100 Days 48 States - The Journey

"It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive."
– Robert Louis Stevenson

TODAY’S ROUTE:
Flagstaff, AZ to Tucson, AZ: I-17 South to SR-89A South through Sedona to Cottonwood to SR-279 North to Tuzigoot National Monument, back to SR-89A to SR-260 East to I-17 North to Montezuma Castle National Monument, South to Camp Verde, continuing East on SR-260 though Strawberry to Payson, South on SR-87 to SR-188 South to Roosevelt and Tonto National Monument, SR-88 East to US-60 West through Miami, Superior, to SR-7 South to Florence, West on SR-287 to Casa Grande National Monument, South on SR-8 through Coolidge to I-10 East to Tucson. (MAP)

THE DETAILS:
20 degrees. That’s cold, and that’s the temperature in Flagstaff this morning. I didn’t really think it would be this cold here, but Flagstaff is over a mile above sea level, and that elevation will get you every time. I guess all those "Watch For Ice" signs along the roads should have tipped me off. The real problem isn’t the cold this morning. It’s the heat I’ll have by the middle of the day, when it will be 80 degrees where I’m headed. It’s hard to dress for a day with a 60-degree change in temperature. I’ll definitely be stopping to take off some layers.

The road to Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon Drive, is simply beautiful. You start off from Flagstaff, heading south to enter the thickly forested Coconino National Forest. A few miles later the pines give way to the canyon, and you descend through two miles of switchbacks across the Pumphouse Wash Bridge. Driving along the creek, the canyon surrounds you with bright red sandstone walls. Halfway down the canyon lies Slide Rock State Park where a natural slide made from smooth Coconino sandstone provides some summer fun. The drive ends in Sedona, the arts community set among the red rock.

The rest of my day is spent stamp hunting, visiting four sites across a couple of hundred miles. And all of the park sites today have the same thing in common: They all preserve the remains of prehistoric Indian cultures. The first is Tuzigoot National Monument, just a bit northwest of Sedona. Here lie the remnants of a Sinaguan village built between 1125 and 1400. The hilltop pueblo, reminiscent of an Italian hill town, had 77 ground floor rooms. Further down my route is Montezuma’s Castle National Monument, where Sinagua farmers built a five-story 20-room cliff dwelling in the 12^th century.

As I head further south, the variety of desert plant life is quite surprising. I’ve never really been in a desert like this, and I’m just stunned by the strange beauty of the Sonora vegetation. The Saguaro cactus start sprouting everywhere when I turn towards Lake Roosevelt. Just across the Roosevelt Dam is Tonto National Monument, where Salado Indians occupied cliff dwellings during the 13^th and 14^th centuries. I walk halfway up the trail to the dwelling, but it’s getting late, and I better get moving if I want to get the final stamp of the day.

Another 90 miles away is Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. I arrive about about 30 minutes before closing. That’s just enough time to view the four-story clay building built 650 years ago, the largest known structure to exist in Hohokam times. The purpose of this building is a mystery, and its use has never been determined.

So my four-stamp tour is complete, but I’m hoping for one more. The Hohkam Pima National Monument is somewhere nearby, but according to the Fodor’s guide, it is not open to the public. With visions of another Yucca House adventure, I ask the Ranger at Casa Grande about the site. Well, this time Fodor’s is right! The monument is indeed closed, as it lies within a "Closed Area" of the Gila River Indian Reservation. The Ranger gives me a Xeroxed sheet about the site, but that’s all there is. No colorful park folder, no visitation allowed, and NO STAMP.

THE DAILY TAKE:
Miles Today: 367.9
Total Miles: 19,554
Time on Motorcycle: 6 Hours 49 Minutes
Average Speed: 54 MPH
States Visited today: 1 (AZ)
Total States Visited: 32
National Park Service Passport Stamps: 4
NPS Stamp Totals: 147 Stamps, 29 States
Weather: Sunny and getting warmer
Amount spent on fuel to date: $442.89

SEEN ON THE ROAD:
"Homeless, Hungry, Please help if you can. God Bless." - sign held by homeless woman on Kolab Avenue in Tucson, Arizona.

RANDOM PASSINGS:
There’s nothing like a close encounter with a lousy driver and his lousy car to start off your day. Shortly after I depart Flagstaff, about 20 miles down route 89, I almost run into some trouble. I’m riding about 100 feet behind some guy driving a piece of shit, late 80's American box, when a squirrel decides to test fate. The little guy dashes out in front of the car and this stupid driver slams on his brakes to avoid squashing him. But his brake lights DON’T WORK! He skids across the road, halfway into the other lane, and I almost run into the back of his car. Well, Hello, Asshole.

Okay, I understand the driver was trying to save some wildlife, but how about the human life behind him. Hey, I’ve got nothing against squirrels, although they are rodents, but I’m a little more concerned with my own safety. Obviously this jerk wasn’t looking behind him, at least I hope he didn’t know I was there before he tried to make my acquaintance - the hard way. I run with my brights on during the day, hoping to increase my visibility. But I guess it didn’t make a difference to this loser. As I pass him, I let him know what I think about him and his car as I give him the middle finger salute.

I’m always checking behind me to see what’s going on back there. Cops, tailgaters, etc. Check Six, as the pilots say. My brakes are better than most cars on the road. So if I need to slam on the ABS, I’ll know when I can really stop short if I have to without getting rear-ended. Looking backwards is as important as looking forwards.

Once again, the BMW ABS system saved my ass. As soon as I noticed the car skidding, I grabbed a bunch of brake and I was able to avoid a crash. Like the BMW poster that I saw at Cycle Logical in Eugene says – "If you don’t have ESP you need ABS."