Most scenic day of riding yet, but more on that later. I slept in and took advantage of La Quinta's later than normal check out. That was why I stayed there in the first place, and I really need the rest. Tonight I am staying in Williams, Arizona, south of the grand canyon on Route 66. Mostly motels and places with 66 somewhere in the name. Not sure if this is normal here, but there are a lot of bikes. Like more then 200 (a lot for a small motel strip). More importantly, I think I am the only sport bike in the whole town, and for that reason I am staying in the motel that had the most cars and fewest bikes out front. Some stores even had Harley-only parking signs.
It is like a Harley wear store threw up on the town. Everyone is either decked in Harley apparel or dressed like a cowboy. They don't seem to be biker gangs or anything, just groups of 5-10 Harley and custom chopper riders. It's actually a little strange, it's not the seasoned old bikers with the big beards, and it's not the doctor and lawyer fair-weather Harley riders, or the badge-covered leather-vest-wearing bikers, or the cross-country distance riders loaded with luggage, or just regular local riders. Most of the plates are Arizona, yet they're checked in to a motel so not locals. They're some other stereotype I haven't managed to put into a box yet. Speech is crude and work discussions are of a blue collar nature. It's like some sort of Harley-Lite lifestyle that they've adopted. They ride, but not very far. No formal riding education, as choice of lane positions are horrendous.
Anyways, back to the scenery. The ride out of New Mexico was probably better than the ride in. Waterloo is surrounded on all sides by straight roads, and relatively flat farm country. Getting to look at mountain ranges and deserts all day is real privilege that I bet local riders take for granted. Coming into Arizona is really nice. You cross the state line and it's "welcome to Arizona, here are some really big red rock formations for you to look at now that you're here." Makes for a good entrance into the state. The whole way had different geological features than I was used to seeing. Also lots of small roadside native American shops selling mostly tourist trinkets, low-quality hand painted pottery, authentic Navajo souvenirs made in China and other crap I don't want.
The grand canyon is awesome, truly breathtaking. It's one of those things that it's easiest just to say that you should pay it a visit. Speaking of which, dear department of the interior: why do all your parks only sell multi-day passes? Every park is always 3-day or 7-day passes. I am only driving straight through it, stopping once or twice for a few photos and maybe a snack. Why can't you sell me a cheap pass good for a few hours? I don't want to spend seven days looking at the grand canyon. I was lucky enough to have arrived on a free weekend, otherwise it would have been $25. This is great if you are camping there or something, but not so good for only a couple of hours. Tomorrow, Vegas.