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[Ironhorse]

Six Days – 2,400 miles

It was 4am when I pulled out of my driveway and headed east. It had been two years since James and I made a run, and although we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do, nothing was set in stone. We would be grateful for whatever the road would bring us. The first few hours were routine, Barstow, CA., Needles, CA. (where I donned my HD Hydration Vest) and Kingman, AZ. I reached Flagstaff, AZ just in time for traffic and construction. James and I have been in text touch throughout our gas stops. He was coming from Denver and I from LA. I chose to press on to Winslow, AZ and had to slog my way through the stop and go traffic. Sandwiched between 18 Wheelers and SUVs I watched as my bike went into overheat mode. With no place to pull over and cool down, I kept going. When traffic broke I headed straight for Winslow.



I had lunch at a nice BBQ joint and then found myself on a “Corner in Winslow Arizona”



From there I headed to Holbrook, AZ, just west of the New Mexico border. James rolled in a couple of hours later. He was ready to trade in the rain and hail he rode through for the sun and heat I dealt with.

The next day we headed over to the Petrified National Park.



We saw a little bit of everything from the Painted Desert,



The Bad Lands, or as the Spaniards called it “Mal Pais”



Art gallery from the past,



Remnants of Route 66



And a lot of petrified wood.



We made friends with an old retiree named Melvin and kept bumping into him at each overlook and stop. He was travelling with his wife in a small camper and she kept the poor guy was on a short leash. She would wait in the car while he walked over to take pics. Three times he started to tell us about his old KH Sportster but never got a chance to finish. She kept calling him on the hand held radio to nag him about something.

From there we pressed on to Show-Low, a small alpine community nestled in the mountains. We caught a little rain on the way over, but nothing too serious. Show-Low would be our base camp for a couple of days. That night we had dinner at The Maverick in Pine Top while Penny entertained us on guitar. The next day we ventured out to New Mexico to see the Very Large Array (VLA) of radio telescopes made famous in the Jodie Foster film CONTACT.



I was surprised that they just let folks wander around and take pictures of everything.

[Ironhorse]

On the way back to Show-Low we ran into a group of the toughest, hardest bikers I ever met. They were a group of kids in their 20s riding bicycles from Boston, MA to Santa Barbara, CA.  To see them pedaling up hill at 7,000 feet was impressive. That night we again had dinner at The Maverick, but alas, there was no live music. Such is life in a small town. The next day we rode the Coronado Trail. We stopped in Alpine for snacks and water,



And found other interesting things for sale



It seems that folks out in the country have their own way of dealing with pestering kids.



We had lunch at Hanagan Meadow and watched the deer graze across the road while eating our sandwiches.








 

[Ironhorse]

The ride back to Show-Low was cool and moist, but once again we dodged most of the rain. That night we had dinner at The Branding Iron Steakhouse in Show-Low. A rather large restaurant the hostess offered us a choice of seating options. We chose the bar in the back where they had live music. We walked in at 7:30 just as Ken and Lindsey were warming up. A talented duo of performers they were, as Ken could play just about any song, and Lindsey could sing any song. I was captivated by Lindsey. Her face, voice, and they way she moved was mesmerizing. But being a small town they played till 10pm and called it a night. Not too surprising as all totaled there were maybe 7 people tops in there the whole night including the two of us. James kept buying them drinks so they would continue performing.

The next day we headed to Payson for lunch and then off to Sedona. On the way we stopped of at the Natural Bridge.



A spectacular piece of nature, it is where all the elements and time combine to produce travertine rock. Not contented to see it from the top, James and I hiked to the bottom.



The trip up and down was no easy feat in biker boots. And at 7,000 feet it was much more difficult for me having just come from sea level a few days ago.



When we pulled into Sedona I was spent from the hike, the sun, the heat, and the altitude. When we got to the counter we asked the clerk to recommend a good place to get a massage. He suggested the spa at the Sedona Rouge. When we got to our room I called. It was 5:15 and they had two slots available at 5:45, so we booked them, grabbed some clean clothes to bring with us and rode on over. It was 5:30 when we showed up all dirty and sweaty from the road. It's a full spa so we hopped in the shower, shaved and cleaned up. This place had all the amenities, shampoo, lotions, razors, deodorant, after shave, mouthwash, rubber shower slippers and fluffy soft towels. The lockerooms had fine rosewood panels and travertine tiles and floors. Then we sat in the waiting area in fluffy soft cotton bathrobes sipping ice water flavored with lemon and cucumber slices until it was time for our treatment. As we were walking out the door at closing time, Regina behind counter told us to come back the next day so we could take advantage of the rest of the spa. She explained that the massage included ALL the spa had to offer including Jacuzzi, steam room, weight room and the like. And since we arrived late and did not have the opportunity to take advantage of all they had to offer, they invited us back the next day. That night we dined at the Olde Sedona Bar and Grill.

