Anyway, after leaving Memphis last Thursday and crossing the Mississippi River, we entered Arkansas. It became real obvious just shortly into Arkansas that the state does not have money towards highway maintenance. It was the WORST roads we have ever been on. Nothing on the east coast has ever been that bad. It was so painful. We noticed that 18 wheeler traffic had declined. Appears they were smarter than we were. The roads did not improve until we headed south off of I40 toward Hot Springs. Spent the night at the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs....over 100 yrs old with piped in hot mineral water. I was real excited to spend some time in a Hot springs bath....within 45 minutes of arriving I was at the "bath house" for a treatment. If you know me, you know I LOVE a steam room (I am a steamaholic). The opportunity to have a bath house treatment in such an old establishment was thrilling. I spent 30 minutes in the hot bath and then was wrapped in hot towels for 20 minutes. I lost so much fluid I could not even go into the steam room. Couldn't believe I was saying no but I knew that feeling of loosing too much fluid. Jumped on the scale when I left and I was 9 lbs lighter than the week before. Pretty sure most of it was from fluid loss...a few pounds could be from not eating as much....hard to munch while on the motorcycle.
Walked around Hot Springs that evening. Not real impressed with the historic part of the town. Streets were dirty and littered and the shops also closed at 5:00. Thought this was a tourist town. We thought it would be like Gatlinburg, which stays open later. Did have a nice Italian meal at a small restaurant. On one side of the main street of town are the public bath houses (around 13 of them). Only 3 are open today. They are beautiful. Apparently now owned by the state (? park services) and preserved as historic buildings.
After eating and returning to the hotel we sat poolside and chatted with an interesting guy. Bill and Jason had some great conversations about the economy and politics. Thank goodness they did not get into religion!!
Left Hot Springs Friday morning, 7/16, and drove 70 miles through some awesome long windy mountain roads to get back on I40. It was a gorgeous ride. Once on I40 we headed toward Oklahoma. Arkansas really needs to spend money on their roadways. Glad to see the roads improved once we hit Oklahoma. Can't say the same for the temperature. It got HOT. By the time we hit Oklahoma City it was 104. I thought I had been drinking enough fluid but it became apparent I had lost too much at Hot Springs. We stopped for gas in OK City and I almost passed out from dehydration. We checked into a hotel, cooled off, and drank mass quantities of water. After recovering, we ate dinner at the Santa Fe Steakhouse by Tinker AFB.
Decided we would leave OK City at 5:00 am on Saturday to beat the heat. I think it was in the 80's when we left. We headed west and stopped early afternoon in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Drove by the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa. It is a sink hole that developed and people come from all over to snorkel in it. Very strange to pull in the parking lot and see people at the backs of their vehicles putting on wet suits to snorkel in the middle of the desert. Water temp in the Blue Hole is 62 degrees. We ate dinner at a Rt 66 southwestern diner. It was the BEST southwestern/mexican food I have ever tasted. True authentic home cooked meal. I will forever compare any mexican cuisine with that place. Also gave into temptation and had my first liquor since the party at Angela and Mike's. The BEST margarita's I have ever tasted....and 2 of them kicked my butt. And as usual, we had no internet available.
Left Santa Rosa, NM, Sunday morning. Didn't rush to leave as early. Pleasantly surprised the temp was in the low 70's. I had chills on the bike. We drove west on I40 until Gallup, NM, where we headed off the interstate on hwy 261. OMG, it was an amazing drive. About 150 miles of beautiful New Mexico and Arizona desert.....all through Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations. There was almost no traffic on the highway. We outran thunderstorms and chased some thunderstorms. Saw deer grazing with cows and was surprised to see very small fields of corn planted in the sand. Stopped for the night in the best hotel so far...the Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites in Tuba City, Arizona. Amazing southwestern architecture. Appears the Hopi's have more wealth than the Navajo's.
Left Monday morning and headed for Jacob Lake Inn....40 miles from the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Took our time getting there and drove as much of the Grand Circle that we could. Went to Lake Powell, rode through the Grand Staircase Escalante, and went through Zion National Forest. Zion was by far the most beautiful ride so far. I could not stop saying OMG after every turn. When you come through the tunnel in the mountain it is hard to catch your breath...it is that amazing. Can't wait to post the pics from my camera. Got to Jacob Lake Inn that evening and it was not special, AND there is no lake. Might have enjoyed it more but the staff were not "user friendly". But as everybody that we talked to said....they make great cookies (and not a bad breakfast casserole).
