The Wandering Wyvern

Coprolites, Caverns, and Cats

August 26^th, 2026

Kingman, Arizona

Woke at 8:00am and got ready.

Packed up as much as I could, then left and walked over to the Circle K to buy something for breakfast and a drink.

I then walked over to the park across the way and checked out the bridge over the canal made from a train box car.

Back across the street I proceeded to the first stop of the day.

A visit to the Poozeum. A museum dedicated to fossilized dinosaur poop!

Inside they have a large number of displays of collected Coprolites (the term for fossil poop) including the largest ever found that was certified by Guinness. Lots of other fossils as well that were found in conjunction with the fossil excrement.

The store also has a large number of cool things you can buy that mostly have a dinosaur theme to them.

Spent about 20 minutes checking out the displays and another 10 looking over the stuff. I decided to buy a cool magnet and a small sample of mammoth tush ivory for my fossil collection.

Once done, I walked back to the motel, packed up the new items and then uncovered and loaded the bike.

When ready, we hit the road and headed down the old alignment to a fuel station at the edge of town. I should have waited. This place was charging $5.19 for regular 87 octane fuel. Nearly $1 more than many other places I have been in last few days. Since they were gouging on the gas, I chose not to go inside and buy anything to drink, would stop later down the road.

We hit the freeway next as there are no drivable alignments for the next half hour other than the roads through small towns.

The first one of those was at Ash Fork. You can drive through town on the old alignment, and a few old buildings to see and some shops catering to the Route 66 traffic. There is also a Route 66 museum on the edge of town, but I was running behind, so decided to skip this stop.

Back on the freeway for a bit and then you can turn off onto the longest unbroken stretch of old Route 66 still in use.

The first several miles you curve up and around where the Interstate curved in the opposite direction.

Both roads converge again in Seligman.

Here there are several Route 66 attractions, and here is where a single man started the entire Route 66 preservation movement, mainly to save the roads in AZ, but it inspired others in each state to form groups to preserve the history there as well.

It was close to lunch time now, so I stopped at the Road Kill Café for lunch. Technically not part of the Route 66 history as the place was founded long after the road stopped being Route 66 (1979 in this area), but the building was a bar/saloon on the old route, so the spirit is still there.

Went inside and got a table where I could keep an eye on the bike and ordered some small chimis to start and an Elk burger for my meal. All the food was good, but massively overpriced for what it was. Still a fun place to stop, they have seating in the old saloon as well as the restaurant (and even outside when its not so damn hot out).

Also, a large gift shop, the old Jail for the town sits behind the building and some old west building facades that have been used in commercials and films over the years.

We then got back on the road and headed onto the old route that curves up north instead of going straight west like the interstate does.

About 30 minutes farther north, I reached the next stop.

Along the way there was some great vistas of the large cliffs to the east and the railroad following the road to the west.

The next stop is the Grand Canyon Caverns.

Pulled off the road into the lot where you can see the general store and motel offices.

You then turn down a small road, past some large green dinosaur figures and head into the hills behind.

Another large metal dinosaur sits along the route before you reach the area where the restaurant and cave entrance are.

Parked the bike and covered it after getting what I needed to take with me.

Went inside and got in line to get a ticket for the cave tour, which was ready to start right at that time, actually we started a bit late as several others were showing up to get their tickets moved to the 1:00 tour or buy them like me.

Once we all were paid and checked in and signed the waivers, we had some light discussion on rules and then in groups we took the elevator down 210 feet to the bottom of the shaft where the cave tour starts.

This is a natural water formed cave that was first discovered in the 1930s by a railroad worker. He and a partner tried mining for gold, but quickly round there was nothing in the cave other than some pyrite that looked like gold.

They instead setup the cave as a tourist thing and would lower people into the cave via a rope.

In the late 1950s, they started the process of making the caves easier for people to walk through, blasting tunnels larger, making new tunnels to carry people up to different levels and paving the path way so it was easily walked.

A bridge and steps were installed at the entrance in the early 60s, and then later the elevator was installed.

At one point in the early 60s, one of the chambers was filled with sanitation and cooking oil and other supplies to support a fair number of people for several weeks. An early bomb shelter basically, built during the early cold war tensions.

These supplies are still there, and still perfectly preserved and usable.

During the Y2K uncertainties, several pallets of bottled water were also added, all still there, perfectly preserved.

The guide took us through the several chambers of the cave, pointing out unique features, or things from the history of the cave.