[Ironhorse]

The next day we rode all over Sedona seeing the sights and mountains. It has to be one of the most beautiful spots in the world.









After Sedona we rode over to Jerome. I like Jerome, it's an old mining town that was famous for it's huge copper mine and the numerous brothels providing support to the miners. Of course neither of those fields of employment are active today and most of the town is a tourist attraction filled with art shops and knick knack stores.





The town suffered through several major fires but always bounced back. I guess there was a great need for both copper and brothels. One of the things the town did was install some alarm bells in town. I’m not sure if the bells were to warn the townsfolk of fire, or to warn the prostitutes that the miners were on their way. 

[Ironhorse]

Then we rode to Prescott, that's a nice community. A few folks I used to work with retired there and I can see why. We hung out on "Whisky Row" across from the court house. The street got its name from all the bars and saloons on it. If you ever watched the movie Billy Jack, they filmed a lot of it in Prescott.





We made sure we came back through Jerome on our way back to Sedona. The road from Prescott to Jerome is one of the most scenic and curvy roads.



We stopped off at the Nellie Bly and were disappointed to find that an art shop had replaced the bordello it once was.



On the way back into Sedona we stopped off at the spa again. We shaved, showed, cleaned up, used the Jacuzzi and steam room. It was great. It really made this trip feel rich. The housekeeping staff at the Hampton Inn is probably wondering why the Hell the two of us have not used any of the bath towels in our room.....LOL! Sedona Rouge Spa, I highly recommend it. I'll use it again when I pass back on through.

We closed Sedona down tonight (like THAT was difficult). We started at the Old Sedona Bar and Grill where they had a solo acoustical guitarist playing on the roof top deck. He was the ONLY live entertainment in town. James and I sat under the stars on the upper deck of the restaurant listening to the guitarist. After dinner he sat smoking his cigar and I was nursing a beer and I said to him "This sure beats the Hell out of fighting the crowds and high prices at Sturgis". We both laughed out loud. We hung out on the upper deck till the guitarist stopped playing (local noise ordinance forbids outdoor music past 10pm) and shot the chit with him for half an hour. As usual we were the last two people in the place. Then we went across the street to the Martini Bar where they had Karaoke night. That lasted 2 mins for us and we left for the hotel.

The next morning we discussed our plans over breakfast. Since I had never seen Hoover Dam before we decided on Las Vegas as our final stop. This is a BIG step for both us as neither of us gamble or drink heavily. But we decided to wrap up our trip with a bang and off we rode to sin city. On the way we stopped off at “Radiator Springs”. Actually it was the old town Seligman on Rte 66. Since the popularity of the Disney film Cars, the whole place has taken on the look and film of the animated picture. As usual the place was filled with German tourists.

[Ironhorse]

It was well into the 100s as we came into the dam. Lucky for us it was down hill, so we coasted most of the way with the bikes off. It’s an impressive feat of engineering for which as a California resident I am thankful for. With the new bridge set to open in the near future, I was glad I was able to cross over it.







Las Vegas is the antithesis of Sedona. Loud, brash, bright and intoxicated. We walked around, had dinner, and headed back in.





This morning we launched at 8:00am and I was home by 2pm. All in all it was a great trip. The weather was kind and my spirit feels refreshed.

Mark

[GregKhougaz]

Great pics and story, Mark!  Looked like a great trip.  Thanks for sharing!   

[FUZZNUTS]

Great trip report, excellent narrative. Youze guys out there on the left coast are very lucky to be so close to all that beautiful country. ...............................Fuzz

[miker]

Looked like fun! 

Thanks

[Harley Guy]

Great report and pictures.

THanks for posting.

RIDE ON..............

[Chains]

Great trip, thanks for taking us on a tour.

[erniezap]

Thanks for sharing Mark!  Looks like a great trip!

[JCZ]

Great ride report Mark.  Brought back many memories......looks like you two had a great time.

[sgchick]

Gorgeous pics Mark!! What a great trip!!

[sadunbar]

Great pictures and fun commentary...  Thanks for sharing!