Since we were only 40 miles from the North Rim, we did not rush to leave Jacob Lake tuesday morning. We left around 10 am and rode 70 miles to Glen Canyon. Again, amazing ride up and down the mountains and across the plateaus. Saw the Colorado River for the first time. It was breathtaking. I want to come back and do a Colorado River excursion.
We got to the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim around 3:30 that afternoon. To see the Grand Canyon was as awesome as I had hoped. We made reservations for the Lodge only 4 days before arriving, so we knew we would be in a different room every night (planned on a 3 night stay). Changing rooms was not an issue...have done that every night of our trip! I was surprised though at the accomodations. Stayed the first night in the "hotel" section. We had been very used to parking the bike right by our room at every hotel we had stayed at. Surprisingly, the Lodge does not have dedicated "guest" parking, so you are parking with all of the tourists that have come just for the day. Needless to say we were NOT close the our room and I am not used to exerting myself at 10K feet. I almost crapped myself when I walked into our room and saw NO air conditioner and NO TV. Bill can't stand me to tell potty stories...but....when I sat on the toilet my elbows touched both walls. We did have an awesome time at the Cookout Experience. Expected it to be bland food but was pleasantly surprised by great flavors and spices. We had beef brisket, grilled chicken with a mango chutney, a corn medly to die for, baked potato, mac/cheese, and too much more to mention. Also had excellent entertainment by a married couple (name & info to follow later). After a great meal I had the worst night sleep ever. Windows and curtains open so you could get some air was very uncomfortable for me. I only got a few hours sleep that night.
Oklahoma....not the prettiest of states to drive through. It was amazing how much the landscape changed. Appears that raising livestock is the source of income for the farmers. Not a lot of green around. Fields of grain only with the occasional farm growing corn IF they had a source for watering. We are so accustomed to seeing the huge corporate farms around Lake Seminole and they all have the watering sprinkler/canon systems. No water, no crops.
Totally fascinated with the wind turbines in the southwest. We actually got to see 2 of the props being transported down the highway. They are huge and SO long. It took us a minute to figure out what the hell that was coming down the highway. Of course I did not have my Iphone handy to snap a pic.
Loved this pic of our shadow when we were in New Mexico.
You can not appreciate the beauty of the sky in this picture. We have seem some great cloud formations on this trip.
We had started the day off in New Mexico (pic on the bike) and I loved this view at the end of the day in Arizona. Sweet, sweet, Arizona.
Tragedy on the road. Just glad it was only a bird and not a deer. Neither of us even saw when the bird hit the bike.
Arizona's beauty
Lake Powell. This was a shock. What a great oasis in such a desolate place.
Zion National Park. This was the most spectacular ride on the trip so far. Although Bill did not get to enjoy it as much as I did.... he was negotiating the tight turns while I was taking in the amazing scenery.
Zion National Park
The Colorado River from the Navajo Bridge in Glen Canyon
The Grand Canyon....and yes it was Grand.
Another view of the Grand Canyon
This is not a chipmunk (does not have the stripes on his face). This was a small squirrel at the Grand Canyon Lodge. It was begging me to feed him.....I resisted....our guide on the morning walk talked about people feeding these and then getting bit. The squirrels apparently don't let go after they bite. I miss feeding all of my critters at the Lake.
Vegas. Staying at the MGM Grand. Nice change of pace after the Grand Canyon where they did not have air conditioning or TV's.
Leaving Memphis we crossed the Mississippi River.
Left Gatlinburg, TN, Wed morning, 7/14, and drove to Memphis, TN. Since we were heading out west via I40, I wanted to see Graceland. We stayed Wed nite just outside of Memphis. I was hoping to wash clothes but the washer/dryer at the hotel we stayed at was located outside...and the inside of the washer was nasty. After riding on the motorcycle all day I did not want to wash clothes outside. We ate at a Texas Roadhouse wed nite, which was the first time for us to eat at one without grandkids present. Seemed kind of strange and lonely. Didn't get my usual excitement when they did their dancing.
We went to Graceland Thurs morning. As we did not want to hang around all day we only did the short tour. I felt like I was going through some of the houses we have looked at in Florida. Vintage 70's requiring major update. Looks so tacky now....but I am sure It was the greatest and bestest when Elvis was alive. Neat to see the place and we very much enjoyed the tour. I was dissapointed in the neighborhood and area that Graceland was located. It seemed very rundown and the streets were in really poor condition. You will notice that the conditions of the roadways is something that I focus on during this trip. Since I am the passenger on this trip I find myself not focusing on the roadway conditions.....this can lead to what I feel are compression fx of my vertebra when I am not prepared for and upcoming hole/bump.
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