They also have a large platform in the middle of the cave where you can hold weddings or other types of events, though it seems they do not do it very often. There used to be a room you could rent and spend the night in the cave, but that was discontinued several years back, and only the platform the room was built on remains.

You can also see the restaurant platform near the entrance. This small section of tables is tied into the restaurant on the surface, and you can pay to have your meal in the cave. Many do that as a combo with the tour, and when the tour ends you go up and have your meal.

There are also some old artifacts from the building of the cave interior, sections of the cave you cannot go into, unless you are on the explorer tours that go off into the wild sections of the cave.

One section where you can see the dried-out bobcat that was found near the entrance where it has died back in the mid 1800s.

Another place where a large statue of a ancient ground sloth stands where they found the bones of one that had fallen into the cave from the entrance above 1000s of years ago.

The statue was provided by a local university in exchange for the original bones that went for study and are likely in storage somewhere now.

The full tour lasts about 45 minutes, and they also offer a shorter tour that does not climb up and high, for those that do not want to walk as far or deal with the ramps and steps.

Once done, you ride the elevator back up.

I went into the gift shop and bought a drink, then went out to get the bike ready to go.

Back on the road I could not use the Maps anymore as there is no cell service out here.

Thankfully there really are no turns to worry about, so just needed to watch closer for the next sites as I would not get reminded by the route on the app.

I took about 30 minutes to ride to the next stop. You pass through Peach Springs, the largest town along the route and the main town on the Hualapai Reservation which you cross for about 20-25 minutes.

Once you start heading south for a bit you reach the next point.

In a series of amazing looking canyons with lots of trees and green, you find the Keepers of the Wild animal sanctuary.

This facility was founded approximately 30 years ago, and has been in this location for 21 years (having moved here from the Las Vegas area).

The owner and founder had been a magician with animals in a show in Vegas, but decided it was no way for the big cats to live, so created the sanctuary for them to live out their lives in better conditions.

Since they have taken in all kinds of animals from other animal parks, private owners, or animals hurt and no longer able to survive in the wild.

They have Tigers, Lions, Bears, Coyotes, Wolves, Foxes, Emus, Alpacas, Elk, various birds, and a few monkeys.

The animals are unable to be returned to the wild, so will spend the rest of their lives living here. In most cases the animals are hands off, only a few do they handle with any frequency.

I arrived and there were not many cars there, so went inside to see if there were any more tours that day. While I think you can pay and just walk the paths on your own, the tours give you more back ground and you get to ride in a cart or other type of conveyance instead of walking.

There was a tour at 3:30, and it was only 2:45, so had some time.

I went ahead and covered the bike, grabbed the stuff I needed and bought my ticket.

I then hung out in the gift shop (mainly for the AC) and talked with the guy working there till it was time to go out for the tour.

I went out bit before the time and sat at a table there, and when the time arrived, the small cart arrived, guess I will be the only person on the tour today.

The driver, who also works with the animals and knows quite a lot about the place is Kendra.

The bonus for me is that this 3:30 tour is also the feeding time for the big cats.

So, we would arrive at an enclosure, and the guy with the food in a different cart would feed the animal and you got to watch them eat for a bit. Also brings most of the cats out to the fences.

Many of the other animals also come out, even though they will get feed a bit later, not as part of the tour.

We drove all over the compound, watching the cats get fed, some of which were quite fun to watch how they acted.

We then continued visiting all the other animals, some which were fed, others were not.

It took about an hour I think for the entire ride to finish, and then I was free to wander the park until they close, but I was hot and tired, and still have to ride to my destination, so just went to the gift shop, bought a few drinks and got the bike uncovered and ready to ride.

Headed back down the road, a bit slowly as someone was driving along at 40-45 mph in a 65mph area.

Several cars have to pass this idiot, one guy doing so quite dangerously with oncoming traffic.

Finally got around him myself and continued onward.

It was now close to 5pm, and I did not want to spend too much more time on the bike, mainly as it was now 108 degrees out.

I skipped visiting the Hackberry General store, one of the well known Route 66 stops.

I did stop a bit later to get some photos of Giganticus Headicus. A large, head stature, similar to the Easter Island Moai statues, but painted bright green.

I did go inside the shop to buy another cold drink, then back on the road for the long straight highway run into Kingman.

This stretch of road was very windy, and traffic was also heavier, several cars passing me as I was still only going about 60 due to the winds and rough road.

