Happy Birthday to Me

Our friend Chuck has been visiting for the past week. He is an avid rider, and inspired me to hop on the bike again. We took a couple rides together while Eric was in school. Yesterday was my birthday, and his last opportunity to see the Grand Canyon on this visit, so to the Grand Canyon we rode. We took the (more)scenic route on the way up, going on highway 89A, through Sedona. We stopped here for a little break after winding our way up the mountain north of Sedona, on the way to Flagstaff. Elevation about 7000 ft.

We stopped for lunch in Williams, the last city on Route 66 to be bypassed by Interstate 40. It is known as "The Gateway to the Grand Canyon", and has a train that runs the 50 miles north to the GC.

Made it to the South Rim! Fond memories of my hike down with Suzy. Gotta make it to Phantom Ranch next time!

What an awesome ride! All in all, we rode about three hundred miles, on all kinds of roads. Twisties up through mountains, Interstate highway, and nice two lane, wide open roads. Saw a heard of Elk just south of Flagstaff, and smelled Junipers, Ponderosa Pines, intentional burns(sort of like pine incense), and lovely wilflowers to name a few. Not a bad Birthday. Thanks Eric for encouraging me to go, and to Chuck for putting up with my speed limit riding :)