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Here we go again! Another motorcycle camping trip. This one is a little shorter with only three nights of camping. But we have six and maybe seven motorcycle campers this trip. It should be a hoot. We have reservations in the nicest campground in the Sedona Area, the Cave Springs Campground which is located on Oak Creek just south of the steep and twisty descent down from the Colorado Plateau. The rest of the nights will be spent in hotels.

Why do we enjoy tent camping? Well, it's so much more intimate and group-friendly than staying in hotel rooms where we each go to our room for the night, not seeing each other until breakfast the next day. When tent camping, we gravitate to the campfire and chat about the day, chat about tomorrow, chat about previous trips, chat about future trips, and just have an all-round good time. Finally, around 9PM or so, we go to our separate tents and fall asleep almost instantly; not waking up until the Sun brightens the night into morning. It's special, waking up in the forest with like-minded friends also enjoying themselves.

We leave on Saturday, June 3rd, back home the next Saturday, June 10th. So it really is a jam-packed quick trip.

It's about 1,000 miles from home to beautiful Sedona, Arizona; we'll take 2 full days to get there. We're going a little earlier in the year than previous camping trips in order to enjoy cooler traveling weather and maybe miss the monsoon season. We'll ride for 2 days to get to the campground, spend three nights tent camping, and enjoy 2 full days touring the area. Then ride is 3-1/2 days to get back to DFW. Why the extra 1-1/2 days to ride back? (we could do it in two, ya know). Well, in Arizona and New Mexico, we have places to go and things to see on the return trip before crossing back into big, flat Texas for the final leg. We'll explore some of the best areas Arizona and New Mexico have to offer travelers on the way home.

Itinerary

Day One, Saturday, June 3rd: Garland, Texas to Tucumcari, New Mexico

Beginning in Garland at 8AM, we will leave the DFW area and take US 287 to Amarillo before turning due west on Interstate 40 for the last hour and a half to Tucumcari. In Amarillo, we can stop by where Brett is living so he can join us for the final leg. After our first gas stop near Harold, Texas, we’ll make it to our traditional lunch at the Sonic Restaurant in Childress. Second gas stop will be at just over 160 more miles in beautiful downtown Claude, Texas. Then, it's only a few miles to the Interstate for the last hour and a half to Tucumcari. Our first night’s lodging at the Holiday Inn in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Some of us have stayed there several times, the hotel is comfortable and convenient. Tucumcari is one of the tourist spots along Route 66 with the old gas stations, artwork, and restaurants preserved from that era.

That evening we'll have dinner at the famous Pow Wow Restaurant and Lizard Lounge. We've always enjoyed our meals there. Mikey promises to behave himself. Afterwards, back to the hotel and a gas fill before turning in for the night. The sonic is right there; stopping for a milk shake is acceptable. Tomorrow will be a longer but enjoyable day as we head towards the mountains and cliffs.

Day Two, Sunday, June 4th Tucumcari, New Mexico to Cave Springs Campground

This will be a longer day in the saddle. It's scenic (if you enjoy riding in the desert). We'll plan to roll at 7:30 AM (which will feel like 8:30 because of the time zone change we had yesterday afternoon).

Our first gas and refreshment stop will be in the eastern outskirts of Albuquerque before continuing west across the desert. At about noon we'll have lunch at the original Laguna Burger, about 55 miles down the road.

We'll need to be careful to not miss the exit as one of our group did on a trip last year. The next exit is some 50 miles on down the road! It'd take a long time to turn around and get back. Next exciting area is around Gallup where we'll see scenery totally unlike what we have here in Dallas. This is when the riding gets interesting.

Our 2nd gas stop will be about 15 miles past Gallup, which is smack dab on the New Mexico / Arizona state line. . We've stopped here before on previous trips, too. Finally, crossing into a new we've crossed the entire breadth of New Mexico.!

We'll pass in between the twin national parks, The Painted Desert and The Petrified Forest National Parks. If anyone desires, we can stop briefly to get our National Passport stamped. But if we do, we gotta scoot.

Our final gas stop is in Flagstaff where I've found an easy-on, easy-off station. Then, it's less than 20 miles to the campground . . .

. . . but not before doing this!

This is the initial descent down from the Colorado Plateau's southern edge. The road is steep, narrow, and twisty as you can see. The descent is more than a thousand feet from the top to the bottom. The escarpment and red cliffs are what make Sedona . . . Sedona. This is a special place. We'll actually travel up and down the escarpment three more times during our stay in the Sedona area; this time plus twice more on our day ride up to the Grand Canyon and back to the campground, and then as we leave Sedona for the final time to begin our journey home. We should be well-practiced by the time we've done this four times. We will probably arrive at the campground at around 4:30 in the afternoon. Sunset is at 7:30 PM so with over 2 hours of sunlight, we should have plenty of time to set up camp and settle in before going to dinner. The dinner location is up in the air at this time. We can find a quick restaurant for an early dinner in Flagstaff (This one is near our gas stop) or continue on to our campground and go to dinner after setting up camp. One thing we really enjoy doing on these trip is eating. We save money by living in tents, but eat in really nice restaurants. Sedona is a restaurant-Mecca with steak, Thai, Italian, American, Mexican, Middle East, French, and other food establishments scattered around in the town. That's only about 12 miles away from our campground, 25 minutes or so. From the center of Sedona, everything is within 3 miles or so. It will definitely be dark and bed time when we get back to the campground if we choose to eat dinner last.

