Day 9 (Sunday, August 7) - Cortez, CO to North Rim Grand Canyon - 379 miles

Another great day of motorcycle riding. I had to say it again "It don't get no better than this"!! Hey, I am saying that every day now on this trip!! It was 50 degrees in Cortez, CO this morning. I forgot that Cortez is at 6,000 feet so it really does cool done at night. I told the lady at the motel when I checked in that I would be leaving early so she gave me a coffee pot for my room with two extra coffee packs (she normally only has coffee in the lobby at 7 am). I perked and was drinking my coffee as I was packing up to leave at 6am when my "neighbor" from California came out of his room and told me he was going to walk up the street to see if he could find some coffee!! I told him to give me a few minutes and I would see what I could do. I perked the other pack of coffee and took it over to him and his wife. They were planning to make it to Flagstaff by the end of the day. They had been on the road for 15 days and were getting anxious to get home. The weather was beautiful with no clouds in site and just a little chilly. I put everything I had on (short sleeve tee shirt, long sleeve fishing shirt, jacket liner and jacket!!).

I decided I would head to Bluff, Utah and stop at the Twin Rocks Cafe for breakfast. I had eaten there on a trip in 2009 and it was great. I had the "Shepherd's" breakfast sandwich that in on Navajo fry bread. It was delicious and a lot to eat!! Met a group of a bout 25 European motorcycle riders at the Shell station in Mexican Hat. They had all flown over to the US and rented Harleys. They were very interesting in my luggage and wanted to know where I got it. I tried to tell them but none of them could understand enough of my English with my Virginia accent!! We ended up exhanging out first names and parted ways! 

Headed on down through Monument Valley and just had to take another picture of "where Forrest Gump stopped running"! I turned to the right at Page and visited the Glen Canyon Dam. I had never been there. Had visited Hoover Dam back in 2006 on a cross country trip. It was pretty impressive. Met a couple from Italy there and again at another site later. This was there first time in the US. Also met a couple from California at the Dam. They wanted a picture of me and my motorcycle for their "scrapbook". I thought that was funny! Stopped by the Navajo Bridge across Marble Canyon. It was hot there, around 105 degrees. I knew I was going to have to climb to higher elevations to get to the North Rim but I was really impressed with the climb, motorcycle riding roads and scenery. It was like coming out of the desert and getting on a high altitude Blue Ridge Parkway. Very impressive climbing from around 3,000 feet to almost 9,000 feet (yep, about 1 mile UP). The ride from Jacob's Lake to the North Rim was a really nice peaceful motorcycle ride. Through forest and meadows and in the 70's!! The lodge was very nice and has a lot of history. I spent a lot of time walking the trails and taking pictures of the canyon.

I signed up for an evening chuckwagon supper with entertainment. It was a great meal and I definitely ate too much. The Texas beef brisket was outstanding! The entertainers were from Tennessee doing cowboy songs!! Again, lots of Europeans in attendance at the Chuckwagon dinner. Did meet a group from Utah as I was in line. The poor young guy whispered to me that he has to sell his motorcycle before his wife's parents would let him marry her!! I talked to a park ranger about a driving road in the park and what he though of it on a motorcycle in the morning. He told me it is a great motorcycle road and that I would probably be the only on it in the morning. I have noticed that is true in the parks. People are not out at all early in the morning. From noon into the early evening things always get very crowded. So that is what I decided to do. The sun was to come up around 5:30 am on Monday morning. That was another thing interesting. I did not realize until I got to the North Rim that Arizona stays on Mountain Standard Time year round (except on the Indian reservations). That is very confusing. So, in the summer their time is the same as Pacific time and in the winter it is Mountain time (again except on the Indian reservations!!) Crazy, if you ask me.