Day 6

Picture 1 is the storm I rode into yesterday in NM. The other pics are all in the Petrified forest.

Well today was a great day. It was partly cloudy this morning and a little cool but in short order it warmed up really nice. I left Gallup, NM at about 9:00 a.m. and got to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park at about 9:00 a.m. There was a time change in AZ so the one hour ride didn't take me any time at all. Once I arrived at the national park, I took off my leather jacket because the temperature had risen into the 80s. At the entrance I purchased a senior annual pass for $10. What a bargain; access to all the national parks for $10. At the information building, I met another couple on a BMW motorcycle. They were from Germany and were touring several of the national parks. A little while later I came across another couple from Germany. Each of them was riding rented Harley-Davidson's. I felt sorry for them because they each had on black leather pants and black shirts and the temperature was now approaching 90.

The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest are very much like the Bad Lands in South Dakota. They are some of the most inhospitable of landscapes but they are breathtakingly beautiful. At the Petrified Forest end of the park the petrified trees are amazing. There is one that has even formed a natural bridge over and ancient dry wash. Some of these trees are huge; probably 6 to 8 feet in diameter. About half way through the park, I had to stop to change into my sleeveless shirt and shorts. It was really getting warm but there was at least a nice breeze. The one guy from Germany on the BMW still had his jacket on so I asked why? He said he had all his valuables in it and was afraid that he might lose it. I think I would by a fanny pack for my valuables.

After leaving the park I got back on I-40 toward Flagstaff, getting off to cruise through each of the small towns along the way on Route 66. These towns are like time capsules that date back to the 50s. It is just amazing.

As I neared Flagstaff, I could see some clouds and thunderstorms getting closer. About 20 miles out the temperature had dropped considerably and I was still in my shorts. As I neared Flagstaff I could feel a few drops of rain. I got a room right away and unpacked the bike. After running to the store for some supplies I headed back to the room. I let the bike cool down for about a half hour and then covered it with the rain cover. Within 30 minutes, the rain started. Now that is the way it is supposed to happen on a bike trip. I guess I must have done something wrong yesterday to get caught in the rain the way I did.

Tomorrow I am heading up to the Grand Canyon which is 93 miles north of here. The Flagstaff weather for tomorrow is predicted to be a high of 71 with scattered thundershowers. Hopefully, they will all scatter to the south.

Several of you have written comments to my blogsite and I want to thank you for that. It is nice to know that people are actually reading it. This is actually a lot of work. One night I was up until 1:30 a.m. working on it. I am not sure why the comments are not showing up on the blogsite itself, but today some of them came to my email. I received comments from Dan Dellar, Connie Wright, and Aaron Bohjanen. Thanks to each of you. I tried to respond to the emails but that didn’t work because it comes in as a blogspot.com email.