Well it turns out that I did in fact jinx myself! As we started out on the road this morning it rained steady for a good three hours chilling us to the bone. Except for Carl of course as he has the heated jacket liner so he was cozy. Since my shift linkage broke and I had to temporarily zip tie it, we decided not to take any chances to finish the trip by going further south. We decided to just start heading home while my linkage is still holding. We started out from Amarillo, Texas this morning and rode through Oklahoma and we are now in Springfield, Missouri. We rode over 500 miles today and tomorrow we plan on finishing the trip with another 500 miles which would put us at home. Since Steve Edwards split from us the day before yesterday on Tuesday and Michael split from us today we just decided that with the remaining four of us that instead of getting two cabins we would just get one big cottage at the KOA that sleeps four. Today I only took 5 pictures as opposed to the usual 60 to 90 pictures. Can you believe it? Anyway, here they are.  

Today was a long day of riding. If we ran into rain it was for only a few seconds which is fine by me. We've been pretty lucky so far with very little rain. I hope I didn't just jinx myself!
Our day started out from the KOA in Grants, New Mexico. Our first stop of interest was in Madrid, NM.
at "Maggie's Diner" which was featured in the 2007 movie "Wild Hogs". The diner was built especially for the movie and then turned over to the lady who owned the property. She then turned it into a gift shop.

Our second stop of the day was at "Cadillac Ranch" in Amarillo, TX. which has been featured in many songs, TV and movies. Look up the history of the cadillac ranch on Wikipedia, it's pretty interesting.

After we finally made to our cabin in Amarillo, we had a limo pick us up at our cabin to take us to "The Big Texan Steak Ranch". I must say that it was the best steak I have ever had!

Well here are a few pics from today, gotta hit the sack as I have a long ride ahead of me tomorrow heading towards Oklahoma City. Good night everyone. Oh! I forgot to mention that just before we left the cabin in Grants, NM. I noticed that the linkage broke off from my shifter. I had to zip tie it together. It should hold until I get home. Fun times!

Good evening! We're on the down slope of the trip heading east now. Gonna spend alot of time on Rt. 66. Today was mostly Interstate 40 and we stopped in Winslow, Arizona to "Stand on the corner" I did not however, see a girl with a flatbed ford slow down to take a look at me! but I was "taking it easy" LOL! I must say though, I never thought that I'd ever actually be standing on "that" corner. It was pretty cool! After hanging out there for a bit we jumped back on the road and headed for The Petrified Forest National Park and The Painted Desert. It was actually pretty cool to ride through what once was an actual forest full of trees millions of years ago and is now a desert with petrified logs scattered about left over from lava flow. Tomorrow it will be off to Amarillo, Texas. I can't wait for some Texan BBQ!

Today we spent most of the day in Williams, AZ. on one of the longest stretches of the original pavement of Rt. 66.
I took pictures of where some parts are still active with the original gas stations and shops that were here back in the 40's and 50's.

So that was really about it for today except I did an oil change on my bike at the camp ground for the next 3000 miles. Here are some pics from today. Oh! I almost forgot one of the highlights of today! A huge black raven landed on Russ' bike and took a dump on his seat while we were at a gas station.

This is actually Sunday, September 18th. Today was a great day all around with weather and everything else. One of the first things I started taking pictures of are these "Rock Houses" where these indians built houses out of the rocks that were around them. We just happened to stumble upon them while on our way to the South Rim of The Grand Canyon.

We seem to have fans from other countries that are touring here at the National Parks. Whenever they get off the tour bus and they see our bikes they start taking pictures of us like they never saw such a thing. I like to call them our paparazzi.

The South rim of The Grand Canyon was unique in it's own way. we were able to see more of the Colorado river on this side.

Finally arrived at our cabin which we will be staying at for two nights. This cabin is by far the best cabin we've stayed in so far. They're like new! Very clean too! We are in Williams, Arizona.

We had dinner in town at a place called The Iron Horse Saloon. This place was made to look like an old west town. I took some pics to give you an idea. Very good BBQ too! They also run a Bed & Breakfast with old time themed rooms. I took pics of some of the rooms too! Tomorrow it's off to Sedona and then back to downtown Williams to check out the old original Rt. 66.

Today is Saturday, September 17th. First off, I've gotta say that I have been on this 21 day motorcycle trip for 7 days now and it is the best motorcycle trip that I have ever been on! Words nor pictures can describe what my eyes have seen. I can only describe it as how Moses felt when he came down from the mountain. He was at a loss for words. I think I will be setting the Black Hills aside for awhile as there are many places to see in this country. Today we had the most beautiful weather for our visit to the North rim of The Grand Canyon. Just as we arrived, I set off on my journey to search for Bobby and Cindy but they were no where to be found. I found out later that they were hanging out with this little native indian kid named...can you guess? That's right! "Jimmy"

As we were riding around to another part of the North Rim, Rick almost hit a deer! Thanks to our use of the CB radio Steve Edwards was up front in the line and spotted the deer and then warned the rest of us over the CB therefore allowing us enough time to spot the deer in time to safely brake. The deer then crossed the road about two feet in front of Rick. It was a close call to say the least. Tomorrow we head for the South Rim of The Grand Canyon.

Trust me, I would upload more pictures if I could. This damn WiFi takes about 10 minutes to upload one picture! When I get home I will publish a complete slideshow of pics on FB.

I will check in again soon! Hang in there for more updates.

This is one of the many different cabins that you can reserve for vacation right at The North Rim of
The Grand Canyon

The North Rim Lodge and overlook

A view from the patio at the lodge

What a view!

Another "Me Shot"

As usual, Russ is no where to be found for a group pic