Day 8, Flagstaff

What a fantastic day, cool leaving Payson, just perfect with the leather jacket.  Northward through the cute little town of Pine, and millions of Pine trees that I was missing on arrival yesterday.  We swung West, bent on Sedona.  Hitting the freeway from Phoenix to Flag, here’s Montezuma’s Castle National Monument.  It wasn’t on my list, so we hit a bonus.  A tour of the museum and the quarter mile walk past the structure was SO worth the time.  A reintroduction to the native Americans as we journey deeper into their country.   They were Navajo, but the early explorers thought everyone out west were Aztecs, so they named this place inappropriately.  The Zuni, Hopi and many tribes visited the area,  .  Astounding structure and even more amazing some of the technical aspects.

The drive across from Pine was done on a 65 speed limit county road where we never topped 50, sometimes 40.  What a fantastic piece of country, especially on a motorcycle.  The smell of pine in the air, the clear air and uncluttered countryside.  And old billboard sign, still in great shape, Smokey the Bear, reminded me of my own childhood, growing up for many summers as a Ranger's kid on Isle Royale National Park.  Sweeping down off the mesa from the tall pines brought up Prickly Pear and many desert plants again, consistent with the elevation.  Little villages like Camp Verde, clinging to existence in this vast and sometimes harsh, but always beautiful land.

Heading on North off the freeway brings one to the Red Rock Country.  We must have stopped at every viewpoint, the totally overwhelming panorama of nature’s carvings in sandstone, spread for miles across the landscape.  The panorama's are enormous.  A camera can't begin to do this country justice.  You have to see it on the back of a motorcycle

Approaching civilization brought us to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  A stunning architecture with a commanding view of the valley from up on the hillside.  On the way up, you could not help notice this Spanish architecture building, opulent in every way behind secure walls that did afford a view.  A local lady at the chapel said that belonged to the doctor who invented lasik surgery.  Hmmm, does he get royalties on all those procedures?  The view from the church, considering the location in Sedona, had to place that in a $10 million range.

The scenery around Sedona is stunning, spectacular, and breathtaking.  The fact that it all obviously belongs to wealthy people gave us no pause to linger.  Heading out of town North, the speed drops for the winding, twisting roads and the steep ascent up Oak Creek Canyon.  Switchbacks at 15 mph, scraping foot pegs on the steep turns!  What a great ride.

The smells you experience on a motorcycle are so much in tune with the landscape.  From the smell of rain when it first hits the desert floor, to the plants in the different regions, the pine trees, the fragrant smell of the Creosote bush.  A whole adventure in itself.

Driving through Flagstaff, looking for the hotel, on Route 66.  Big sign, “I-10, Rt 66, Los Angeles”.  WHAT – I just left there, or so it seems.

Tonight, 2218 miles so far.  Tomorrow, the Grand Canyon. On the way out we’ll travel Route 66, Some of the original route, right in front of our Super8 tonight, and some of the new.