simplybrad

Sleep did not come easy. The wind was fierce all night. Not sleeping well, I take short naps until 8:00. Packed and on the road by 8:45, I head out of Zion, in awe of this area. Destination tonight is to see my brother Jason and his family in California.

Back through the tunnel and over to UT89 south to Fredonia where I pick up AZ ALT89. I am taking the long way but I am on a mission. I need to get my moneys-worth out of my National Park Pass. I am going to see the Grand Canyon. Everyone has told me how packed it is and to bypass it. The traffic being a nightmare. I must be golden because traffic has been light through all the parks so far.

This road is turning out to be an awesome fun ride. As I get into Jacob Lake, I pick up AZ67 south to the North Rim entrance to Grand Canyon. Enjoying the great road with only a couple of other cars along the way, I smile because I will be on this same road in a little while.

Getting to the entrance, I flash my NP Pass and continue on to the Grand Canyon Lodge, forty-five miles later. A nice thing about bikes, you can usually find parking close to your destination. It is spectacular and situated with a central reception area overlooking the canyon. I walk through this central area of the lodge and down to the overlook area. The GC is huge. It is so massive that it is hard to get into. It's not intimate like Zion. I walk down to one of the overlook "pulpits" to take some photos.

Walking back through the Lodge I marvel at the ballet of people. Families checking out and park employees moving about. Like busy bees at a hive.

Back on the bike, I retrace my route into the North Rim area. As I go past the entrance, leaving the park, my destination is the South Rim area. A sign reads "209 miles to South Rim View" (209, 213 - not exactly positive on this number). If I had wings it would only be a few miles south across the canyon. I smile knowing that the next seventy-five miles will be fun.

Dropping down into the Vermillion Cliffs area, I decide to open the bike up. Smooth and stable. About 10 miles from Marble Canyon I come upon a State Highway Patrol SUV sitting on the side of the road. I just kind of wave as I go by. He leaves me alone. Thankfully I slowed down a bit before I get there but I am sure he had me from along way out. Half a mile later I find out why he was not to worried about me continuing with my accelerated speed - road construction. I have come to a complete stop. He informs me it will be about twenty minutes before the pilot car is back. Shutting the bike off, I stretch my legs and change jackets. Swapping out the leather for a padded mesh jacket. It is easily 30 degrees warmer than through the national forest I came out of. It is now hot and I am sitting on the bike on hot asphalt. The pilot car finally shows up and we a moving again. Nothing to see for the next 125 or so miles. At Bitter Springs I pick AZ89 south.

After passing countless Indian arts and crafts huts along the way, I catch AZ64 heading west to the Desert View entrance to GC. At Desert View I take another series of photos and see the fire on the rim across the canyon. The haze in the photos is from this fire and the fires in California and Nevada. As I get over to the South Rim area, I finally encounter a lot of cars and people. I decide to skip this area.

I head south on AZ64 to pick up I-40 outside of Williams. It's boring and hot. The interstate is no fun but you can get to your destination a little quicker.

I get to Kingman, AZ, and I need to stretch my legs and get gas for the bike. I need to get off the interstate. From Kingman I take Route 66 over to Oatman and through the ghost town. Cool road. Across the Sacremento Wash area are signs warning against flash floods. The road has no bridges and the pavement goes right across these washout areas. Also, there are street signs along this road but no roads. Occasionally there is a path of sorts were a car or truck has driven but no actual road. Outside of Oatman I leave Route 66 and head over to the city of Mohave Valley.

It is really hot now as I turn south onto AZ95 south to Needles CA. Little did I know but this whole area (Kingman to Mohave Valley) is where the big polygamist battle is taking place.

At Needles, I get back on I-40 for about 30 miles where I get back onto Route 66 to Amboy. Outside of Amboy heading south to Twentynine Palms, the sun has set and it is dark out. The big Marine base where they do desert training before shipping them off to Afghanistan and Iraq is just to the west of this road. Looking over I see the moon. It is low in the sky. As I continue the climb up the Sheep Hole Mountains, I decide that maybe that is not the moon I see. Either I am hallucinating or it is some kind of radar dome for the base. Hard to tell because it looks like it is floating in the air. I decide the later. I am tired but I do not think I am seeing things.

It is 10:00 p.m. when I arrive in Twentynine Palms. I check my phone and get the message form my brother Jason. He is wondering where I am. I call him, telling him where I am and we discuss the best way over. I am about two hours away.

Heading west on CA62, I encounter the worst cross winds ever. At times the bike is almost horizontal to the ground - and in the other lane. This is not any fun. Not until I get towards I-10 does my headlight catch the rotating ends of giant propellers. I am in the middle of a wind farm. Later my brother informs me that is always that windy there and that the area receives 80% of it's electricity from these wind farms.

I get to Murrieta around midnight. I am in the right area but I cannot find his house. I call him for an escort to his house. I am about a minute form his home.

It's great to see my brother. Everyone else is asleep. I am exhausted.