Monument Valley I’ve always felt a spiritual side to riding and have often referred to my rides as “my Church”. If riding a motorcycle is Church, then Monument Valley is the Cathedral in which communing with nature is at it’s apex. My man, Jeff, and I recently completed a 3,500-mile adventure over two weeks. We started by completing an Iron Butt Challenge, the Saddle Sore 1,000, the first day of our trip. We went on, visiting his parents outside of Phoenix. Then, like all bikers, we took the scenic route home. After a day of heading west to California, then north to Nevada, then back into Arizona, riding Historic Route 66, we spent a night at the Grand Canyon’s south rim. The next day, we rode probably our shortest day, but the best day for photography and relaxing.
Its 10-15 miles to the Utah State Sign, where my rather unwilling photo subject and I stopped to collect another state sign photo with an amazing view in the background.
Heading out of Grand Canyon National Park on Scenic Highway 64, we spent our Memorial Day riding the Navajo Code Talkers Memorial Highway on State Route 264/US Route 160 through Tuba City, the home of the Code Talkers. I rode through the heat of the desert keeping them and their families in my thoughts and prayers. As we approached Kayenta, AZ, the highway curves to the right and all of a sudden, the bluffs and mountains on the left fall away and the first rocky formations of Monument Valley come into view on a vast plain that seemingly stretches forever. We gassed up in Kayenta, had a snack and refilled water bottles. Heading north out of Kayenta, we were able to catch our first photo op. Looking at the map, side roads are not apparent, but there are dirt roads every mile or 2 with asphalt enough to pull over a bike or two.
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Continuing north, I never thought in a million years that the highway was so close to these beautiful limestone formations. I rode down the highway feeling the positive energy of the earth, hot wind in my face, thrumming engine in my ears....peace. I forgot completely to signal to my man to pull over at one of the 12 designated scenic stopping
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