LAKE POWELL LOOP - MAY 2000
(INCLUDES Page, AZ.; Pipe Springs National Monument, AZ.; North Rim
Grand Canyon; Lake Powell; Rainbow Bridge National Monument; Antelope Canyon,
AZ.; Cameron (AZ.)Trading Post.)
SUNDAY MAY 7 to SATURDAY MAY
13, 2000
7 DAYS / 2,034 MILES $ 85.86 GAS / 45.382
GALLONS GAS / AVERAGE MILEAGE 44.82 MPG
On my 1998 Ultra Classic with Dana on her 1998 Dyna Low Rider.
DAY 1 SUNDAY MAY 7, 2000 422 (Miles Today) 422 (Total Miles) Motel 6 Barstow, CA. $ 41.79 DINNER: Del Taco Barstow, CA. East Appian Way/Valley View/Dam Rd. to Orinda; east SR 24 to Walnut Creek; south I-680 to Dublin; east I-580 to Tracy; south I-5 to Buttonwillow; east SR 58 to Barstow. Last September while on the way home from the Albuquerque H.O.G.
Rally we had a chance to stay in Page, Arizona. But "stay" was all we got
to do. We rode in during a thunderstorm, had just enough of a break to
get to dinner without getting hit by lightning then rode back to the room
in a downpour. It rained hard all night long, so all we got to see of Page
was the inside of room 133 at the Motel 6. The next morning the rain had
settled into a fine mist and the man on The Weather Channel promised another
storm to unfold in a couple of hours so we packed up and hauled ass, promising
to return to see more of this place as soon as we could. Dana's week off
started yesterday and we decided we could return to Page at this time and
see what we had missed. It had been clear, warm and dry for the two weeks
prior, but at 8:00 today we woke up to a steady downpour at home and therefore
dragged a little, spending a lot of time before leaving. We finally got
out and hit the road at 11:00 a.m. all bundled up in raingear with suitable
rain protection for our exposed luggage as well. My goggles had fogged
up miserably before we got out of our neighborhood so I chucked them in
favor of regular sunglasses which worked fine. Traffic seemed a little
heavy for this kind of weather but by the time we hit the freeway, about
25 minutes out, we settled into a slow-lane rhythm, trying to stay safe
and avoid the hot-rodders in the faster lanes. It was another hour before
we pulled onto I-5 where traffic thinned and we were able to relax a little.
The rain continued but finally slacked off at Coalinga, 185 miles down
the pike. Here we made our first fuel stop and got rid of the rain suits
for the rest of the trip. It had warmed a little and I was able to ride
in a sweatshirt, leaving my jacket packed in the saddlebag where it would
stay for the remainder of the trip. We were another 70 miles down I-5 before
we saw a small patch of blue sky. We were hungry in Buttonwillow but agreed
to wait for Barstow so we could get something other than fast food. It
had warmed to 75° in Bakersfield where we pulled off so I could call
ahead for a motel in Barstow. While Dana bought some sodas I talked to
a guy on a Honda who was in the Army nearby and on leave. Once away from
Bakersfield the traffic thinned well. It chilled a bit over the Tehachapi
Mountains and was still mostly cloudy and very windy but as we rolled off
the hill on the eastern side into Mojave we could see blue skies as far
east as we could see. It was warm and the wind was no longer an annoyance
since it had now become a tailwind. We busted into Barstow and headed for
the motel, getting in well before dusk. The guy at the desk said that DiNaploli's
(the only restaurant in Barstow I have ever really liked despite many searches)
was closed on Sundays. Curses. Who'd think such a fine family place would
close on Sunday? Ah, well. After unloading and cleaning up a little we
were off to Del Taco, where we loaded up on fast food Mexican style. I
dropped Dana off at the motel afterward then rode up to a liquor store
near I-40 for a Lotto ticket then stopped off at Von's on the way back
in and picked up a few snacks for later and for the road tomorrow. I was
back at the room for only a minute when Dana realized that she should not
have eaten the guacamole on her taco salad so I walked back over to Von's
for some Tums to help her out. She usually avoids guac because it always
has a bad reaction in store for her. Sometimes she has a small bite but
tonight she daringly ate a large scoop. We read and watched part of Jason
And The Argonauts on TV and Dana wasn't sure she could sleep with her tummy
ache but maybe, just maybe, she could…… uh…… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
DAY 2 MONDAY MAY 8, 2000 296 718 Super 8 Motel St. George, UT. $ 52.54 LUNCH:
Las Vegas Harley's Grill Las Vegas, NV.
