As adventures in motorcycling go..this one really has been pretty darned tame..that's really a good thing. So why did I not think that Sunset meant DARK? But, I digress....let's start at the beginning.
Cameron Trading Post...a welcome sight after leaving the Canyon through the East entrance.
The view from our room...the room was gorgeous
Dining room served great food. By the time we got here...we both were starved!
Let me begin at the beginning. We spent the day on the South Rim doing the regular touristy things...hiked a little and took the shuttle to various look outs. Very crowded on the South Rim and after waiting in line for shuttles and bumping into people, we left in mid-afternoon in the heat of the day by way of the East entrance. The first part of the trip...while still on the Canyon, was gorgeous ...but as soon as we dropped onto the lower elevations, the heat was very intense. I kept looking at my watch, knowing it should only take us about 1.5 hours to get to Cameron trading Post and it seemed that the time literally stood still in the heat. To make matters worse, the wind was fairly strong and I was behind a family creepy crawling along at a snails pace.
When we pulled out onto Highway 89 and turned the corner...there it was: The Cameron Trading Post. We were surprised at the size of it...much bigger than the pictures showed. Both of us were a bit overheated, so we sat in the dining room and had water with lemon until our bodies adjusted.
After checking into our room, taking showers and resting we were ready for dinner and some shopping in the well-stocked store.
We spent our 4th night (Sunday) tucked into a beautiful room surrounded by comforters and big down pillows. We slept late..ate a great breakfast and headed out across one more hot desert in pursuit of our next destination of Jacobs Lake Inn..just 56 miles from the North Rim.
The scenery was a whole lot of desert until we got to Lee's Ferry..just a few miles from there we wound up t o the 7000+ elevation and found the road winding through a pine forest where the temperature dropped considerably. ..YAY! And the bridge? Yeah a bridge goes over that area of the canyon...a really tall bridge with the bottom...Avery long way down..don't like bridges..Skerd..of heights, I am.
Navajo Bridge at Lees' Ferry...creepy.
Jacob Lake Inn is great..good people..good food..good room. After resting and Watcihng Jurassic Park 2 on TV...we headed out to see the sunset on the rim.
Just before we got to the park entrance...there off to the right a long way off was a very large herd of Buffalo. We slowed down to take a look, but they were not very close. However, we could see babies, moms and the bulls. Even from a distance, those suckers are huge.
The road was good, even though it was curvy...which I like..but..it had a lot of signs saying...deer...cow...elk...and buffalo. We saw the buffalo herd way off in the distance...which was cool to know they roamed free. Even from a distance...they are huge.
O' see the Buffalo roam...
The lodge deck/veranda was packed with people drinking wine and eating and Lizzy was thrilled to meet people from Paris and we enjoyed talking with them...ok...sunset over. Let's head to Jacob Lake In and the sandwiches waiting for us in our room. It's dark..it's. Cold. OK only 56 miles, huh?
Did I mention...I can't see in the dark? Well..I can see..just not very good..my windshield is full of bugs..my face shield is dirty and I'm driving on a dark forest road that is curvy with animal signs. Not a good combo. Lizzy shouts in the communication headset..BUFFALO!!!!!!!!
I did not see the herd standing alongside the road until we had passed them. Lizzy says that was the coolest thing EVER...wanna turn around and go see again? Enter the history of bad ideas...we turn around..the Buffalo are stampeding across the highway..all 40 to 50 of them..with nothing between us and them..I'm a little twitchy.
My reverse gear is twitchy..I can't turn around again and head down the mountain...We go forward to a place where I can turn around..what's up with reverse gear??????
Slowly we approach the area where they were and Lizzy yells again..."Grandma....BUFFALO!"
Wait...wrong Buffalo....here's the one:
AUK! They are right along side of the Spyder eyeball to eyeball with Lizzy..which means if I turn my head to the right and dare a peek to the side of the road...they will be eyeball to eyeball with me. I look..I am now wondering where this idea is in the HISTORY of REALLY BAD IDEAS.
I move forward about 30 feet and come to an abrupt stop..more screaming from Lizzy..don't be dramatic, dear..it's only a herd of Buffalo standing in the road..blocking us from any forward motion. At this point..I have to go potty.
I think the Buffalo got up today and decided to play with the tourists...they crossed..stood in the middle and crossed and recrossed ..for 45 minutes. Finally a guy in a car in the line behind me..passed and got in Front me..where he sat. I think...hmmm..safety in numbers and I slowly creep up behind him..the Buffalo can hit him first..I'm thinking. The Buffalo play on the road for a few more minutes until they are in the oncoming lane and the car and I creep forward as the last Buffalo in line stops in the other lane.
The rest of the winding and very dark trip took us over an hour due to deer..inroad..along side road..ready to leap in front of us..or like the Buffalo...just standing in the middle of the road. I gave up counting them when the numbers climbed into the 70's.
Seeing our hotel sign never looked so good. Lizzy thought it was a great adventure..very cool and all that and secretly..so did I.
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