Still riding without maps as signal was too weak when I left, and when I reached Kingman, signal was good, but now the map route was too far along and Maps cannot figure out how to just start at the point I am, it freaks out and will not work because you are not close the start points. It’s too stupid to see that I am now at point 5 of 10, instead of 1 of 10, and refuses to work. (And this is from the same people who want to put AI into everything, we are doomed)

I could have fixed it if I had a few seconds at a red light. Of course, if you WANT a red light, then you cannot get one.

Finally got stopped at one near the end of my route, so was able to just setup a new route to the hotel, just to make sure I did not miss a one way road or anything. It was actually quite simple, could have found it without the maps, but still nice to know where you stand.

Got checked into the room, unloaded the bike and sat around to cool off.

Then changed and decided to ride over for dinner as it was too hot to walk the 1/3 mile to the restaurant.

I ate at Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner.

Food was good, bit more reasonable on price as well.

Once done, I rode over to the convenience store to buy some drinks and then back to the motel.

Got the bike secured, took a warmish shower (Arizona, even the cold water is hot), and then sat in the AC for a while to cool down.

I then got this blog typed up and will plot my route next.

Will maybe stop at museum nearby in the morning, but might just get going. Also, might need to try and find some better tools, my bike is making noise around the chain, think it needs adjusted again, so will either need to find a shop that can get me in, or buy better tools so I can do it myself.

Will figure it out in the morning.

Tomorrow we will do the last part of the Arizona section of Route 66 and get into California.

I am hoping to make it about half way in, as I will be skipping the main alignment that is technically closed anyway due to several bridges being out.

You can drive it, there are dirt bypasses the locals use at every bridge, but its risky, you are not supposed to go there if you are not local, and will just slow me down for little benefit as the region is mostly empty space with a few old places along there that would be cool, but not critical to see.

They are fixing the bridges finally (after about 10 years), so in a year or two I can always come ride it then.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Laundry and videos.

August 25^th, 2026

Williams, Arizona

Woke at 8:00 am and got ready. I need to do laundry really bad, nothing clean and worn much of it at least twice.

Gathered all the clothes and wore the riding gear so I could wash the street clothes, except the one pair of shorts under the riding pants and the long sleeve shirt I brought for just these occasions.

Got the bike ready and loaded the clothes, then rode over the few blocks to the laundry place.

Once inside I found a machine and got the clothes going.

Stood around playing of phone waiting.

Once done, took them over to dryer and when I went to start it, seems like there was still time left on it from someone else, so let it run out, but not enough to dry things, so had to run another full cycle again.

Folded the dry clothes and then rode back to the motel and put things away.

I then secured the bike again, then grabbed laptop and went to find a place to have lunch and do some work. (There is really no good place to sit in the room and work. Even if the couch was not filthy, there is no table, so have to hold laptop in lap, which gets old really fast.)

I walked down a few blocks, checked out the old fuel station which was restored

I then stopped at Station 66 for pizza. This place is built in an old gas station.

Ordered food and sat and ate while I worked on video stuff.

Once done, I walked over to the Circle K to buy some cold drinks for tonight and returned to the room.

Continued to work on my video, but after an hour I was so tired I could not keep eyes open.

Finally had to lay down and take a nap, which lasted about 2 hours.

Even after waking I was tired, so I sat in my camp chair (I had pulled it out and set it up earlier to try sitting in it, still holding laptop, but better than the bed).

After sitting here for probably an hour I started to wake up.

I got busy with the video again and completed it.

While it was exporting, I re-heated the wings from last night and had them for dinner, was not hungry enough to get other food.

Once the video was done, we put it up on You Tube and then started to work on the route for tomorrow.

I originally though we would make it to the California border tomorrow, but several stops on the ride tomorrow that will take time, and several smaller stops as well, so by time I reached the next larger town, it will be late enough that riding farther would not be that good.

So will stay in Kingman tomorrow, and continue the following day. Might add an extra day on the trip is all, but still have some time.

Once route was done and I spent some time looking ahead to get an idea of how many more days this trip will take, I worked on getting the last two blog entries written.

Will upload them now and then go to bed, long day tomorrow, including a museum visit before I even load the bike (Just 2 blocks over, but was closed today, but opens early, so can get it done, load bike and still get out before 11 check out itme.)

Catch ya down the road.

Closed routes and short stops

August 25^th, 2026

Williams, Arizona

Woke early at 7:00am and got ready. Loaded up the bike and had everything ready to go around 8:00am.

After final room check, we dropped key at office and hit the road.

Stopped after a mile to do the drive through Route 66 shield in Grants, NM.

