Saturday, April 12, 2008

Road Trip Photos Posted

Coronado Trail Road TripI've posted photos of my recent road trip on my Flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ 18776683@N00/sets/72157604491245647/

Am still waiting for Brian to upload his photos.

Here's an description of our trip...

Day 1 (Sun Apr 6): Left Temecula, heading south on Hwy 79. Went east on Hwy S2, through Anza Borrego Desert State Park, and took a break at the Vallecito Stage Station. Continued down the S2, and took the I-8 east. Stopped in Yuma to visit Trevor, a guy in our riding club, who's there doing some training in the Marines. Had lunch with him at a Buffalo Wild Wings. Then continued east on the I-8 until we got to Benson. Then headed south on Hwy 90 to the Kartchner Caverns. We were supposed to camp there, but we got there too late, and the place was gated up. We headed back to Benson and got a room at a Motel 6.

Day 2 (Mon Apr 7): Left Benson heading east on the I-8. We then headed north on US 191, and took that up to Morenci, AZ. Had lunch at the Morenci Motel, which was recommended to us as the best eats in Morenci. Then we gassed up, and continued up US 191. At this point, we were on the Coronado Trail (read more about this here), which continued for about 123 miles to the town of Alpine, AZ. We got to Alpine, and continued north to Lyman Lake, where we stopped to camp overnight.

Day 3 (Tue Apr 8): Left Lyman Lake heading north to St. Johns, AZ, where we had breakfast at Speedy B's, and what appeared to be the popular eatery in the town. We then veered west on Hwy 61, and soon after, north on US 180. We took that up to the Petrified Forest National Park. We rode into the park, and did some walking around and photographing. At the north end of the park, we jumped on to I-40 heading west into the town of Sun Valley. There we gassed up, and went north on Hwy 77 into the Navajo Indian Reservation. Then we hooked up with Hwy 264, and took that all the way to Tuba City, where we stopped for gas and rested at a Sonic Drive In. The entire Navajo Indian Reservation is probably the most boring place to ride in all of Arizona. From Tuba City, we hooked up with US 89, and went south to Hwy 64, and then went west into the Grand Canyon National Park. There we set up camp, and had dinner at the Maswik Lodge cafeteria.

Day 4 (Wed Apr 9): We actually headed south on US 180 out of the Grand Canyon Park, so that we could get gas at Moqui. Then went back into the park, and headed east High 64. We connected with US 89, and took that north to Marble Canyon, where we stopped to check out the Navajo Bridges and take a butt break. We also donned our rain gear because the clouds looked very threatening. We continued west on US 89 and entered into the Kaibab National Forest where the road gets a lot more exciting. Eventually, it took us across the Utah border and into the town of Kanab. We had dinner there at a place called, "KC's BBQ and Grill". We also stocked up on beverages at the local state liquor outlet. We continued up US 89, and then jumped on Hwy 9 into Zion National Park. There we set up camp, and hunkered down for the night.

Day 5 (Thu Apr 10): We left Zion National Park heading west on Hwy 9, and eventually connecting to I-15. There we headed south and got into the city of Mesquite, NV, and stopped to have breakfast at the Eureka Casino, which was recommended to us by a friend of Brian's. We had originally talked about taking the ride through Valley of Fire and Lake Mead, but decided to opt for the Mt. Charleston loop instead. So leaving Mesquite, we continued down I-15 to the 215 in Las Vegas. We took the 215 over to the US 95, and headed north to Hwy 156. There we headed up towards Mt. Charleston and completed the loop back to US 95. Then we headed south, connected with I-15 again, and went home to Southern California. We actually stopped in Baker so that I could stock up on some "Alien Fresh Jerky", before making it home.

I still have figured the total mileage, but I'm guessing it's somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000 miles.

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About Steve

A vagabond who hauls a motorcycle around the country in a toy hauler, earning a living as a website developer. Can often be found where there's free Wi-Fi, craft beer, and/or public nudity. (Read more...)