover Dam at the only place around. They advertise clean bathrooms in big letters, go because nature was calling. As I walked in, they have several signs claiming that the bathrooms are for paying customers only. This was fine because an Ice cream bar sounded good in this heat. However, when I got the key to the bathroom, the bathroom was not clean, and it smelled like it had not been cleaned in over a week…can you say false advertising?
As we approached the Hoover Dam, we entered construction for the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge. About 2 miles from the dam, we found the security checkpoint that I was expecting from the Hoover Dam website. Since I was pulling a trailer, they wanted a peek inside of it, no problem, it just took a few seconds. A mile later and a mile from the dam, traffic stopped. Its a hundred degrees out and bikers like Dad that ride an air-cooled motorcycle were really cooking in the heat. We stopped at the first observation parking lot, took pictures, got a cold drink and hit the road again. The good news is that the road is all down hill from here. We both just placed the bikes in neutral and controlled our walking speed using only or brakes from here to the dam. We stopped at a few more observation points on both sides of the dam for more photos. This summer (2010) is the last summer for through traffic on the Hoover Dam. Once the bridge opens in November, all through traffic will use it. You will still be able to get to the Hoover Dam for tours (I would like to do the dam tour one day, but today has already been a long and hot day). One more stop on the other side of the dam to check out Lake Mead (the lake at the Hoover Dam), and on the our hotel in Henderson.Don’t think that just because you are not in Las Vegas that there are no casinos, gambling is legal in the entire state of Nevada. Our hotel was next to the Sunset Casino where we went dinner at Hooter’s and did a little gambling. We both got lucky and walked away with a few more dollars than we came in with.Tomorrow, passing through Las Vegas and Zion National Park to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Goldwingr
by Doug Harvey
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