Then we were back on the route.

Decided not to stop to look at an old tank and gun sitting on side of road in veterans park, no real good place to park, so hopefully it will show up on the video.

Nice route through the towns and into the countryside. The old alignment mostly follows along the Interstate here, sometimes right next too it, others a bit of distance, but always in view.

I know today would have lots of time on the Interstate as much of the original routes are now under it.

So, when Maps told me to get on the freeway, I assumed we were good. But it did its thing again of changing my route for no reason. So, I lost out on a few miles of the old route and that included the stop at the Continental Divide marker. I could have pulled off the freeway, but was a bit angry, so just kept going.

Bit later it did it again, but just for a short route, but still annoying me that it keeps ignoring the route I setup on the computer. The App must have a different logic behind its routing process, so you get different results in it than on the browser. Really lame.

Coming into Gallup the road was suddenly closed.

While it was open to local traffic, I decided to follow the detour onto the freeway, and I did see a few miles later that the road was basically gone. The state highway (118) had been overrun by some massive construction project. Looks like they are building a new interchange, though not sure why, seems like odd place to build one.

Past that the highway is accessible, but not doing any back tracking on this trip unless to see a place.

So pulled off the freeway at the main exit where the business interstate route takes over. (This is usually the original highway that the interstate replaced, just labeled BR-# to allow you to access the local businesses).

The old alignment here takes you through Gallup.

I thought about eating here, but never did find anything that looked good.

Took the highway out of town and about 6-7 miles later, suddenly it is closed again. No warning back when I was at the interstate exit, so now I had to back track those 6-7 miles to reach the only access point for the interstate, and I found no other routes around, not even a gravel road.

Once on the freeway I noticed that the closed section was actually just a 1 way lane over a bridge and got really pissed off, but then a few more miles the road was fully closed for something they were doing with another Bridge.

Few more miles and I was able to get back onto the highway, and this route took me to the Arizona border.

I decided at this point to skip a stop I was going to make there, had lost enough time already and was really in a foul mood now as well.

I stopped at the rest area there, then crossed over to drive the short section on the south of the freeway, then back onto the interstate as no routes exist here.

Just past the Houck exit I did pull off and take one of the very old alignments. This was a 5 mile section and it was gravel, but I wanted to visit the old Querino bridge which is on this section of the route.

The gravel was mostly well graded surface and not to think, but road was a bit wash boarded and some pot holds, made a bit of a rough run.

Stopped at the bridge for a few photos and then finished the road back to the interstate.

Had a long section of freeway now across the rest of the Navajo region and past Petrified Forest.

Got of in Holbrook and stopped to refuel.

I then stopped to eat at Burger King as I was too hungry to look for a local diner anymore.

I also had one stop to make in Holbrook. I had driven by the place dozens of times, but wanted to stop and see the big dinosaur figures at a local rock shop and check out the shop.

The place is only 1 block off the route through town, so found it and parked, and then saw that the shop was actually closed. Thankfully the dinosaurs are all outside around the building and lot, so could take a few photos.

Got back on the road, rode past the Wigwam Motel (I had stayed here on a trip about 12 years ago, so why I never even thought about stopping here on this trip).

Stopped on edge of town for the drive through Route 66 shield for Holbrook.

Then it was back onto the freeway.

Just past there you can get off and drive the original route through St Joseph which I did. Then I got back on the freeway, but made a mistake there.

For some reason I was not looking at the maps closely, just seemed to recall there being only a short section here, but missed that the route actually went on the south frontage road for a few miles, ending at the Jack Rabbit trading post exit.

Oh well, guess I will need to pay more attention to the maps, but with it frequently altering my course as well, might just need to go back to using paper instructions in the map pocket of the tank bag.

I pulled off at Jack Rabbit post anyway so I could take photo with the sign, and had to stop and clear a few stop markers on the map program as it was trying to make me back track to those markers now.

A bit past there you get off the freeway and ride the original route through Winslow.

I decided not to seek out the corner (Standing on the Corner in Winslow Arizona fame) as I had done that 12 years ago as well on that other trip.

I did however go off the route a bit to reach the railroad park in town.

Winslow owes its existence to the railroad, so they honor its part in the town’s history with a small park which has several older rail cars sitting in it, right next to the still active rail line.

I walked around the trains for a bit, then went back to the bike to look into the chain as it was making noise again at low speed in the lower gears.

This has occurred a few times, though all after I had been riding in wet conditions for a long time.

