Mark's Big Ride: July 18, 19 and 20 – Hot Days and Hot Nights, no sleeping bag required

The trip from Show Low north to Canyon De Chelly promised to be………boring. Not much in the way of interest according to the AAA maps, the only distraction appeared to be the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Monuments and vast expanses of nothing. The map did not disappoint and was pretty much right on, however I did stop in Holbrook for breakfast and the town in kinda cool! They have a big tie in with the Petrified Forest 25 miles up the road, they are located right on top of old Route 66, and they are home to the Wigwam Motel.

The Petrified forest was rocky, if you’ve seen one petrified forest you’ve pretty much seen ‘em all. The rock shop at the south end of the park is pretty cool, and I made a small contribution to the owners retirement account. The Painted Desert was beautiful, just how do that many colors come together in a single arid landscape? The rest of the ride to Chinle AZ, nearest town to Canyon De Chelly was hot and desert like.

Chinle is a tough town. It’s also a dry town (no alcohol sold). Out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing for miles and miles, except a canyon, that they have figured out how to make some money off of. The National Park roads only go around the rim of the canyou, and while there are spectacular lookouts and panoramas, you can’t get within 1,500 feet of any of the dwellings, with the exception of one trail. The Natives have figured out that if you own any sort of 4x4 vehicle, sign yourself up as a guide, money can be made being a guide. There was every sort of 4x4 providing this service. This Canyon is about 1,200 feet deep, there’s maybe 20 different ruins, and the Spanish were the first outsiders to have pursued the indiand here. It was mainly a summer home, no large scale inhabitation, the floor of the canyon was used to grow corn, peaches and other vegetables. Lots of ancient rock carvings, and some new ones dating around 1924. The half day tour through the tribe was well worth the $50.
There is also a fre National Parks campground area here. I know, a free campground these days? My theory is that because there are some many ants at this campground that Feds felt that it wouldn’t be fair to charge you and then have the ants take another bite out of you too. Seriously, I have never camped anywhere with this many ants…

Sunday morning, July 19 it was up early for the ride from Chinle to Cortez CO and Mesa Verde. More of the same kinda ride from the previous day, and once I made it to Colorado, it seemed to cool off and get much, much prettier. I stopped at 4 Corners for a minute, but since the place is actually mis-located by 1.75 miles I refused to pay the $3.00 entrance fee in protest. The trip up the hill to the Mesa Verde mesa is beautiful, and at least on Sunday afternoon was uncrowded. I did my touring Sunday afternoon, good thing, because first thing Monday it waslike the tourists were commuting to work, the hill became very, very crowded. The ruins here are pretty well preserved, and it’s amazing how many people lived here!

Monday was the day for the ride to Santa Fe. The whole day the scenery was just beautiful, the roads curvy and not too crowded, the scenery was some of the best of the trip. Route 84 heading south from Route 160 is now officially added to my best rides routes and will appear somewhere near the top in the final rankings. A 65 mph speed limit through the mountains – with little traffic, that rates well in my book. The last 40 miles into Santa Fe were pretty much butt ugly, semi freeway riding with much construction. Maybe I’ll be in a better fram of mind and more ofen to the beauty of the strip malls, casinos and junky boarded up buildings on my way north on Tuesday.
Santa Fe as always, is wonderful. They have interweb here. The Bell Tower bar at Hotel La Fonda still serves great Rita’s (now named Silver Coin, not Silver Dollar Margarita’s) the food here is outstanding and I’m a happy guy. And, I didn’t get hives from the WorldMark sheets last night, I really liked that super king sized bed.!

Time to go, it’s getting close to checkout time here in Santa Fe. I’m off to Taos by way of Chimayo (to see the miracle Church) and have some more good times!
Dinos in Holbrook