East I-15 to St. George, UT. We were up at 8:30 but were lazy and moving kinda slow. I walked
to the office to get Dana some coffee while she showered and was glad to
find that her stomach ache was all gone. I don't think she lost any sleep
because of that. We pulled out at a late and easy 10:55, just like yesterday
except we had no rain to blame for our late departure. It was breezy but
warm. The freeway traffic was medium-heavy and moving fast. There were
quite a few cops working radar both on the California side and in Nevada.
We stopped in Baker for fuel and I picked up a soda for the road as well.
When leaving the station a lady in a small red car got between Dana and
I and Dana later told me that as this gal took her first turn, her cell
phone, which had been left on top of her car, didn't make the turn quite
as well and flew off, breaking into a few pieces when it hit the ground.
Bummer. We had spoken about stopping to see the new Harley-Davidson store
in Las Vegas but I was unsure of its location so we stopped at the first
exit where I phoned ahead for directions. The girl there had me traveling
The Strip for a few miles but there was construction and heavy backups
at my location so I led us down Tropicana and made it in no time at all.
The new store is very nice and huge, too. Dana bought me a new H-D shirt
and I picked up a magazine I needed. There is a small burger café
inside so I sat and had a burger while Dana skipped lunch in favor of some
kind of strawberry cream soda. It was 90° in Las Vegas and we had a
good little visit. With no other stops in town we took off on the freeway
and were soon in very light traffic out in the country. We took a short
break in Glendale then took off for the last leg of today's ride. We were
lost for a few minutes in St. George but got to the room, unpacked and
relaxed for a few minutes. There were a lot of choices for dinner spots
but when I saw the Chuck-A-Rama buffet ad in the Yellow Pages, that cinched
the deal and we were soon headed for a too-big meal. The Chuck-A-Rama Buffets
are a favorite of ours and there are only a few of them, all located in
the central part of Utah in larger towns. I had a little bit of everything,
which translates into a lot of food. It was wonderful as usual and after
dinner we cruised around the east end of town, looking at everything in
general. I spied a supermarket so we stopped and picked up some sodas for
later. While in the lot we met Vern, a local used-to-be-Harley-rider who
is currently looking for a new scooter, and his wife Ann. We spoke to them
for a few minutes then bought our stuff and cruised back to the main part
of town where we done a little more sight-seeing before returning to the
motel. This is a very nice, very clean town and it was pretty quiet after
we got back into the room at 9:15. I had not put my sweatshirt on all day
and it was still warm at the end of our day. We watched TV and relaxed
and were typically lazy tonight.
DAY 3 TUESDAY MAY 9, 2000 334 1,052 Super 8 Motel Page, AZ. $ 49.55 LUNCH:
Pizza In The Pines Café
North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ.
East I-15 and east 9 to Hurricane; east Utah 59/Arizona 389 to Fredonia, AZ.; south "alt US 89" (US 89A) to Jacob Lake; south 67 to north rim with side trips to Cape Royal and Point Imperial; back north 67 to Jacob Lake; east US 89A to Bitter Springs; north US 89 to Page, AZ. Another fun day to be had. We were up at 8:30 but still didn't feel
that we had to rush, so we moved slowly and left the motel at 10:30. No
early days yet but no need for it I guess. It was warm and still and there
was little traffic. We only had to do a few miles on the Interstate before
we dropped off onto a two-laner where we would spend the rest of the day.
We pretty much had the roads to ourselves except when we were passing through
the small towns along the way. As we had passed up Pipe Springs National
Monument last year we stopped for a brief visit at the visitor center there.
As we were parking in the lot the Indian guy from the café came
out and warned us of the soft asphalt in the parking lot that has sucked
up several kickstands recently, allowing the bikes to fall over. We thanked
him and parked in the dirt. After the real short visit we continued to
Fredonia where we fuelled up and began climbing gradually into the mountains.
