Serendipity Today
06-01-02, 08:12 PM
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Serendipity Today
Am traveling with my wife from Denver to San Diego, and we stuck our mtn bikes inside the Grand Caravan, along with everything else!!
Well, today we had a chance to do a ittle mtn biking on the Railroad Loop Trail just outside of Mancos, prior to our motel in Cortez, near Four Corners.
What a refreshing treat. Somehow, getting out of the car, getting the mtn bikes out and going for a lovely undisturbed ride over an abandoned railroad grade was just the thing to refresh us from a long day of traveling.
Tomorrow we will travel across the Navajo and Hopi reservation, and also plan on doing some riding - then the next day on the Urban Trail System of Flagstaff, AZ.
It really is a neat thing to be able to combine both in one.
Well, today we had a chance to do a ittle mtn biking on the Railroad Loop Trail just outside of Mancos, prior to our motel in Cortez, near Four Corners.
What a refreshing treat. Somehow, getting out of the car, getting the mtn bikes out and going for a lovely undisturbed ride over an abandoned railroad grade was just the thing to refresh us from a long day of traveling.
Tomorrow we will travel across the Navajo and Hopi reservation, and also plan on doing some riding - then the next day on the Urban Trail System of Flagstaff, AZ.
It really is a neat thing to be able to combine both in one.
06-02-02, 08:46 AM
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Sounds great to me. The ability to go on a trip like that and take everything you might use with you, was what I loved the most about our caravan. It's oil-burning was what I hated the most and why I sold it. I think we will rent one for our next driving vacation. Have a good trip and enjoy yourselves.
06-02-02, 02:32 PM
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Have had 3 caravans. Never any oil burning?? This is a 2001, but had a 1986 and a 1993. Both the 86 and 93 got totaled in accidents (not my fault!!)
06-02-02, 07:40 PM
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Drove across the Navajo and Hopi nations today. About 250 miles.
What a let down from the last time I did this trip in the 70's.
1. The Four Corners monument (some flags and a circle in the ground showing four states) now has an admission fee of $2.00 per person dharged by the "Navajo Nation" parks and recreation department. And what you get for your 2 bucks per person is some old beat up trailers and a portapotty.
What an opportunity missed. This could have been a welcoming to Navajo land monument with native crafts, music, etc., instead of a total rip off. If they wanted a donation to Navajo welfare, I would have gladly given some. But I refused to pay the 2 bucks each just on principle, and turned around.
2. The wonderful and quaint towns of Kayenta and Tuba City have now been totally McDonadlized, Burger King ized and Tacoo Bellized. No native crafts, no authentic indian lore, nothing but a lot of poverty and chain fast food places.
3. Could find no decent biking places that I felt ok on for 250 miles. I have had previous experiences of going on Indian land without permission and had to pay $5.00 (in 1950's) to avoid further trouble, and was not about to go on any private indian land in this area without permission. It would seem to me that they could open some of the land up, legitimately charge a fee, and perhaps get some income. Oh well.
4. On to Flagstaff. So, we had read about the vaunted "Flagstaff Urban Trail" on the Inet, etc., and were looking forward to using it. BUT, no one in Flagstaff seems to know just where it is. The lady at the visitors center ws quite confused, telling us that only certain parts were open to bicycling (not true) and confusing us greatly with her directions and poor quality unreadable map. A local mtn biker had no clue and sent us to a LBS, who drew us a map indicating there would be a sign on a certain road - no sign.
We discovered that this is quite a segmented trail, not together yet, and is a little rough in spots. We finally found a short section, and rode a little bit. After that we drove around and found another section, which some local walkers assured us would go at least 5 miles in one direction. We found another segment near WalMart, but it was pretty full of trash. So, tomorrow morning we are going to try the 5 mile section (we hope). Also, almost all of the forest around here has a total fire closure due to the extreme drought, and the homes and businesses are built right next to dry ponderosa pine trees. This whole city could go up in flames in jsut a few hours. Scary.
On to Gila Bend tomorrow after our ride in the am in Flagstaff. We don't expect to find much there except a pool and heat!!
Then to California and Oceanside, Carlsbad, etc., where I KNOW there are nice trails, etc.
What a let down from the last time I did this trip in the 70's.
1. The Four Corners monument (some flags and a circle in the ground showing four states) now has an admission fee of $2.00 per person dharged by the "Navajo Nation" parks and recreation department. And what you get for your 2 bucks per person is some old beat up trailers and a portapotty.
What an opportunity missed. This could have been a welcoming to Navajo land monument with native crafts, music, etc., instead of a total rip off. If they wanted a donation to Navajo welfare, I would have gladly given some. But I refused to pay the 2 bucks each just on principle, and turned around.
2. The wonderful and quaint towns of Kayenta and Tuba City have now been totally McDonadlized, Burger King ized and Tacoo Bellized. No native crafts, no authentic indian lore, nothing but a lot of poverty and chain fast food places.
3. Could find no decent biking places that I felt ok on for 250 miles. I have had previous experiences of going on Indian land without permission and had to pay $5.00 (in 1950's) to avoid further trouble, and was not about to go on any private indian land in this area without permission. It would seem to me that they could open some of the land up, legitimately charge a fee, and perhaps get some income. Oh well.
4. On to Flagstaff. So, we had read about the vaunted "Flagstaff Urban Trail" on the Inet, etc., and were looking forward to using it. BUT, no one in Flagstaff seems to know just where it is. The lady at the visitors center ws quite confused, telling us that only certain parts were open to bicycling (not true) and confusing us greatly with her directions and poor quality unreadable map. A local mtn biker had no clue and sent us to a LBS, who drew us a map indicating there would be a sign on a certain road - no sign.
We discovered that this is quite a segmented trail, not together yet, and is a little rough in spots. We finally found a short section, and rode a little bit. After that we drove around and found another section, which some local walkers assured us would go at least 5 miles in one direction. We found another segment near WalMart, but it was pretty full of trash. So, tomorrow morning we are going to try the 5 mile section (we hope). Also, almost all of the forest around here has a total fire closure due to the extreme drought, and the homes and businesses are built right next to dry ponderosa pine trees. This whole city could go up in flames in jsut a few hours. Scary.
On to Gila Bend tomorrow after our ride in the am in Flagstaff. We don't expect to find much there except a pool and heat!!
Then to California and Oceanside, Carlsbad, etc., where I KNOW there are nice trails, etc.
