End mileage 1820
I left Gallup refreshed and headed on the I40 towards Flagstaff. There wasn't a huge amount to see on the way and with a few weather warnings on TV I decided to get there as soon as possible.
It was a 200 mile trip passing through towns such as Saunders, Holbrook and Winslow. I had seen enough Route 66 history by now so the only stop I made was to see the meteor crater 50 miles before Flagstaff and about 5 miles off the freeway. These 5 miles were on a narrow street of road through the desert plains. These were true tumbleweed moments as a strong crosswind would fire these large balls of straw across the road in front of me.
I paid my $15 to get in, ignored the museum and headed straight to the scenic overview. This crater has a diameter of a mile, a depth of 600 feet and is the largest on the planet. Apollo astronauts train here as it closely resembles the moon's surface. An amazing place but there's only so much you can do here. With storm clouds brewing in the background I jumped back on the bike and continued.
Flagstaff has an elevation of 8000 feet and the journey up was through the Coconino National Forest. A very cool ride and a welcome change from the recent dry deserts and plains. Above the trees I could see storm clouds both sides of me. My weather luck was still running good.
Just before I turned into Flagstaff I saw my first signpost for Los Angeles. This was quite a moment, even though still 500 miles away it brought it home how far I had travelled.
I found a very cool hotel called Little America which was nestled in the woodlands on the outskirts of Flagstaff. It had a heated outdoor pool and large jacuzzi. After relaxing around the pool I took a ride into town for some food. I found a cool bar, Monsoon, and ordered some food at the bar. Here I meet a great couple. The guy, Anthony, was a local police detective and a very big guy. They invited me to hang out with them that evening but I declined as I had my bike. They insisted that they follow me back to the hotel, drop off the bike and bring me back. I couldn't resist.
It turned out to be my heaviest night so far. Anthony knew everyone and we must have bar crawled 10 venues before I got lost on a dance floor making more friends.
The friendliness and generosity of some people to strangers still astounds me. Flagstaff is a great town and full of a lot of fun people. Ranked #1 town by far.
