#martannecafe

[motozen66]

Day 27 - 10/11/14

Flagstaff has a pretty cool historic downtown that Route 66 runs thru and the town has embraced the route wholeheartedly.

Another day in the Southwest and another southwest breakfast at MartAnne's Cafe.

I had a few hours to explore Flagstaff before I have to head to Phoenix.  There are a few notable 66 stops in here - the most famous one is probably the Hotel Monte Vista.

Built in 1927, the Hotel Monte Vista housed many famous people of the past like John Wayne, Spencer Tracey, Humphrey Bogart, and Clark Gable.  It is also currently known to be very haunted by multiple ghosts. 

Here's another building that caught my eye:

They also have a mini giant outside this restaurant.  

  I walked around downtown and went into a few shops but before I knew it, it was time to head south to Phoenix.  Now those of you that looked at Route 66 know that Phoenix is not on 66.  The reason I'm going to Phoenix is that my girlfriend is going to join me for a few days and the cheapest airport for her to fly into is Phoenix.  So I'm gonna get down south, pick her up and then head north to the Grand Canyon.  We're going to stay inside the canyon park for two nights and then head west and pick up 66 again in Seligman, AZ.  Then we'll going to Kingman and Oatman and then drop her off in Las Vegas where she'll fly back to Boston.  I will then head south and pick up 66 again in Needles, CA and then continue west and finish in Santa Monica.

I decided to skip the interstate south and instead take AZ-3 and 87 south through the Tonto National Forest.  This would also be a preview of a road that we may take back north on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Getting out of town was easy enough and the first 50 miles or so was nice gentle single or double lane roads thru wooded areas and eventually I would see the edge of Mormon Lake.  All very beautiful roads.  The weather dipped a bit and it got a bit chilly so I pulled over on the shoulder and put on my hoodie.  

About 50 miles south of Mormon Lake, I pulled over into this little town of Pine to document this particular moment:

I first got this bike in February 2013 with about 9500 miles.  Now I've reached 20,000 miles and while being in Arizona no less.  Amazing! 

After Pine, I entered the town of Payson.  As I rolled thru town, I felt rain drops, then a drizzle.  I thought about pulling into a parking lot to put on my rain gear.  Then I realized I just past the last gas station and I was already outside of town with nowhere to pull over.  It was now officially raining.  The road started to climb up a mountain.  It was at this point that I realized that I may be a little fucked.

As I kept riding, the rain kept pouring.  My leather jacket held up and keep the rain out for a good ten minutes or so and then I felt dampness under my jacket.  The same with my leather pants.  

Once I was up on the mountain, there was no where to stop or pull over.  I had to keep going.  The rain was coming down enough that cars was slowing down.  Maybe the fact that we were climbing up and then cruising down a mountain had something to do with it.  And maybe the fact there was a motorcycle crazy enough to be next to them also made them slow down a bit.

It rained maybe for 20-30 minutes.  And then it stopped.  And then there was sun.  Instead of being wet, the sun and the wind are now air drying me as I zipped up and down the roads.  

My girlfriend doesn't like taking the interstate so that's why I'm scoping out this AZ-87, plus it should be pretty because it runs through the Tonto Forest.  Well, apparently my New England definition of a forest is quite a bit different from the Arizona definition of a forest.  There were probably trees on this road but I didn't see them because I had my eyes wide opened on this crazy road that was taking me up to ridiculous elevation at 75mph and then back down.  It was seriously like roller coaster on the bike.  The whole time I'm trying not to look over the edge of the mountain.  

It was as scary as it was cool.  This is another road that I recommend on your motorcycle as long as you're not afraid of heights.  

After a good 45 miles of this, we come back down to a flat straightaway that leads into Phoenix city limits.

And this is what Phoenix looks like.  Not a bad view from the parking lot of a McDonald's.  The problem with heading west is that the sun is always in your eyes at the end of the day when you're trying to reach your motel.  Even with my internal sun shade, it was pretty hard to see things clearly.  There were a few moments where I thought of just pulling over and wait 30 minutes for the sun to get low enough that I can see where I'm going.  But I keep going and squinted my way thru.

I booked into an Econo Lodge by the airport so I can just hop over the next morning for a quick pickup.  The area seemed a little sketchy but I was deep enough in the back of the property away from the road that I felt good enough for one night.

Then I found an In and Out Burger about 8 miles away in Tempe.  It was a pain to get there due to the confusing highway on and off ramps but a Combo #1 Animal Style made it worth it.  Then it was back to the lodge for some sleep and looking forward to picking up my girlfriend the next morning and heading up to the Grand Canyon.