At Jacob Lake it was getting chilly so I put on my sweatshirt and noticed
the sign on the trading post indicated we were at 9,000'. No wonder it's
cool. The next road is the approach to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Although we had been at the south areas of the Canyon a few times this
was our first visit to the north side. There were huge meadows along the
way and patches of snow in the shady areas near the roadside. Deer in herds
of thirty and groups of just a few were in the meadows every few miles.
Just near the Lodge area I smelled then saw smoke and some signs indicating
there was a "maintenance burn" in progress and no reason to worry about
the smoke. We visited the North Rim visitor area for a peek at the Canyon
and tourist services. The Grand Canyon Lodge was closed so we ate at the
small café which served pizza, salads and sandwiches. We stopped
in the gift shop for postcards and other items. I got a bead necklace for
Dana and found some cactus seeds to take back home to cactus-freak Kenny
K. There are two main viewing areas at this location, Cape Royal, 21 miles
out at the end of a side road and Point Imperial, three miles out on another
side road. We had come this far and I wasn't going to miss these so we
took a two-hour side trip and saw some of the best Grand Canyon scenery
in the park. At Point Imperial we ran into a couple that we would run into
many more times today at different lookouts, and also ran into a guy from
Dallas who used to live in our home county who had a lot to talk about.
The maintenance burn was still on as we fled the park and a helicopter
circled above. Back at Jacob Lake we fuelled up and I had to get my sweatshirt
back on. We headed off once more and began an immediate drop off the mountains.
At 7'000' it had warmed considerably and by the time we hit the ultra-small
community of Cliff Dwellers I had to stop and get back down to just a tee-shirt.
A few moments later we were at the Navajo Bridge, an historic structure
that crosses over the narrow end of the Grand Canyon. We walked over the
old span and took pictures and again ran into the couple from the North
Rim areas. The sun was getting low here so we took off and headed for our
last stop. We climbed yet another set of mountains a half hour later and
rolled into Page just before dark. We had to ask directions to the motel
and were soon unpacked and set up in the room. We didn't waste any time
getting washed up and enroute to dinner. Dana decided on a fine restaurant
out at the Marriott and what a great choice it was. We ate way too much
and the food was superb. There was a large group of riders at another table
and as we left we pulled around by their bikes by the rooms and found that
it was an Edelweiss moto-tour group, complete with chase truck. Looked
like they were having fun. We cruised town, stopping in at a couple of
stores for sodas and snacks and made it back to the room at 10:30. Dana
filled out a bunch of postcards while half-watching the TV. It was a very
fun day with a few new roads and places to see. We're thinking about taking
a boat ride tomorrow.
DAY 4 WEDNESDAY MAY 10, 2000 20 1,072 Super 8 Motel Page, AZ. $ 49.55 DINNER: Dos Amigos Page, AZ. Short ride north out US 89 to Wahweap Marina; 100-mile boat ride east on Lake Powell and back; back to town. We woke up early this morning and I phoned the marina nearby and
asked about boat tours. The times seemed right and if we hurried we could
make the 10:00 a.m. tour and not have to wait for noon. We got into high
gear and made it to the Wahweap Resort, about ten minutes out, a few minutes
before the boat boarded. We had barely enough time to grab some snacks
from the lodge's gift shop before getting on the boat. The boat, the Canyon
Explorer, is a double-decker passenger boat that holds about 100 people.
We opted for the downstairs indoor seats where we could relax and stretch
out. The boat served free lemonade and water and was comfortable and smooth,
despite the large waves and chop whipped up by today's unusual high winds.
The boat took about two hours to get us 50 miles eastward where we docked
and took a walking tour of the Rainbow Bridge National Monument. This is
accessible mostly by boat (although hikers can get in by walking
18 miles from the end of a four-wheel-drive trail - not me baby...)
and is claimed by the Lake Powell folks to be one of the Seven Natural
Wonders Of The World. Pretty interesting scenery both from the boat along
the way and at the Monument. Our boat captain gave sporadic commentary
and had a fun way of pointing out the special sights. We walked around
and took pictures for about 40 minutes then the boat took us back, making
one stop at the "Dangling Rope Marina" (a marina accessible only by boat
and sustained totally by its own solar power plant) to pick up some workers
returning to the Wahweap Marina. The uncommon high winds chopped up the
water pretty good and made for an interesting ride in the downstairs seats
as the water would spray into the windows when the boat had a sidewind.
