Route 66 Part 2

The overwhelming impression on this half of the trip was that everything was huge - the canyons, Hoover Dam, Mojave Desert, Las Vegas, and finally LA. 

Not only is the desert huge, it is also beautiful. To our eyes the only scruffy, and at times ugly, parts were abandoned man made structures. 

The desert was also not as barren as it seemed. At one point, young horses were running alongside the road, and it wasn't clear if they were running from us in fear or running with us for fun. I personally thought the latter, as they ran parallel to the bikes rather than heading away into the vast empty space. The cows we saw either ignored us or ran away, and the one evident coyote sprinted across our path, ears flattened back. It wasn't only its ears that would have been flattened if it had misjudged its run by a fraction of a second, as it was almost run over by one of the bikes.

Given that at that point there were literally miles of empty road in front and miles of empty road behind, it is unclear why the coyote felt the need to run right through a snarling pack of Harleys rather than wait a few seconds. Perhaps that lack of road sense explains why we only saw one coyote but numerous well fed vultures? 

There are small towns dotted throughout the landscape, and for us one 'must see' was Madrid, home to Maggie's Diner, as featured in the movie Wild Hogs.

Only, it's not a diner, it's actually a gift shop. Despite the big embossed label on the building... 

The other 'must see' town was Winslow, Arizona, made famous by the Eagles song Take It Easy. For our young readers, the 2nd verse:

Well, I'm standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona

Such a fine sight to see

It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford

Slowin' down to take a look at me

So we did the same...

One town we hadn't even heard of was Oatman, and it was even more entertaining with two claims to tourist fame. First, the main street is straight out of the wild west...

...and second, there are donkeys roaming the streets.

This was was a gold mining boom town, and when the mines shut down apparently some of the miners set their donkeys free. The donkeys  have thrived, in no small part due to generous feeding by tourists and residents. This fine specimen below was allegedly part of the 'carrot generation' and thus was carrying significant fat. It seems now they are only fed a healthy diet...

Time for some more natural sights, starting with the Petrified Forest and Painted Canyon. Many millions of years went into the making of these natural wonders, yet sadly we had only one and a half hours. Nowhere near enough really to enjoy and appreciate this landscape - we could easily have spent a whole day there, maybe more...

The Petrified Forest was merely an appetiser to the main course - The Grand Canyon, where we could have spent a whole week. Again, that sadly was not possible so we had to 'make do' with viewing a spectacular sunset...

...followed by the high point of the trip, pun intended, of a helicopter ride early the next morning. Pictures do not do justice to what is deservedly one of the Natural Wonders Of The World

Next stop in the beautiful, rocky desert landscape - the massive Hoover Dam. What was most interesting here was not only the engineering marvel...

....but the very low water level:

As a consequence, upstream have been found many items that have been dumped over the years, including bodies in barrels which are assumed to be victims of the mafia. And where might they have come from?

Las Vegas was interesting, no doubt about it. Cruising The Strip was almost mandatory...

...as was walking the Fremont Street Experience.

What it was not was our cup of tea. We both found it a bit depressing really.  No doubt many visitors love their time in Sin City. Our main impression was of sad people feeding slot machines,  interspersed with many drunk and/or stoned people behaving badly. We couldn't wait to leave.

Two more days of high temperatures,

beautiful scenery,

and finally...

All up including scenic detours, the culmination of 2797 miles/4500 km in the saddle.

And would we do it again?

An unequivocal Yes and No.

The places we've seen, people we've met and experiences we've had were awesome and we'd happily do it again. Route 66 is fabulous! 

Riding in a large group on a set schedule? Not so much. 

The best riding sections were always when the group separated and we all rode at our own pace. I think if we were doing such a trip again then we'd do it the same way we did El Camino. Having a tour organiser arrange everything and transport our baggage is fantastic, leaving us to make our own way in our own time. 

Funnily enough, Eagle Rider do offer such self-guided tour packages. 

Hmm....