(14) Cortez to Bullhead City
It’s time for some off the bikes rest time at my house in Bullhead City, AZ. After leaving the campground in Cortez it was off for a ride to Page, AZ. This day was intended to be just a transit day between Cortez and Page with a ride through Monument Valley. While on the road we noticed two national monuments that we decided to check out. The first of those was Canyons of the Ancients. The entrance we rode by was only a trail access parking lot so we didn’t do much except to look at the interpretive displays at the parking lot and to walk around the rock formation there.
The second stop was at Hovenweep National Monument. I had heard of this one but didn’t realize we were going near it. I just happened to see a sign as we were riding between Cortez, CO and Bluff, UT and decided to make the detour. It was a twenty mile each way detour but the dwelling ruins were impressive. We didn’t have too much time so only took a short walk around. Pictures of both parks are in gallery section.
From Bluff it was south through Monument Valley. This was my third ride through the valley, but Neil’s first. It was interesting for me because this is the first time I’ve been through where there were cloud formations around the mesas. It gives the area a different look.
Continuing the theme of dodging thunderstorms that has been going on since our riding class we had clouds all around but managed to stay dry all the way into Page. That run of luck came to an end that night. We have had some light showers while we have been camping so far but the night in Page was a several hour long thunder storm. Wind was whipping the tent fly, lightning illuminating the tent up and some loud thunder claps to go along with some pretty heavy rain. Both of us just hoping that the tent was up to it and we’d stay dry. Thankfully it held up well and we woke up dry, but since the campsite was sandy all our gear was covered in wet sand. We have some gear cleaning to do in Bullhead but other than that no issues with the rain.
The point of going to Page was to take a tour through Antelope Canyon. The canyon is on Navajo land and you can only see it on organized tours through either the upper or lower canyon. We had a tour all set up for the 28th, but the rains during the day caused flash flooding in the area. I got a text from the tour operator while we were at the campground in Page saying that the tour was canceled. For those that don’t know it by name here is a link to some pictures of the canyon (just click the link). We will have to reschedule and plan on swinging by again at the end of our next section of the trip when we leave Bullhead and head back to Utah and Colorado.
The other thing we wanted to see from Page was Horseshoe Bend. It’s a section of the Colorado River where the river makes a sharp turn. There are pictures of this in the Gallery. Horseshoe Bend is just about 3 miles outside of Page. So we got there pretty early on the morning of the 28th. We made the short hike to the overlook and managed to get back out before the morning flood of tour busses arrived. It was nice to have a fairly small group of people at the overlook. As we left there were 3 tour busses queued up at the entrance so it would have been packed with people shortly after we left.
From there it was just a 200 mile ride into Bullhead City. We stopped at Flagstaff for gas and a snack. From Flagstaff to Kingman it was all I40 freeway riding. The KLRs aren’t great freeway machines. They are comfortable going about 65mph for extended periods of time. They will go faster but I just don’t like riding them that hard for long periods. The speed limit on that part of the freeway is 75 so we were constantly getting passed by the rest of the traffic. We also hit our first heavy rain while riding on this stretch. Lightning off in the distance and hard rain for about 20 minutes. It was a good test of our rain gear, haha! All seemed to work well though.
We came off the freeway at Kingman, AZ. Kingman is at about 3,300 feet altitude and noticeably cooler than Bullhead, which is only at about 500 feet in elevation. You could feel the heat increasing as we came down the hill into Bullhead. It was in the upper 80s in Kingman and right at 100 F as we rode into Bullhead. 100 is actually below normal for Bullhead this time of year although Neil thinks it’s totally off the charts hot here 😆. He will have to get used to the heat as we continue the trip.
Friday here was a day of chasing around for me. I still do not have license plates for any of the vehicles I have here. All the Arizona DMV said they could do is to order new ones made and mailed to me. They said it could take up to 3 weeks for them to arrive. UGH!!! Anyway, I reordered them. I won’t be able to go into Mexico until I get my permanent plates so I hope the arrive this time!
As I mentioned earlier, I lost one of the keys to my motorcycle in Vancouver. I ordered a blank key over the phone a couple weeks ago and the local Kawasaki dealer here in Bullhead called me a few days ago to let me know it had arrived. As I was picking it up the guy behind the counter asked why I hadn’t just ordered a replacement key? The dealer back in Vancouver never said that was an option. They said all they could do is order a blank and have it cut at a locksmith. GRRR! After chasing around Bullhead for a morning I found that none of the locksmiths or other key duplication places have the machine necessary to cut the new style Kawasaki keys. Feeling like a ping pong ball I headed back to the dealer in Bullhead to order a factory cut replacement key. I assumed all I’d need to order that is the VIN of the motorcycle. Oh, how wrong I’d be. Unfortunately it requires both the VIN and a special key code. The dealer in Vancouver didn’t bother to enter that into the database all dealers can look at so the one here in Bullhead couldn’t order one for me. Long story short after chasing down the manager of the service department in Vancouver on the phone I was finally able to get the key codes for both Neil and my bikes and have the dealer here in Bullhead enter them into the system. The spare key is now on order and also supposed to be here in about 3 weeks. Here’s hoping everything arrives when it’s supposed to!
Yesterday was strictly a rest day at the house. We didn’t do much of anything. Neil was feeling restless today and had asked if we could go kayaking on the river (Bullhead City is on the Colorado River). I mentioned we had 2 fold up kayaks that we’ve never used here at the house. We watched the “how to fold and unfold” the kayaks yesterday and did a dry run out in the courtyard. This morning we got a move on early and threw them in the car and drove out to Lake Mohave (about 10 miles from the house) and spent an hour or so paddling around before it got too hot out. The kayaks worked pretty well. It’s good to have actually used them finally.
I think tomorrow (Monday, August 1) I think we are going to drive out to John’s land for something to do. John owns 40 acres of unimproved land that we camp on now and then about an hour and a half drive from the house. Tuesday is primary election day in Arizona. I’m planning to vote as soon as polls open and then we will pack up and head out on the bikes again. We still don’t know where we will head to but I think that will be our next departure date.
That’s about it for now. Neil has sent me some of the pics that he has taken and I’ll add mine from the last few days to the gallery also. Hope you all enjoy them.
