Arizona

Grand Canyon & Sedona, Arizona

         

We've been looking forward to taking this to Arizona for years. Having a new truck and trailer to haul the Harley was a perfect way to go there. The drive from our home to Arizona is not very scenic...in fact it's quite deserted.

But, it's an easy drive, and we stayed the night in Needles to break it up.
 Highly recommend the overnight break. 

GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA

  
1st ride in AZ:
    A visit to the Grand Canyon is a must DO....however, it's not the best route for a motorcycle. As the tourists are not as cautious drivers and are more interested in the scenery and moose than other vehicles....🤣

    Grand Canyon is a majestic site, and it is in a national park. Expect to pay your park fee and the lookouts are all off the road. Then you park and walk to the edge for these views. If you pick up a little 'attitude' it's because this was unexpected. I expected to see a little more views from the bike, but the views are mostly blocked by trees and shrubs. Now I know... lol


We just went to the South Rim. If we go into Utah some time for another vacation, we'll visit North Rim. It was a glorious site and we saw everything we wanted to see and were done by the afternoon.
We heard later from locals that it was an unusually busy day.

Quick dinner at the Yippee-Ei-O steakhouse. It was about a 3* meal, but 

a needed break and the bloody maries were a nice treat after our ride :) 

  Doesn't take us long to be in "Vacation Mode". 

We also took a quick ride through Williams.

 It's an older western town and quite a popular tourist stop.

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Let me take a moment to tell you about our motel Little America..... it blew me away. I chose it for the location, and the large parking lot. But, was so impressed by all the amenities and the customer service that it has a resort-feel to it.

Spacious Rooms

  We ate at the restaurant every morning and a few nights. I loved walking the paths around the lush green grass. It has a pool, spa, workout room, meeting rooms and playground...even it's own convenience store and gas station.

Rained the night we arrived. 

Rustic Lodge Decor all around

Plenty of room in the lot for our truck n' trailer

Beautiful  landscape at the motel

I was tempted to carve our names in the birch trees. 

Motel Lobby

And the best cappuccino...every day!

We're ready to ride!!!!

Next 2 days we went to Sedona....once from the west side and then the east side. Going through the Coconino National Forest and the first section of the Tonto National Forest were unexpected treats.

I couldn't get enough of the Red Rocks of Sedona, AZ.

 Took a recommendation from the wine expert at our motel and visited Page Springs Cellars..... It was very pleasant and the wines were surprisingly good. I say "surprisingly" because we hadn't heard of Arizona wines. But, it makes sense, their weather is similar to ours and the rocky soils of this area make for some full-bodied red wines. And they're reasonably priced. 
We also had a great snack on their patio and took home a few bottles.

Delicious Salmon Pate and fruit tray

Page Springs Cellars

Friends told us about a little winery, Caduceus, run by a band member of Tool. We love these little adventures. And it was in this historical copper mining town, Jerome. Wish we had more time to spend here, but we arrived a little late in the day.

Jerome, AZ

Quick tasting in the Caduceus wine bar.

Where he lined up 4 tasters and
left a sheet with tasting
notes.... not much presentation.
However, the wines were
 good and we enjoyed the area.
Cheers!

Caduceus Tasting Room in Jerome, AZ

Great day of Riding.....but, I wanted to see more....stay tuned. I'm gonna work on that. 😉

Tinderbox Kitchen...so YUMMY

Excellent Italian at Fat Olives

We found a couple great restaurants in Flagstaff ...separate nights, of course. 😃

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We drove through some rain showers on the 2nd day to Sedona. We took Lake Mary road from Flagstaff. This road takes you past Mary Lakes, Mormon Lake & Happy Jack. Really worth it to see the beautiful pine, meadows, and lake views. 

Lake Mary, AZ

Another great ride suggested on Motorcycle Roads Forum.

We took a break in Strawberry to dry off and warm up at the bar

with a Bloody Mary. They were good....she had her own mix recipe. 

Sportman's Chalet in Strawberry, AZ.

Back on the Road to the hwy 260 heading down long

 sweeping turns, mostly meadows into Campe Verde and

 Cottonwood then into Sedona....coming into Sedona from the

 south is even more wonderful. 

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We also spent a little time in downtown Flagstaff....Danny found a music store.

OH, my that's a pretty bike.
 Grand Canyon HD

On our last day in Flagstaff, AZ we spent going to the HD store....stocked up on Tee's for ourselves and others, checked out 
the Roundhouse Bar & Grill before heading back to Needles...then home. 

Infamous Old Richfield gas station on Route 66

Until next time.....it's been fun and you were good to us, Arizona.