It was clear and warm all day. Dana and I went topside and sat on the deck
in the sun for the last 19 miles back to the marina. It was a very nice
ride and the highlight of the trip. The Gurl always has such good and fun
ideas. We docked at the marina at 3:15 and checked out the lodge before
returning to my bike for the ride back to town. The wind was increasing
still, making for interesting riding on the short trip back in. The high-beam
of my halogen headlamp bulb had burned out sometime after our arrival in
Page yesterday and as we cruised back to the motel I found a Honda shop
and checked for a bulb but all they had was the dim stock type. Dana saw
a Harley store a block away so we stopped but it was actually just a small
outlet for tee-shirts and souvenirs and other small items. They had no
bulbs at all. Next door was a small gun shop so I went in to look around.
It seems that the recent prohibition of sales of hi-capacity ammo magazines
that affects me in California has not yet reached other states. This small
shop had a couple of items I have been looking for but are not available
at home. And they were priced below wholesale, too. Hmmmm…. Wonder if it
is unlawful or otherwise politically incorrect to take these home with
me? Hmmmm…. Anyway, it was a good stop. We went by the post office to mail
Dana's post cards then cruised the one big loop through town (just to find
out it is mainly residential) then cruised back to the room just before
5:00 p.m. We cleaned up and walked up a couple of blocks for a fine Mexican
dinner at a fine Mexican restaurant. Not too shabby at all, this place:
don't miss it if you're ever in Page. We stopped at the Safeway on the
way back in for some snacks then once at the room immediately packed up
our dirty laundry and walked over to the Super Wash for a while and done
our wash. On the walk back to the motel we stopped at the mini-mart and
picked up a few post cards and drinks. We were back at the room by 9:00.
We hadn't planned much past today but we had originally reserved the room
for three nights. Tonight we figured that if we could do an early tour
of Antelope Canyon in the morning we'd be about done with Page and could
leave a day early. I walked over to the office and made the reservation
for the Antelope tour and found that the tour guy could pick us up at 10:30
a.m. at the motel. I smelled wood smoke while walking around the lot and
another guest told me that the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was burning
and that the park's guests and workers had to be evacuated. Dana and I
verified this by watching the news and also learned that another "controlled
burn" had set the whole town of Los Alamos, New Mexico on fire and caused
the whole town to be cleared out. Damn. The Weather Channel showed rain
for California on Sunday so this makes us want to leave tomorrow that much
more so we can get in dry a day early. I wrote out a few post cards while
Dana read and we just stayed in and relaxed.
DAY 5 THURSDAY MAY 11, 2000 292 1,364 Super 8 Motel Kingman, AZ. $ 35.02 LUNCH:
Cameron Trading Post Restaurant
Cameron, AZ.
South US 89 to Flagstaff; west I-40 to Kingman. We were up at 8:30 and had snacks and coffee while slowly getting
ready to depart for the tour. The folks at the motel allowed us to leave
our bags in the room despite the fact that we would not be back until after
checkout time. The tour guide Jesse, a Slim-Pickens-Andy-Devine kinda guy,
showed up right on time in an air-conditioned Suburban and took us and
three other couples out to Antelope Canyon, about 7 miles out of town.
After crossing a long, dry, sandy wash we arrived. This is a "slot canyon"
which is designated as such because it is narrow at the top and wide at
the bottom, opposite of other canyons, giving it a cave-with-a-crack-in-top
appearance and feel. The colorful sandstone walls combined with the sun
shining down through the top cracks and holes made for a pretty nice walk-through.
