Pistols and Pistons - by Lewis Crawford

Crossing The Canyon
Chapter Seven; The Grand Canyon

Flagstaff, AZ (May 25) -

Sunday morning we woke up refreshed and had a good breakfast. We loaded up and pulled around to the service station to top off our fuel. The station was closed. When we asked when it would open, we were told that this was Mormon country, service stations were not open on Sundays. If you wanted gas on a Sunday, you better have a credit card. It seems that they leave the pumps on, and you can get gas using a card and “pay at the pump”! So…..bear that in mind if you are traveling this area of Utah. There are some stations open, however they are few and very far between. So, with that new information in mind, we filled up the bikes. How does that go now…oh, yes. Two-week motorcycle vacation in May - $1500. National Park pass to see the Grand Canyon - $35. The ability to purchase gas on a Sunday in Utah - Priceless.

Vermillion Hills
colored rock strata includes blue

Colorado River Bridge - we kept Ron on his leash...

Wide Break Down Lane - stopping is not recommended
Jacobs Lake Inn
Rustic setting - Reasonable rates

Mickey and Dad
enjoying the trip of a lifetime

On the road to south rim. This is one of those situations that they wrote the phrase about; “You can’t get there from here!” It appears to be less than 20 miles across from the North Rim to the South Rim viewing area, however it is over 200 miles by road. You have to go east past the Vermillion Hills to Marble Canyon. Then cross the Colorado river again and turn south past Cameron, and then west to Grand Canyon Village.

The canyon is very wide here. . .and deep!

The Vermillion Hills were very interesting. There is a blue layer of rock that runs through the middle of the cliffs. As Jim put it, we got to see more “love stones”. Cameron is a small settlement at the Colorado River. We crossed over the bridge and stopped for a water break. There were several Native Americans selling their jewelry here on tables. We purchased some pretties for the wives while we were stopped. (Hey, they let us go on this trip, as least we should bring them back something!) Having appeased our consciences, we headed on down 89.

The scenery changed from rock cliffs to hills as the road followed the valley. We turned back west on 64 and found more rolling hills and trees. At this point Mickey waved to us, and headed on down to Flagstaff. He had received a call the night before and his finance’s Grandmother had passed away. He was going to cut his ride short and head back to be with her. We bid him goodbye, and continued on with three bikes. It was very good to have this chance to spend these several days riding with my son. I hope I have the chance to do this with my older boy (Bryan) some day. We came into the park from the east end and showed our passes. When you buy a National Park pass, it will admit you into any of the parks, except the Grand Canyon. You must buy a separate pass for that, however the park permit from the North Rim will admit you to the South Rim and vise versa.

This was Memorial Day weekend and, although traffic had been light, the closer we came to the main viewing area (Grand Canyon Village) the heavier it became. We stopped many times for pictures. One stop got us the attention of some bees, so that was a real short stop. There was lot’s of traffic when we came to the main entrance. As we approached, we could see the parking lot was full, with many people waiting. As one car backed out in the row next to us, Jim just zoomed around the end and pulled in. We were able to fit all three bikes into one spot.

That’s another advantage to riding a motorcycle, you can park it anywhere! Of course the gentleman waiting for that spot was not amused. At least I don’t think so. Since he didn’t speak English, I’m not completely sure, but he didn’t seem to be wishing us a good day! He should learn to ride a motorcycle, then he also could take advantage of the maneuverability.

With the large crowd here, we didn’t stay very long. Both our timing and that fact that we came in from the east worked well for us. As we rode south out the main entrance, traffic was backed up over three miles waiting to come into the park. The ride to Flagstaff was very pretty, with lots of woods.

We found a motel on old Route 66. Ron almost got shortchanged again. Lodging was quite reasonable for most of the trip. Of course it helped that we were sharing rooms, so each paid half, (now one-third.) just count your change! It was getting dark by now, but we found a street sign for old Route 66 and took some pictures.

Had a nice supper at an old diner. It had pictures of lots of the old (Buck Jones again) movie stars. There was Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Roy Rogers, and many others I remember from the 50s. I asked the waitress if it was part of their training to have to learn all of the old stars. She said the only picture up there she knew was Elvis! These young people now days!

-LC