Day Three , Monday, June 5th: Let's take a day ride towards Prescott.

We have several places to visit during the day before returning to Sedona and our campground. Leaving our campsites by 8:30 in the morning should give us perfect timing for the rest of the day.

We'll ride uphill over 500 feet to the Sedona Airport for breakfast at the Mesa Grille. The airport, restaurant, and scenic overlooks are atop the airport mesa. The restaurant is well known for food, service, and fantastic views of the Sedona valley and red cliffs. They have outside dining that we can enjoy, depending on the weather. Their breakfast menu looks good.

After breakfast we'll head back down the, turn right in downtown Sedona, and ride south to the Chapel of the Holy Cross Church. This is a world-famous church/tourist attraction that I've seen on television many times. It's also the location of one of the several Sedona Vortexes where we may see people standing with their arms outstretched as they stare at the sky.

Next, we'll get on the highway and continue to Montezuma's Castle National Park. There, we can get our National Passports stamped and walk an easy trail to look up at the cliff dwellings that were once mistakenly thought to be the home of Aztec Emperor Montezuma, the last of the Aztec Kings, thus the name. But even if Montezuma had absolutely nothing to do with the dwellings, it's a really interesting place to visit. We're not in a hurry. Maybe Mikey can get a Junior Park Ranger certification and badge while we're there.

From Montezuma's Castle, we'll head to Jerome for lunch. I've selected the Haunted Hamburger. Mikey and I have eaten there on a trip a few years ago. The views and food were really good.
From the restaurant, you can see 50 miles or more across the valley and beyond. The burger was as good as any I've had before.

After lunch, we'll go for a little 20+ mile out-and-back twisty ride on the Mingus Mountain Scenic Road. It's one of the preferred motorcycle riding routes taken by Phoenix, Prescott, and Sedona locals.

We'll turn around after reaching the end of the mountain range and retrace our track on the way back through Jerome. The ride back will be as enjoyable as the ride out. After passing Jerome, we can take a little side ride to Tuzigoot National Monument after starting down the mountain where we'll have another opportunity to get our National Park Passports stamped and Mikey can get certified as a Tuzigoot Junior Ranger. We can spend as little or as much time here as we wish because our next planned stop is downtown Sedona. It won't quite be dinner time, but if we lolly-gag, shop a bit, etc., we can have an early evening meal before heading back to our campsites. Then, it's time for a campfire, conversation, and maybe even singing and dancing.

	Mesa Grille Chapel of the Holy Cross Montezuma's Castle Inside The Haunted Hamburger

Day Four , Tuesday, June 6th: Let's go have lunch at the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is less than 50 miles from our campground! To get there, climbing to the top of the Colorado Plateau (up that twisty road) heading north out of the valley. We'll gas up in

Flagstaff before leaving to ride across the open plains to the South Rim Grand Canyon Village.

I'm thinking we'll have a nice, leisurely lunch at the El Tovar Restaurant inside the El Tovar Hotel after walking the trail along the canyon.

The El Tovar Hotel is one of the grand lodges of the national park center. It's quite magnificent, only a few steps from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. If needed, we should get lunch reservations.

It's a pretty cool place to visit and is just one of the places in the South Rim Grand Canyon Village that we'll want to visit. We can also get our National Park Passports Stamped in one of the

Visitor's Centers. We have several hours free at the South Rim before heading back to Sedona. That should be ampletime to get our fill before heading back to other exciting places.

If we have time and would like, there's one more interesting place we can visit today, the Lowell Observatory.

It's right off the road in Flagstaff, on our way back to our campground. It has open air and visitor center exhibits, guide talks, etc. It'll be about time for dinner after the observatory. There's a convenient Olive Garden restaurant in Flagstaff, on the way back. We can eat there if we wish, or head on back to the campground and eat elsewhere. This will be our last evening in the Sedona area.

Day Five: Wednesday June 7th: Break camp, it's time to head east.

Yeah, the camping portion of our Sedona Motorcycle Camping Trip has come to an end already. But we still have more places to go and things to see. After stowing our gear on the motors, we'll head to one of the local restaurants for a quick breakfast before climbing back up towards Flagstaff to turn east on Interstate 40. Our first stop will be Meteor Crater and Space Museum! Two and maybe three of our group have never been there. We can take a guided tour with one of the guides to learn about how and when the crater was formed, visit the museum, watch 15 minute movie about the asteroid collision with the Earth, and see the new 4D experience. We should plan on a couple of hours here with lunch in the Subway restaurant before heading on our journey.

Just a few miles farther east is Winslow, Arizona for gas and the obligatory pictures of standing on the corner. Not a motorcycle trip through Arizona doesn't stop briefly in Winslow, Arizona; one

and maybe two of our group have never done that. To pass through Winslow and not stop is against everything Motorcycle Trip. It's just a street corner, but everybody does it. If we didn't eat lunch at Meteor Crater, we can do lunch here.