The guide was informative and humorous and we all walked around and ooooh-ed
and aaahhh-ed for a while then were taken back to the motel. Once there,
we changed into our riding clothes and hit the road at 12:40. See ya next
time, Page. It was a nice little place with much to see and do. We had
to go over some mountains and it was cool over 5,000' but I was in a short-sleeve
tee shirt and done okay. The wind was hellacious and came from our right
side for the first hundred miles or so. This was only Dana's second time
in harsh winds and I watched her a lot and she done very well. Thankfully
there was little sand but once in a while it would kick up, too. The village
of Cameron popped up as a surprise to me. I had not heard of it but it
was time for a break and for food so I pulled in and was glad I did. This
is the largest remaining operating Indian trading post and had a great,
old restaurant with filigreed rolled-silver ceilings and great food. My
Navajo taco could have fed two and Dana's green chile stew was hot enough
for four. Four bikers arrived at the table next to us and we found they
all lived within an hour of us back home. They were headed to Page. Afterwards
we perused the gift shop where I found some fire-hot nut snacks for Kenny
K and Dana picked up some stuff for her co-workers back home. We took a
brief look at the gardens in this oasis then saddled up and took off for
another hour of extra-windy travel. I put my sweatshirt on here as I knew
we had to climb to Flagstaff. It was way cold on top of the hill and we
made a brief fuel stop before hitting the freeway. On I-40 the wind became
a less bothersome head wind so we were able to relax a bit. The speed limit
here is 75 and we took full advantage of this to get off the hill. Of course
a later check found that traveling at those speeds with a head wind took
me down to 36 mpg. It took us a while to get off the hill and I was surprised
to find that it never warmed up as we got lower in elevation. We rolled
into Kingman right at 7:00 p.m. as it was turning dusk. After unpacking
and cleaning up I replaced my headlamp bulb in the parking lot with a spare
I carry. Neither of us was very hungry because of the huge lunch in Cameron
but we needed something hot, so we took my bike across town to a café
where I got split pea soup and Dana got a salad. It was cold after dark
on the way back in and we stopped at Basha's supermarket across from the
motel for supplies. We were back at the room by 9:30 and just hung out
watching the weather and movies. Still looks like rain for Sunday so we
were glad we headed home a day early. As a plus, Dana saw that there is
a Cracker Barrel restaurant (another of our favorites) here in town and
said we ought to have breakfast there tomorrow morning. No arguments here.
DAY 6 FRIDAY MAY 12, 2000 359 1,723 Motel 6 Bakersfield, CA. (White Lane) $ 44.79 LUNCH:
Dairy Queen
Ludlow, CA.
West I-40 to Barstow; west SR 58 to Bakersfield, CA. We got up around 9:00, a bit later than usual. We were in no hurry
today as we had only to get half way home, maybe Bakersfield or so. I grabbed
some coffee for Dana in the lobby and they had some sweet rolls as well,
so I got to have my breakfast. I was glad of that because Dana had changed
her mind about having a Cracker Barrel breakfast this morning. Such is
life. To top off a strange morning there was no ice in the motel's machine
so I took off with sodas getting warmer by the second. It was still windy
here but not too cold. I knew we'd be climbing soon so I put on my sweatshirt.
We fled town a little before 11:00 and ran nonstop to Needles where I stopped
at Basha's for some ice for the cooler. I also picked up some good hot
sauces and salsa for the hombres I work with at home. We fueled up across
the street and hit the freeway once more. I had mentioned to Dana that
I'd be hungry by the time we got to Fenner, the site of a newer small outpost
which is the only thing between Needles and Ludlow. We cruised the mountains
in light traffic and as expected it was cooler at the summits. Coming off
the other side of the hills I could see a lot of snow on the distant San
Bernardino mountains. We pulled off at Fenner and got parked before Dana
realized there was only a snack bar and no café. This was not sufficient
at this time so we plodded on and stopped in Ludlow at the new Dairy Queen
where we filled up on burgers, fries and sodas. It had warmed a lot but
the wind was still with us. In the parking lot we ran into a couple from
Merced who had seen us a few days earlier in Utah and they said hi. We
cruised on into Barstow, fuelled up and took the old road through town
and into Lenwood before we hooked up with Highway 58. The wind had died
out pretty much and it was smooth sailing from Barstow on. Fifteen minutes
out of Barstow we saw a stranded biker, Mo from Las Vegas, who had a failing
motor in his '97 FLH which had been newly built a month earlier by Las
Vegas H-D. He had ran out of engine oil and didn't have the tool to remove
the derby cover. We used my Torx and took out the top screw and sure 'nuff,
his chaincase was waaaaay over-full of oil, an indication that his
motor oil had leaked into the chaincase past a bad seal. He had a cell
phone and got hold of his brother in Tehachapi who would come pick him
and the bike up. He had enough drinks and snacks to make the wait. Before
we jammed he told me that the re-work had been guaranteed for 30 days and
that today was the 31st day! Good luck, Mo. I had dumped my sweatshirt
after lunch but after passing through Mojave and knowing we had to climb
a little, I stopped at Cameron Road for a quick break and to bundle up.