Today I had only had a light rain, barely enough to get the road wet, so should not have been much water on the chain, but it was clunking again.

I unpacked the bike enough to get the chain oil and spent a few minutes oiling the chain again.

This seems to fix it, but still odd that it started today without the water.

Once everything was back on the bike we got going again, and sure enough, no more clunking.

From here on there are no more sections of the road to ride until you reach Flagstaff.

While some of the older alignments do exist still, many are gravel, and those that are not are still no longer connected on both ends, so you have to ride out and back. Just not wanting to spend that time anymore.

I pulled off the highway though at one section to visit the Meteor City.

This domed building was once a stop on Route 66 and had sat abandoned for many years.

Recently someone fixed it up and has a gift shop and museum inside, and outside several activities, the main one being a dinosaur park you can drive through with lots of large dinosaur sculptures.

You can also spray paint a Volkswagen beetle, pan for gold, shoot targets, and hire a pedal car to take through the dino part instead of your own car.

I was not going to do any of that, but was cool to look at stuff inside, lots of rocks and dinosaur related merch.

Bought a cold soda though as it was hot outside today.

Drank the soda while standing at the bike, then got back on the road, going back to the exit to get on the freeway.

A bit later you pass the road going to the Meteor Crater, but as I had just visited that a few months before this trip, did not feel like doing it again.

The next place on the old route is the old town of Two Guns.

Not much left here, some old ruins and stories, and part of the old route goes over an old bridge here (gravel road).

I had originally planned to stop, but was running late enough, and it was hot enough to make me skip it and go onward.

Next stop is Two Arrows.

This former roadside fuel station and stop is in a sorry state, but wanted to at least stop for the one arrow still standing.

The other arrow collapsed a few years ago, and then someone stole it shortly after that.

The one still standing is probably going to collapse in a very short time if something is not done, but seems to be no interest in getting funds to restore at least the arrows at this site.

The buildings are just shells now, covered in graffiti and probably not salvageable anyway.

Back on the road we continued onward toward Flagstaff.

I decided not to take the Winona exit which follows the older route up north of town before coming back south. I had already driven that section of road 12 years ago, so opted for a later routing that starts at the Walnut Canyon exit.

This alignment is shorter, but was actually a very nice route and scenic, and is the official Route 66 signed route going into Flagstaff, having the big Route 66 stone signs then built along the route.

Once in Flagstaff we made our way through town and stopped for a few cold drinks on the far side.

From here you have to get back on the freeway and continue west.

At Bellemont you can exit and follow some of the earlier alignments here, but they are all gravel roads, and I actually road them on this bike about 5 years ago, so stayed on the freeway as there are no paved alignments here, they are all under the interstate now.

This brought me to the edge or Williams where I will stop for the night.

Once off the exit from the freeway, you catch the original road again into town.

Williams was the very last town bypassed by I-40, they hung on till the very end, but eventually the road went around them, but they still have a decent amount of visitation due to other things nearby that keeps the town going, and they embraced the Route 66 history as well.

I found my motel in the middle of town, got checked in and over to the room.

Room is in a corner, so cannot park right in front, but close.

The entrance to the room though is a stupid narrow hall that I can barely wall through without turning sideways, and with the bags in my hands had to turn like that.

Room itself is good sized, though huge bed uses up most of it.

The usual stuff, including a couch/fold out bed, but the thing is filthy. Stained horribly on the surface, not even going to sit on it.

Oddly rest of the room is nice, clean and in good shape, so hard to see how they can leave this sofa in here.

Got unloaded, then sat around to cool off for a while.

Then we secured the bike and changed so we could walk over someplace for dinner.

Went down the road to Cruiser’s Route 66 Café and had a good sized meal there. Actually, was too much food, so brought half the boneless wings back to the room for later.

Once back in the room, I did a few quick things online, then decided I was ready for bed, just wiped out today.

I will be staying here 2 nights, so can get things done in the morning.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Volcanoes and Caves

August 23^rd, 2026

Grants, New Mexico

Woke at 8:00am, body said nope.

Woke at 9:00am, body said nope.

Woke at 10:00am, body said dude, no.

Finally gave up on alarms, and would just let body wake on its own. It did, at noon.

Got showered and dressed and decided I still had enough time to make the day trip I had planned to ride today.

Got the bike uncovered, grabbed what I needed and hit the road.

Headed up to the nearest interstate intersection, and then crossed over the freeway to grab a highway heading south.

Road a bit down this before I noticed I was very low on fuel. Range said I should be able to go out and back, but this will be a close one.