After getting our fill of the corner, we can head to our lodging for the night in Eagar, Arizona, passing the Petrified Forest National Park and turning south to the Howard Johnson's Rode Inn

I think they're used to motorcycle gatherings, being at the north end of hwy 666 (US 191) aka the Devil's Highway.

Day Six: Thursday, June 8th: Devil's Highway Day This will be a longer-than-usual day with desert, mountain, and Interstate riding.

It's only about 390 miles of riding, but so much will

be at low speeds on US 191, bringing our day's speed average down to less than 50 mph. We could take a shorter route, but the Devil's highway beckons.

US 191 is a long highway that runs unbroken from almost the Canadian border all the way to almost the Mexico border. A National Scenic Byway, the Coronado Trail, Route 191 winds it way high into the mountains above Clifton. It's one of the most scenic sections of the former Route 666 aka "The Devil's Highway", which slices through the Rocky Mountains from Mexico all the way to the Canadian border.

It's surprising that so few people take the time to explore the Coronado Trail. Even on a mid-summer weekend, you're lucky to see one car an hour. But there are usually more motorcycles that 4-wheel vehicles.

This section of 191 is a very popular motorcycle route with steep / sharp curves that surpasses The Tail of the Dragon in length and corners. The high point near the northern end is over 9,000 feet elevation. There winds its way through the forests. But as the elevation decreases, the trees become more sparse and bush-like The highway goes on and on and on, wearing out the arms of most motorcyclists that ride it from end to end.

Finally, we'll reach the Morenci copper mine and the town of Morenci where we can stop for lunch and fuel.

Below are examples of The Devil's Highway. Yeah, it's like this for almost 100 miles. Dan introduced this road to us several years ago. Yes, we had to stop and rest our arms.

Finally, we'll reach Morenci, home of the nation's largest copper mine. Our road winds its way around the open pits, through at least one tunnel, under conveyors, and alongside working mining equipment.

Just riding through the mine is an experience all of itself.

In Morenci , we'll stop with fewer than 120 miles on our tanks since leaving our hotel to have lunch and more gas before heading down to the Interstate and across into New Mexico. The next confirmed gas station is over 120 miles farther; we probably wouldn't make it if we miss fuel here. According to the Internet, the fuel at the scheduled station has high octane. It's somewhat rare around here.

Next stop is a fuel stop, but it should be interesting because it's famous. It's in the middle of nowhere along Interstate 10. We must stop; might not make it all the way to Las Cruces. Arrival time here should be before 5PM. Too bad we can't browse their famous fireworks, antiques, and souvenir store, but we probably shouldn't dilly-dally too much so we can get to our lodging in Cloudcroft before dark. It's still two hours away. Yeah, gonna be a long day.

Yes, it's getting late and we still have to cross another third of New Mexico to get to our lodging in Cloudcroft, but we should make it by sundown. The final 10 miles is a windy/twisty road from the desert and up the mountain. The accommodations in Cloudcroft should be quite nice. We all have our reservations already; I believe Crystal reserved a suite! This is a historic lodge with 5-star ratings; but the price is in line with a typical Holiday Inn. Fine restaurant is on the grounds so once we arrive, we can park the motors and relax. This should be fun.

Day Seven: Friday, June 10th Back to Texas Day. There's just no way to sugar-coat this day.

We're leaving the cooler weather and the mountains to head back across the hot-dry Texas plains. And Texas is big! Really too big for one day so we're dividing it into two. Yeah, we could do it,

but it wouldn't be an enjoyable way to end such a good trip.

First, we ride from Cloudcroft to Abilene with stops only for fuel and gas along the way. We'll be in the mountains for a couple of hours before everything becomes totally flat.

After the mountains, one hardly needs handlebars. We may forget how to corner.

Then, we just drone along from gas stop to gas stop to our lodging in Abilene at the Holiday Inn North. We should arrive just before 6PM and will probably be ready to relax. A nice hotel and

convenient restaurant will be welcome. There's gas for our motors and a Denny's for dinner right in the parking lot at the hotel, unless someone wants to get back on the motors and ride to a

nicer restaurant. There's a highly-rated Indian Food restaurant (Spicy India) about a half mile away across the Interstate and several Mexican food restaurants a bit farther south.

Day Eight: Saturday, June 11th Goin' Home

Time for motorcycle camping trip to come to an end. It's just four hours to home from Abilene; we've probably all done the leg from Abilene to Dallas leg before. The only scenic part is at Ranger where descend from about 1,700 feet msl to about 1,000 ft. That also equates to about 5-degrees in temperature rise. Then it's pretty-much flat to DFW. It's back to the big city with its city traffic, Interstate Highway Interchanges, everyone in a rush to get where they're going, etc. etc. etc. Not in a hurry, but we should arrive home by around noon. Then the camping trip withdrawals begin. If you've ever been motorcycle camping with us, you know what I mean. I'm still getting over last year's Rocky Mountain National Park camping trip withdrawals.