The good, the bad, and the desolate.

Day 3 - September 15, 2014
Albuquerque - Flagstaff

I woke up early (8am) and started getting stuff together as I had a full/long day ahead of me. I packed up, loaded the bike, and headed west on I40.

Sidebar: Albuquerque is beautiful. People walking/biking around town, mountains right next to the city,  and lots of new mexican architecture (or whoever the influence of the stereotypical dwellings one thinks of when you think of New Mexico).

And back...

Headed west towards Grants, NM for my first stop - the Bandera Ice cave and volcano. It's a decent drive from the highway (25 miles). You get to drive through El Malpais conservation area which was much prettier than the desolate land getting to that highway exit. Got to the ice caves after off roading for a bit with my street cruiser. Paid the $12 for entrance, walked up to the volcano (you dont get to the top which is a major let down) before heading back down (was maybe a half mile to the end of the trail) to check out the ice caves.  Get to the cave and you notice a difference in the temperature as you descend the steps, but it is but one cave that you see the entrance as thats where the path ends (the cave doesnt go far back). This side trip was the bad of the day. I thought is was too far removed, too expensive,  and too unimpressive for the ratings it got. It was cool how this open cave naturally stays around 31 C year round and what not. If you were driving by to the reservations and stopped in itwould be fine, but to go out of your way, I was not a fan.

Now I headed back to the highway to make my way to the petrified forest after suffering through more desolate scenery (plateaus and what not in the distance is pretty but I was missing trees :) ). Right before I got there I stopped for gas (btw Arizona puts taxes on its gas. In NM it was 315/gal, in AZ - 350 at least) and wound up talking to 2 guys from the Compadre Motorcycle Club out of SE Cali, one of them had the president patch. Having recently binge watched Sons of Anarchy, I had all kinds of questions for them, but out of a desire of self preservation I did not ask. But this makes me wonder about the thuths behind the show :). I make my way into the petrified forest (only 5$ since I was alone on a bike. Otherwise 10$ per vehicle) and it was beautiful. The first vista alone well worth the money spent. Its this giant gorge with rock formations "painted" by eons of sediment mixtures creating layers in the rocks. So naturally beautiful. Then you continue to drive through the park and see all the other formations and views (I guess this is a good time to mention I will have a picture post or 2 with pictures from the trip as the pictures are on my camera and I have no way of transferring them to my pad).

After leaving the park, I make my way towards Flagstaff, but first I must pay homage to the best Eagles song, or at least one of the top 3. No not Hotel California. It states, "I'm standing on a corner in WINSLOW,  ARIZONA". The song and its popularity led to a park being designated in Winslow.  So I found it and paid my respects before heading out to finish my journey.

As I arrive into Flagstaff and start making my way to my host's house (tonight will be my first attempt at using the couchsurfing.org website) I realize that Flagstaff has all kinds of trees and it is insanely beautiful. Not what I was expecting when I pictured Arizona. Met my host,  who is an amazing human being, and after I get showered, she takes me to a Himalayan restaurant. We talked through dinner then for a while once we got back home before calling it a night (she has to work and I had a long day). After talking to her, I called an audible and decided to stay an extra night here, so tomorrow will be a layover WOO-HOO!