Took only about 30 minutes to get south and up into the hills a bit.

Reached our destination, the Bandera Ice Caves and Volcano.

The site is next to an old cinder cone volcano (1 of about 30 in the region) which has a trail hiking up to the crater. The other attraction is the ice cave.

This cave sits in a collapsed lava tube (one of the longest in the country) and due to some unique conditions, maintains a yearly temperature of 31 degrees (F). This means the 20 feet of ice sitting on the bottom of the cave rarely melts below that, and it can gain a foot or two each winter as rainwater seeping in over the summer will collect on the ice and freeze.

I arrived, went into the shop and got the general description of what was out there and some history, then paid my fee to hike up the trails. I also bought a hat as I had left mine at the motel and lots of hiking in the sun would not due my head any good.

I hiked up the volcano first. The trail is along the cinder paths which are not too rough or steep, and winds up to the saddle where the volcano blew out the side of the caldera on its last eruption about 10000 years ago.

The lava flow from that eruption went about 23 miles south of the volcano, merging in with flows from other volcanos in the 10000-20000 year time frame.

The saddle sits at about 8000 feet altitude.

I took some photos, enjoyed the scenery, examined some rocks, and then headed down.

About half way down, you can take a scenic trail out across the lava field in this area, which will slowly bring you down the rest of the incline and intersect the trail to the ice cave.

The ice cave, which as mentioned sits in a lava tube, is about ¼ mile beyond the end of this scenic trail. The full hike is about 1.5 miles.

Once you reach the entrance to the collapsed area of the tube, you have to come down a steep set of stairs (think there are about 50-60 of them) to reach the platform above the ice in the cave.

As mentioned, the bottom of the cave has a large pool of ice about 20 feet thick. This ice maintains itself year-round and helps to keep the cave at 31 degrees.

It also creates an environment where arctic lichen and arctic algae can survive. (How they got here in the first place is still a mystery as the should not exist this far south)

The cave has a wall built in the back from stone, which was started by native peoples and maintained by settlers in the region later. The natives and settlers all harvested ice from the cave for at least several 100 years, possibly longer.

While ice harvesting was stopped in the 1940s, it also started its life as a tourist attraction around then as well.

The shop had lots of artifacts on display that were found in the area, mostly pottery and items left behind by natives that had lived in the area.

I hiked the short distance back to the shop and spent some time talking with the people running the place (I think the older guy might be the owner of the land) and some of the other guests visiting.

I later went inside to buy a cold drink and look at the aforementioned artifacts and browse the gift shop.

Finally decided to head back, so got going and took it slowly so I would hopefully not run out of fuel.

Thankfully it was mostly down hill on the way back and at slower speeds I arrived with about 30 miles of range to spare, so maybe ½ a gallon of fuel left.

Stopped at station and filled the tank, then went back to the motel.

I pulled off stuff from the bike, then sat down to work on my financial stuff again. Verify card charges, balance accounts, paid off cards, and move funds as needed.

I then decided to walk next door to the burger joint for dinner.

As I was leaving, a guy in one of the rooms down the row asked if I had any tools.

He was trying to remove door panel to fix his electric window which would not go up, and did not have the socket size he needed. Sadly, neither did I, but I did have some needle tipped vice grips, and that worked to get the bolts out.

But the problem was not something easy to fix. Appears that the cable that runs the window up and down has become jammed, knotted or fallen off the spindle that winds it up and down. Likely will need to remove the motor to even try and fix.

Guy decided he would wait till tomorrow and he has to take it to shop for a problem in his transmission as well. Wished him luck, put my tools away and then went for dinner.

Burger place is small inside, but figured out what I wanted and ordered.

Took a long time for food to be ready, though they do make things after you order it, so that does make things slower. Only 2 people and 1 online order were in front of me, but still took 20 minutes to get my food.

I walked back to the motel to eat and then started to work on the blogs.

Now that this one is done, I will try to get them uploaded as I am behind again, and then do a few other updates. Then I need to get route done, so likely no video work tonight.

Tomorrow we will get into Arizona, and probably bit over half way across. As I have already stopped at many of the sites along the route in northern AZ, I am going to skip most of that stuff tomorrow and just get to area around Flagstaff at least, hopefully bit farther (hoping to reach Williams).

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Long roads of nothing and traffic jams.

August 22^nd, 2026

Grants, New Mexico

Woke early and decided to just get an early start since I had a longer ride today.

Got ready and then loaded the bike.

