Arizona

From: Albuquerque, NM
To: Flagstaff, AZ
Mileage: About 542 km

I started the day with another big Super 8 breakfast.  I loaded up the bike and checked out.  Before I set off, I looked into post offices and all that jazz to try and get my camp knife back.  I called a few and got the information I needed to pass on to the good people at the Relax Inn in Clinton, OK.  I feel bad for bashing the motel.  But then I remember how unpleasant it was there.  The proprietors were really nice, and are hopefully going to send my knife ahead of me, which is kind.  It's just the place itself that was gross.  Anyway, dealing with all that stuff took forever.  I really don't like the USPS telephone line.  I had to pretend I wasn't there to get to an agent.

Once that was all squared away, I finally gassed up and headed toward Gallup, NM.  The highway passes through an Indian reservation for a while, so when I stopped for gas in Thoreau, NM, I felt a little out of place.  The 'mohawk' didn't help. ......  I pulled over every now and then to snap photos of nice features.  I also saw an old indian Pueblo.

If you look closely, you can see a roadrunner at the top, and a coyote in the river below...

Soon thereafter, I reached the continental divide! It's all down hill from here.  Well, not literally.  Also... not figuratively either, I still need to come back.

From there, it was just a short ride into Gallup, NM.  Again, not much to see from where I was, although I did come across the historic El Rancho hotel.  I think it's a national historic landmark now.  Here she is!

And here are a few quick snaps of the streets, just to get a feel.

I then had to deal with the knife issue a little more as I'd received a voicemail from a post office.  That took more time, and before I knew it, I had to pee (I'm aware that those aren't related things.)  I went into Subway to use the washroom, but was confronted by large "customers only" signs, and a locked door.  I asked for the key, and felt bad when I was finished.  So I bought a small sub.  I also got a free cookie.

After lunch, I continued west and entered Arizona.

They did a good job putting those cliffs right by the state line.  I got a map and some info from the visitors center, then continued on.  Just a note here - I haven't used my GPS in several days.  In fact, I'd used it near the start of the trip for directions.  Then I decided to go my own way and use it for music.  Then I bought high quality earplugs and now I just don't use it.  I much prefer using paper maps (yes, crushed trees...) and relying on my own sense of direction.  I get a better feel for where I am, and there's something about it that makes me feel more in tune with the surroundings.

Anyway, I stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park and had a look at the Painted Desert.  Unbelievably pretty:

 

The Painted Desert Inn - a national historic landmark

The funny thing is that from my vantage point, I could see the interstate.  But when I was on the stretch of interstate I could see, I had no idea any of this beauty was around me.  The interstate has a way of hiding the surrounding landscape so that you see nothing but a tunnel in front of you.  From the interstate, I couldn't see anything to my left or right, so had I not stopped, I would have completely missed all of it.

There were strong winds again today, and it made riding difficult.  Nothing like the other day where the wind was basically picking me up and moving me off the road.  Today I could keep it together, with the occasional gust trying to make me change lanes.  Nothing I couldn't handle *smug*.  I filled up again and started to approach some mountains

On the other side of the mountains, I seemed to leave the desert behind and enter a forest.  I suspect it's only temporary, but it was interesting how abruptly the landscape changed.  That's what mountains do!

A little further and I entered Flagstaff, AZ.  I took my exit and happened upon a Super 8.  I checked the rates and learned that they were going for $70 or something?  I had a coupon from an I-40 travel guide for $39.99 which turned out to be another location.  I managed to talk the manager on duty into giving me that rate.  I checked the KOA for camping and found that it would be $26.  So a difference of $14, although Super 8 has a breakfast.  The temperature tonight was dipping down to 4C (39F), the wind was strong, and the sun was almost down.  Plus I had a major stomach ache.  $14 for breakfast, warmth, no setup/take down work, and relief from a really bad stomach ache sounded pretty good.  I feel bad for copping out and getting hotels the whole time, but I'll chop that up to not having a camp knife.  How can one camp without a camp knife?  I only have 5 other knives on me, and none are camp worthy.