It was indeed cooler in the Tehachapi Mountains but we soon dropped down
the other side where it was again warm. The typical wind in Mojave and
Tehachapi was not even there today so we were sailing well and comfy. Once
in Bakersfield we went straight to the motel and checked in and unpacked.
We relaxed for a while and since we don't have any favorite eateries in
town I checked out the Yellow Pages and narrowed the possibilities down
to a Basque place, a Chinese place or a barbecue joint. The Basque place
was closest and looked decent and popular as we cruised past so we stopped
there and had a great (and again, too-much) dinner. There isn't too much
that I know to do in Bakersfield so we stopped in at a supermarket for
some sodas and stuff and headed back to the motel. It had cooled considerably
but was still and clear. We just hung out and relaxed tonight. It was pretty
quiet for a big town on a Friday.
DAY 7 SATURDAY MAY 13, 2000 311 2,034 LUNCH: Carl's Jr. Merced, CA. North SR 99 and west SR 58 to mid-town; north SR 43 to Selma; north SR 99 to Modesto; west SR 132 to Vernalis; north SR 33 to Tracy; through Tracy then north Byron Highway to Brentwood; west Highway 4 to Hercules; west I-80 to home. There was not much to today's trip, just heading home. We got up
sort of late but were out before 11:00 anyway. It was warm and still. We
fuelled up at the gas mart next door. Dana tried to buy her Lotto ticket
here but the lady at the register couldn't get the machine to work well.
Dana said she had wanted to stay off I-5 today and I couldn't think of
anything entertaining on Highway 99 so I led us through Bakersfield and
then northward on a little two-laner through Wasco, Corcoran and Selma.
Dana had to make a pit stop but it was another 20 miles to Corcoran so
we waited and stopped there for a break. A local guy on a blue Sportster
pulled up for fuel and came over and talked to us for a while. We continued
on the two-laner until it met up with 99 in Selma at which time we got
on 99 and became immediately surrounded by the whizzing crowds of cars
in a hurry. Welcome home. It had clouded up by the time we passed through
Madera and soon we stopped in Merced for lunch and fuel. Dana was able
to complete her Lotto purchase here as well. It became increasingly cloudy
and rather than to head up to Stockton and cut across homeward, we took
off at Modesto where we were able to do a few more slow roads. The typical
harrowing traffic began when we hopped up on Highway 4 in Oakley and by
the time we got to Martinez there was a chill in the air. As we approached
home I could see the fog settling over the mountains in Marin and the temps
dropped another few degrees. Yep, wee wuzz home. The best mileage I got
was on the slow road between Fredonia, AZ and Jacob Lake with a side trip
to the Grand Canyon: 52.98 mpg. Not too shabby. However on the day out
of Page, pushing a strong headwind and staying between 70 and 75 mph from
Flagstaff to Seligman, I got a crappy 36.4 mpg. Yow!
So…… what more can I say? The trip was about as good as one can be, despite the rain on the first day. Actually it seems to bother me more than Dana but once I resolve to ride in it, get suited up and underway, it adds to the adventure in a good way. And of course the best part of any trip for me is to get to see new roads, new towns, new parks and attractions and new places to eat - we got the King's share of all of these things, despite traveling over some familiar territory. And it is also great to return to a place that you didn't get to see enough of the first time through so this trip has to be marked down as two thumbs up with a Five-Star rating and of course splendidly wonderful and wonderfully splendid. And, like I mention in most trip reports, traveling with Dana is pretty much a breeze. She can sleep through my snoring and other noises, she rides at any speed that is right for the conditions and riding in the rain doesn’t seem to hinder her progress. She likes to see and experience the same things as I. I have still not found a better riding partner. She’s a tough act to follow. If all trips were this great, they'd be....... uh.......... umm............
GREAT!
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