Checkin' in from the road-day6.. 
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Checkin' in from the road-day6.. >>
Posted
By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Friday, 24 June 2005, at 3:26 p.m.
Day 6 (June 23): Williams, AZ
An inauspicious start to the day.. remember my
report on the Super 8 motel in Williams? Well, the real problem came the next morning when I used a room washcloth to clean the windshield on the bike, and the proprieter and his wife came out and went berserk on me. I mean, OK, after the fact I'm willing to concede he had a point. But it wasn't like I was gonna wash the whole bike, ya know? It's OK if I wash my butt with the thing, but I can't wipe a few bugs off the windshield with it? Whatever. They could've made their point without being so rabid. Luckily I was in a good mood, and so I let 'em live.
We hit the road at 08:30, the first stop being a cool retro diner for a bite of breakfast;
Route 66 Diner, Williams, AZ Having broken our fast, we mounted up and headed back to the Grand Canyon;
Grand Canyon, South Rim The viewing was even more awesome on this morn! Simply breathtaking;
Grand Canyon, South Rim We'd been a little disappointed at not being able to see the river from the North Rim, but that was not the case here;
Colorado River, Grand Canyon South Rim The Colorado felt like an old friend, as we'd crossed and recrossed it a dozen times already on our journey. So it was great to see it in the process of creating this, it's masterpiece.
We had the pleasure of meeting a Swiss couple who were touring the area on KTM dirt bikes;
New friends, Grand Canyon South Rim Did I say "touring the area"? Nah, that doesn't do it justice. They are touring the continent! They started in Argentina, rode up through Central America and Mexico, and are making their way to Canada, with the goal being the Arctic Circle. They figure to spend a year and a half doing it. Makes our little 3-week loop around the west seem a little wimpy..
Alas, the clear weather didn't last, and the view soon changed to this;
Approaching storm, Grand Canyon South Rim At that point we knew we were in for more weather, so we donned the rain suits. And sure enough, within 15 minutes things looked like this;
Storm arrives, Grand Canyon South Rim I wish I could have captured the lightning that was present in this storm, as it was truly spectacular. As soon as the first raindrops fell, we figured the viewing was over, so we packed up the cameras, fired up the bikes and rode on.
The rain quickly intensified, and within a couple of minutes we had hail, too. YeeeeOUCH! Pam was screaming bloody murder on the back, and I was gritting my teeth and praying the next turnoff wouldn't be far. And it wasn't.. we pulled in, our Swiss friends right behind us, and took shelter under a little canopy that sheltered a park map.
The hail got bigger, came down faster, and in the end we had marble-sized hailstones covering the ground 3 inches deep in some spots;
Hailstorm, Grand Canyon South Rim It's a little tough to tell from that picture, but the ground was white with hailstones. At a glance, you'd think it was snow. And there was this amazing evergreen smell in the air. The hailstones had literally chewed the trees up so much that the aroma was almost overpowering. Here's a closeup;
Hailstorm, Grand Canyon South Rim While it never became frightening, as the previous day's windstorm had, it sure hurt a lot worse! Pam and I are both sporting bruises from it. The price we pay to ride...
Our little bruises pale in comparison to the trouble the storm handed our Swiss friends, though. During the height of the storm a powerful gust of wind came through and knocked both their bikes right over. Shouldn't have been a problem, but her bike landed right on a curb, and sustained a 2-inch long crack in the plastic fuel tank. That's a big, big problem when you're in the middle of nowhere and so far from home.
We stayed with them for a half-hour or so, trying to figure out a course of action. We tried to convince them to ride back to Williams with us, but they were determined to head north, not south. In the end we could do no more than offer the best advice we could, and rode on. I sure hope they're able to get it fixed...
After a brief stop at Grand Canyon Villages to dry out a bit and regroup, we headed back to Williams. But we weren't about to let a little ol' hailstorm dampen our spirits, so we made a sightseeing stop on the way;
Planes Of Fame Museum, Valle, AZ Great little museum! Besides the Constellation pictured, they have everything from WW1 biplanes up to a Mig-17. Valle is just a wide spot in the road, so it was delightful to find such an interesting attraction there.
We checked into the Econo Lodge in Williams at 18:30 and, I am happy to report, our lodging experience here has been the exact opposite of the night before. Clean room, even though it is an older establishment, very reasonable price, and the Wi-Fi works like a champ. If you ever need a room in Williams, AZ, go for the Econo Lodge!
Next stop, Sin City! Stay tuned...
-Ricky
Checkin'
in from the road-day6.. >> (views:
69) 
(views:
1)
Checkin' in from the road-day6.. >>(views:
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for the tour!
'Poor
Man's' Watch Forum'
Checkin'
in from the road-day6, addendum-Attn 
..
>>
Posted
By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Friday, 24 June 2005, at 4:03 p.m.
Reto} ..be reasonable and stop traveling if you have these kind of nasty side winds!
We probably would have, but there was no place to stop. It hit us out in the middle of nowhere.
Reto} We need you back here on the forum after the trip.
Never fear! We've had enough weather these past 2 days to last a month, so it's bound to get better. [knocks on wood]
Reto} How is the modified Casio holding on?
Great! No problems at all. And, to my surprise, the alarm is loud enough to wake me in the morning.
!
Reto} And was my guess of the Tactical Watch as second watch correct?
Heh. No, as much as I admire the Tac Watch, I don't actually own one. Good guess, though! You could actually see the mystery watch in one of the day 4 photos.. I thought for sure that'd give it away.
OK, I'll 'fess up. Here's a dual
;
What's currently on my wrist[s]
Yup, 'tis the MP3 watch!
As you can see, I put it on a matching 18mm NATO. I wish I'd had time to fit a 22mm strap, but it was a last minute choice. I had to squeeze that 18mm strap in as it is - amazingly enough, the lug width is only 16mm! Odd for such a big watch. Of course the OEM resin strap is stepped at the lugs, so it looks a lot bigger.
No, I'm not using it as an MP3 player. I've got the 40-gigabyte iRiver H140 for that. Instead, I'm using the voice recording feature to keep a sort of running trip log. General comments, fuel mileage stats, that sort of thing.
No one's commented on my wearing two watches, but
I've gotten quite a few double-takes from folks who
see me 'talking to my watch'.
One guy, an obvious cell-phone nut, totally flipped out. He approaches
me, all excited, and says "Whoa! When did they start putting
phones in watches!! Where'd you get it!!!"
My reply? "Oh, you haven't heard about these? Just go to
www.phonewatch.com, they're really great.
The poor sod is probably goin' nuts trying to figure that one out...
Reto} Travel safely and enjoy!
Will do! Thanks to all for your kind words and best wishes!
Later on bros.. time to ride!
-Ricky
Checkin' in from
the road-day6, addendum-Attn .. >> (views: 50)
s - Great Time - Great Trip!
You tell those Euros you were riding an RLM? 
(views:
2) And what an update! Today at ca. 11:15 PM local
time I was suddenly looking at my watch (views: 8)