Checked over room, dropped the key in the box and hit the road.

Stopped on edge of town for a Route 66 photo op, then hit the interstate.

A large part of the ride today will be on the interstate as there are no older alignments left to ride. Some of the oldest are still there, but are not longer accessible by vehicle, or are rough gravel sections that dead end in the middle of nowhere at bridges that no longer exist. In some cases, the road is just gone.

A few alignments exist as frontage roads, but do not allow a continuous drive, you need to back track and get back on freeway to reach next section, so those I skip as well unless there is something really awesome on the route to see.

Stopped a bit later to get fuel and then back on the road.

Had a few off the interstate routes, mostly just running along beside the interstate as a frontage road, and some short sections where the road cut across something the freeway went around.

Also rode through a few small towns, but nothing much to see in them.

An hour outside of Albuquerque and we were able to get off onto some older alignments, most which still ran next to freeway, but going down the canyon, so was a scenic ride.

Few sections that did wind off into the hills a bit before coming back to the freeway corridor.

Finally came out of the canyon onto the main road across Albuquerque which was the original alignment into town starting in the mid 1930s.

NOTE: Before that time, Route 66 went north to Las Vegas and Santa Fe, NM before coming south. There had been no existing roadway in the canyon when 66 was formed in 1926.

In the mid 1930s, a local guy who had lost an election and had some other politically motivated attacks aimed at him got a crew together and in roughly a month created a roadway from Moriarty to Albuquerque. The state tried to stop it, but was too late.

He later commissioned to have the route moved, basically taking all that traffic away from Santa Fe, though they managed to survive anyway from other means.

The road which is now Central Blvd runs out of the hills and toward the center of the valley before heading back up the other side. The 1926 route had actually gone south and then back up before the straighter route was built in the 30s.

I chose to follow the later route as the early route was not drivable in many spots and you had to follow a local highway, or even some gravel roads. It then came back up to the interstate on highway 6. (NOTE: Glad I did not take that route, as they had it closed near the freeway for some construction, so would have had to back track a few hours.)

After I entered the city, I rode about a mile or so in and then stopped to see if a friend I had here in town had seen my Facebook message I sent earlier that morning.

He had not, so I continued down the road, but about 10 minutes later I got an alert and it was him and he had finally seen the message.

I pulled off into an empty parking lot at a shop not open, and we exchanged a few messages and he just had time to meet me for lunch if we could get to it soon.

I found a Route 66 themed diner down near I-25 which was near the halfway point of the road anyway.

He was already close to that location, so worked great.

Took me about 15 minutes to get there, so he had arrived and gotten a table already.

I found the place, parked, grabbed a few bags (Albuquerque has a very bad problem with theft of stuff on/in vehicles, even entire vehicles.)

I could still see the bike from inside, but the critical stuff was with me.

Met up with Jack, who I know from the various conventions I attend and via our mutual friends Kathy and Wesley, both actors from the 1970s and 80s.

We had lunch and talked about various things; he then insisted on buying. We then took a photo with our server and parted ways as he had to go do some work stuff and I needed to get back on the road.

I rode the rest of the way out of town, stopping on the edge to use the restroom at a Loves truck stop which was just packed with cars and people.

Got onto the frontage road and road a few miles on it till we reached the Rio Puerco bridge which is still standing, but no longer used for motor traffic.

I stopped at the gas station nearby to buy some drinks and take a short break, then rode over to the bridge to do some photos.

At this point the access road alignment runs a few miles to a dead end, so my only option was to get back on the freeway. This would be the route for quite a distance.

A few miles up the road and traffic slowed to a crawl and then stopped.

Sat there for probably 15 minutes, Maps is now telling me it is a 1 hour delay due to construction. WTF?

We would creep ahead a bit, then stop, repeat, and then we started to move. Reached the speed limit, and 2 miles later, dead stop again.

Sat there another 10 minutes, repeated the same pattern.

Eventually we got going slowly, and then kept going.

The construction, lane closure and accident Maps kept telling me about never appeared.

NOTE: I guess there was an accident with a Semi Truck and many cars had been diverted or turned around, but traffic still backed up about 20 miles on the freeway, which was when I was on it. During that 1 hour to go 20 miles, they finished cleaning up the accident, and the lane closure and construction finished for the day and lane was re-opened. They are resurfacing, so must work just in the days till about 3:00, which was when this whole thing started for me.

