Hey! There's a really big hole in the ground…oh…wait…it's just the Grand Canyon!

This morning we have time to sleep in. We spend today in Williams to take time to go see the Grand Canyon. No rushing around for breakfast and to get the luggage loaded, just a day to relax and see the beauty of Arizona. After a leisurely breakfast we get on the bikes and head up to Grand Canyon National Park. It’s only about 70 Miles from the hotel, and a beautiful ride to the park. Once we arrive and spend our time in line at the park entrance, we make our way to the edge of the canyon. Here we get off our bikes and have a couple of hours to hike the rim trail, take photographs and admire the gigantic hole in the ground.


The Grand Canyon has taken millions of years to form, a result of the meandering course of the mighty, turbulent Colorado river, wind, rain and erosion. It still is forming today, as rainstorms, spring runoff, streams and the Colorado river sculpt it’s continually changing contours. One cannot really appreciate it’s immense scale from just the rim, to really understand how large it really is requires that you actually go into the canyon itself. This is harder than it sounds, the national park service strongly discourages anyone from attempting to go to the bottom and back to the rim in the same day.
They even consider this activity to be dangerous and irresponsible. Even if you are in the best physical shape and avaraged a good pace the round-trip would take at least sixteen hours. Of those who have attempted to do it, only a few have ever accomplished it, most falling victim to dehydration, sunstroke, extreme exhaustion, and in some cases even death. Since we are only at the Grand canyon for a short period of time we take the easiest option to go into the canyon…helicopter rides!


We continue to enjoy our surroundings until it’s time to go to the Grand Canyon airport to take our helicopter ride. Depending on our flight time we either go directly to the airport or to a local pizza place for lunch. Either way we go on the helicopter ride into the canyon (booked well ahead of time, being immensely popular the flights fill up quickly…especially in the busy summer tour months) to get a true apperciation on the size and scope of the canyon.



In all our tours I have never had anyone complain about the flight, and most are at a loss for words to describe it when they are finished. Gary and I have been on the helicopter tours so many times, the last one my silly human (Gary) fell asleep midway through th flight.





After lunch and the flight, everyone finds thier own way to enjoy the canyon, be it going back to the rim, hiking the trails, or just going to the IMAX theatre to see the Grand Canyon experience movie.









Another great way to learn about the canyon, it’s peoples, history and those who explored it (i.e. John Wesley Powell, a one–armed civil war veteran who first boated the Colorado river).







Now everyone splits up and goes thier own way, having a great time.

We all meet back at the hotel that night for dinner and to share our experiences of the canyon with one another over a well deserved drink in the hotel bar. Still in awe of the days events we retire to our rooms for a good night’s rest in preparation for the next day’s riding through the desert.

Standin' on a corner! Arizona Awaits!

Welcome to Arizona!

Today is another day on the old route. We wake up in Gallup and after a nice breakfast in the hotel, we load up the van and head off into the deserts of the southwest. Today is a hot one, as it will be for the remainder of the trip. If you like hot sunny days, this is the portion of the trip for you! We leave New mexico behind us and pass into Arizona, argueably one of most beautiful states in the nation.
Our first stop of the day is at Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert. After an hour and a half we stop at the entrance to the park, get something to drink, use the restroom and enter the park. Here we take at least two hours to ride through the 25 miles of the park with ample time to stop, take photographs and enjoy the natural splendor surrounding us. One of the nost intriguing things are all of the petrified treek scattered throughout the park. Once a teeming forest full of life it was covered by tons of volcanic ash and buried for millions of years. Over this time the minerals replaced the decaying wood fossilizing it for us to uncover and wonder at millions of years later. If you’re lucky and observant enough you also may come across local wildlife, including raptors, lots of lizards, and the desert pronghorn antelope.



















































After a beautiful ride through the park we continue on toward our lunch stop. On the way we stop at a route 66 icon, the teepee hotel. Made of cement they are still used and if you want to spend the $$ they are still being used as a hotel. We stop for some quick photos and then back on the bikes to Winslow.





Here we stop for a quick lunch and then it’s off to downtown to stand on a corner. Doesn’t sound like much until you remember the song Take it easy,(Standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see). Here we stop for some more pictures and then it’s back on the road.



We stop only one more time at Grand Canyon Harley Davidson for a rest break and shopping in Flagstaff, before we get to our hotel in Williams. After retreiving our bags from the van we go clean off the road dust and meet for dinner. We have a nice dinner at one of the local resturaunts and then enjoy an evening at the bar in the hotel. Once again a great way to end the day.