Dear Readers, apologies for the brevity of yesterday's text. It appeared that the only location in the prestigious El Ranchos hotel where the wifi actually worked was the laundrette! With the whirring of tumble dryers and washing machines and the impending deadline of the dinner gong - these were hardly conditions conducive to flowing prose.
First a couple of posy shots of me from yesterday sent by other members of the group:
Leaving El Ranchos at a 'Gallup' we soon reached the border of Arizona and its welcoming sign:
... moderated by a couple of caveats:
Our first destination of interest was the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest
(which we found to be less scary than the name implied).
Remains of a 1932 Studebaker near where the old Route 66 passed through the area:
Painted Desert formations:
The petrified forest consists of former tree trunks buried in wet river sediments whose cellular structures were replaced by silicate minerals over millions of years and then uncovered by erosion. (You can take the Biker out of the Research Institute - but not the Researcher out of the Biker !)
Me demonstrating the scale of one of the petrified tree trunks I was at 'loggerheads' with (geddit!)
Petrified trunk section detail:
Police Alert: 'Two aliens have been sighted in the Arizona Desert. If they approach you with a request to 'take them to your leader', politely decline. They appear mostly harmless and somewhat confused'.
Alternative accommodation:
The last set of guests left without paying circa 1952.
Winslow Arizona's homage to the Eagles:
Me - 'Takin it Easy'
After a coffee break in Flastaff (after passing through the fairly unremarkable Winona) we reached the Grand Canyon. Still breathtaking on the 5th time I have seen it.
Our current location after riding some 2,150 miles since Chicago.
Tomorrow morning - a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon !
Music clips:
