A CHANCE TO RIDE

The last 2 days have been devoted to getting in the wind on the Harley's. The weather has warmed, and even though we've mostly had our jackets on, the temperature and geography have been ideal. On Friday we rode a circle route over to Prescott via Hwy's 169/69, and had lunch at one of our favorites - Cracker Barrel. We took 89A back thru Jerome, and stopped there so the girls could check out all of the stores. To think a few years ago, I drove our 2000 Discovery motor home over that road, and never scrapped a guardrail or hit anything! Hwy 89A is an absolute gem of a road on a motorcycle, but definitely a white knuckle road in a big motor home. Yesterday, we rode up I17 to Flagstaff, and stopped at Grand Canyon Harley-Davidson for lunch. They have a separate building that includes a restaurant where you grill your own hamburger, hot dog, or even steak. It's also a full serve bar with pool tables. This is the kind of place that my built in radar used to lock on to like a heat seeking missile! In the old days, it wasn't a Harley ride, it was how many bars can we patronize before it's time to head for the barn. That's an entire different story, or perhaps a book. We had a good meal, Bob picked up a part that he needed, and we headed back to Verde Valley by way of Oak Creek Canyon. This is the scenic route to Sedona from Flagstaff, and it is one of the most beautiful rides you'll ever travel, on a bike or a car. The Sedona area is extremely beautiful, with all of the red rock formations, but the downtown area has become a tourist quagmire. The area was heavily congested with cars and people, so we crept through town and didn't even stop. Back at the ranch, we had a chance to BBQ some steaks and brought Diana up to speed on her new ipod, that she picked up a couple of days ago. Tomorrow we head for Lake Havasu where the temps are forecast to be near, or in the 100's!