Sedona And Phoenix
My plan the following morning was to make my way to Sedona and stay with friends to give me a straight shot to Phoenix the following day to catch the flight.
With an almost cloudless sky, I enjoyed a lovely morning in the high desert rolling down Highway 160 and Highway 89. It isn't the high mountains and grand vistas of the Rockies, but I was warm again and the desert has a beauty all its own.
I made Flagstaff a little after noon and lunched at the Weatherford Hotel. Besides a rich history, it has great food and really prime service. A highly recommended stop if you are ever in the area. Cell service in remote areas being what it is, I missed connecting with my friends, so decided to go to Sedona anyway and find a place to camp.
I took Highway 89 into Sedona, and it is amazing. If it weren't for all the tourist traffic, it would be an excellent set of twisties for a sportbike. It starts at the head of Oak Creek Canyon and drops approximately 2600 feet in elevation over the 30 miles to Sedona. It has rising red bluffs on either side that you can see through the evergreens along the canyon floor.
Highway 89 has several campsites along Oak Creek and after passing three or four that had sold out signs at the front gate, I found one that was open and got one of the last remaining camp sites in the canyon.
A friend of mine recently mentioned that some of his best memories are around a campfire. I have to agree. That evening I prepared a simple Mountain House Beef Stew for dinner, built up a roaring fire in the fire pit, and topped the evening off with a cigar and a single malt scotch.
As I look back on it, that night was probably a turning point for me on the trip. I'd put a lot of effort into trying to contact my friends and make sure our plans came together and somewhere as I set up camp I set aside the disappointment and embraced the moment; totally relaxed and content.
Breaking camp the following morning I met Jim MacDevitt and Pat Shoemaker. Jim is a retired social worker and Pat had just taken second place in a billiards tournament in Las Vegas. With two weeks until the next tournament they were taking advantage of the time to see some of the surrounding country. As they were strapping down the last of their gear to their bikes I asked them which direction they were going and loved their answer: "Well, we're not sure yet."
With a plane to catch I didn't waste any time on Monday. I took Highway 179 down to Interstate 17 and let it roll. It was a beautiful, hot day and I had three objectives; buy a backpack, rent a storage facility for the bike, and catch my plane.
The Marsee bar bag just didn't cut it for airline travel, so I needed a backpack or luggage to haul a few items home for the interview. A quick stop at an Office Depot that I spotted from the highway fixed that.
I located a storage unit close to the airport and lucked out again because the manager was a member of our two-wheeled community. Despite company rules against vehicle storage in their units, she understood the situation and made an exception; allowing me to both store the bike and rent the unit for only four days.
San Fransisco Interlude
A quick cab trip to the airport allowed me to get out of the 115 degree heat and wrap myself around a beer and a burger before my flight home. My girlfriend Annie was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and take me home for a quick shower before going to dinner. It was great to be back in San Francisco. And what made it even greater was knowing that my trip wasn't even close to being over yet!
I allowed myself a day to prep, get a badly needed haircut, and be at my interview at 9:00 Wednesday morning. I left the interview at 6:45 that evening excited about the opportunity and optimistic that an offer would be forthcoming.
Sedona, Petrified
National Forrest, and
The Grand Canyon
By noon Thursday I was touching down in Phoenix again. By then, I had made contact with my Sedona connection (Jeff and Darlene Powell). I briefly met them at their home in Mesa, then followed them right back up Interstate 17 & Highway 179 to their weekend home in Sedona. For the next two days we caught up, relaxed, explored Sedona, and ate like royalty.
Sunday morning I slept in, said my goodbyes over brunch, and started wandering back roads through the desert. I started out down Highway 179 looking for a cutover to Highway 30. Not finding it, I had to cover a short stint on Interstate 17 to catch Highway 30 to Cottonwood. The sun was out, it was hot, and as you would now expect--I took my time.
From Cottonwood I turned southeast down Highway 260 to Camp Verde stopping frequently to enjoy the views and take a few photos. I also stopped at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park to see the largest travertine bridge in the world. It's worth a stop to see if you can secure your gear and hike to the bottom. The tourists were out in force over Memorial Day weekend and without a way to secure my bar bag, I only wandered along the ridge so I could keep the bike in full view. I've since solved that with a PacSafe anti-theft device that I highly recommend: www.pac-safe.com
Camping spots were clearly at a premium, so when I found one available near Christopher Creek, I took it and spent the last couple of daylight hours napping, reading, and generally enjoying having nowhere to be. Petrified Forest National Park was near, so Memorial Day I packed up with the intent to see it and the Painted Desert and then make it as far as I could toward the Grand Canyon.
I chose the back route into the Petrified Forest. The route was Highway 260 to Highway 60, then northwest on Highway 61. A few miles before you get to Concho there's a turn off for Highway 180 that will take you to the back entrance of the park.
Somewhere along the route I crossed the Mollogon Rim. This was beautiful country populated primarily by pine forest below and along the rim and then back to desert as you go northwest on Highway 180.
Beware however when you take this route. There are few gas stations along the way, so top off frequently. By the time I reached the park entrance, my reserve light had been on for over 20 miles--and being afoot in the desert is not particularly a situation I wanted to be in. Luckily the manager of the gift shop there had a few extra gallons of gas in the back for just such occasions. I tipped him well.
The Petrified Forrest was impressive and I spent several hours wandering through the park. What I wasn't expecting was the Painted Desert. For the first time, I seriously considered upgrading my camera. The colors of the sand and rock are really much more brilliant than my little Canon could capture.