Thankfully the 100+ degree temps I had seen most of the day (first hour was bit nicer in mid 80s-mid 90s) started to drop as a heavy overcast moved in. Lots of rain showers visible in the distance on either side of the freeway and even ahead. Winds picked up as well.

The overcast, combined with winds blowing and the moisture in the surrounding region cooled things off nicely, got down to 80 shortly after we cleared the traffic jam.

Once things cleared, I rode another few miles before turning off the freeway to use the older alignments again which are still drivable in this area.

This routes actually do get away from the freeway, up to 2 miles apart in many spots, and wide in and around canyons and hills the freeway just plowed over.

Finally came into edge of Grants where I will stay for the night.

Was not far into town when I found the motel I am staying at.

Pulled up and got checked in. Host was going to walk me over to room, I rode bike over but then they changed me to a different room. Guess they had just completed a bathroom remodel in the other room and the epoxy smell was still quite strong.

The other room was just a few rooms down and it had been finished a week or so back, so was not having the problems with construction smells.

The Southwest Motel is an original 1950s motel that the current owners are remodeling, and is not a bad little place.

I got bike unloaded and then decided to ride down the road a mile to the convenience store to buy some drinks.

Once back, I then put the bike under cover and changed into street clothes.

Decided to walk over to the pizza place a block down the road for dinner.

Got there and it was pretty dead. One couple at the bar, and a father and 3 teens in the game room making a huge racket with the air hockey game.

I went into the smaller room and got a menu and sat down there, much of the place was closed down, so only a few areas you could sit.

Ordered my food, a 9 inch pizza and some breadsticks with toppings.

Food arrived. Pizza as hoped, but the breadsticks were a full 16 inch pizza!!!

Ended up eating way too much food and did not even finish the breadsticks.

Worked on getting footage off the cameras while waiting and eating.

Then back to the motel and at this point I was exhausted. Between the long day, heat, and not too much food, I decided to just go to bed even though it was only 8:30.

Laid in bed for a bit, but did get up and down a few times to adjust AC or use restroom or change clothing, even walked outside to verify cover was okay as I could hear the wind whipping it around.

Think I finally fell asleep about 9am, not really sure though, but body must have needed sleep.

See you in the morning.

Todays Route:

Day to relax and explore

August 21^st, 2026

Tucumcari, New Mexico

Slept in a bit, do not even recall when I got out of bed.

Showered and dressed, then walked outside to look down the road to see if the diner was actually open. Looked like it was, so got helmet and other items and rode the half block down and parked at the diner, Rubee’s Diner.

Had a good late breakfast, though place was a bit slow to get order, but food was very good.

Left and rode a few blocks over to the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum.

This small museum is affiliated with the Mesalands community college and their Paleontology program as well as some other artistic programs.

I walked in and the lady did tell me they would be closing in about 35 minutes for lunch, but decided I could probably get through it in that time as I rarely read every sign and note and gloss over some artifacts anyway.

Museum went over several fossil finds in the area, even had a case of finds by students during their workshop programs they offer.

Lots of the skeletons are actually bronze casts, something they do at the facility or nearby school as part of an art program.

Several other items were also casts of real bones.

A few actual fossils on display though to round things out.

Some diorama type displays and some stuff aimed at kids as well.

Finished up and looked over things in gift shop, but really do not have room to buy stuff.

She locked up as we both walked out and I went back to the motel to relax and work on stuff.

Got some videos converted and some other things cleaned up, and then wasted some time looking on social media.

Left early for dinner, thinking I would work on video conversions while I ate.

Rode down to the other edge of town to eat at another recommended place called Del’s Restaurant.

Parked and went inside, got seated and food ordered. I then got laptop out and started to work when server came back and conversation about the videos came up.

Then couple at table next too me chimed as they had overheard and more discussions ensued, and a couple at the bar got involved as well.

Lots of discussions of travel, people we met, and various topics, mostly between 2-3 of the 7 or 8 people in and out of the area.

Spent much of it talking with the lady at the other table as she was interested in my travel plans and ideas and how I was working to share the experience with others via various platforms.

We eventually started to get ready to go. Paid my bill and left and rode back to the motel and continued to work on video conversions till I finished what I needed to edit another video.

I then sat and wasted some time before I remembered I needed to plot tomorrows route still!

So ended up being up till 1:00am to get that done, so now I am going to bed!

Stopped a bit later to get fuel and then back on the road.

Had a few off the interstate routes, mostly just running along beside the interstate as a frontage road, and some short sections where the road cut across something the freeway went around.

Also rode through a few small town, but nothing much to see in them.