This is just all feeling like a deja vue. Coming back 20 or more years later to Sedona, as it was to Las Vegas and I am sure many other towns on my path, I am witnessing the incredible growth which is taking place in this country. What is the future holding for the next generation?… You better get on the road now or it might be too late if you wait any longer!

We left Kingman yesterday morning, take a look at Spirit’s girl friend looking on him as… where are you going? Mark and Anjie are such animal people, they had the run of the house (that is the dogs…)… yes, the sofa too, amazing how quickly Spirit can learn “sofa”… and we could literally feel the room vibrate when they both slammed into the wall at the end of their running circle which had the sofa at the finish line!

This was my co-pilot all day, trying to fake it as up and looking! He had such a blast, Spirit had come a long way from the day I rescued him from the shelter and would not even look at me in the eyes for a couple months!

So yes, somehow the direction taken end up being East… again, but a bit above the way we came originally. It was an easy ride on 40 East, with Humphrey’s Peak on the left as we approached Flagstaff, the highest point in Arizona, 12633ft… in case you wanted to know. From there, south on 89A, an incredible curvy and demented road, narrow, specially with a trailer, and there was no pictures taken, both hands on the wheel it was a 4000 feet drop to Sedona in just a few miles.

We will ride that one soon for pictures, there are no pull overs, will make magic and take some shots… a video would have been incredible. Sedona of course, being more eye candy for the traveler, welcomed us with its canyons, colors, majestic shapes… and traffic.

Much road construction is going on. Sedona sees as many visitors as the Grand Canyon now, I have to say all has been built tastefully, with many Art Shops, Restaurants, Galleries… of course all very pricey. We continued south past Hwy 17 to the Park’s Office. It is at that point all National Forest and I am now in the habit to stop, wether it is BLM or State or Federal Land and talk… maps or Internet information just is not cutting it.

I learn a lot from the Rangers, they know the roads, where to camp and not to camp. I found out sadly that primitive camping is not that safe around here, many break ins have occurred, it surprised with such a town near by, and then again, that might be one reason, many people have been displaced toward the south.

So, no primitive campsite for us, we are at the Beaver Creek Campground, a very quiet place, small, water and out houses only. Great Hosts, Patrick and his wife, with a lot of knowledge of the area, they also confirmed the Rangers warning… all is good here.

We took a nice ride today, back to Sedona and south on 89A, rode the Red Rock loop which was half paved and half dirt, pushed all the way to Cottonwood where Dead Horse State Park is, and by coincidence I bumped into the family that was camping near me in Joshua Tree. Yes, they also live on the road with 4 kids… or was it 3?

I need to go back to the Park’s Office tomorrow, there are many Jeep Tours in town I noticed, where they can go… I should be able to go, but, lets make sure of it! The rig is doing great, again it feels like one unit. Mark, back in Kingman with his patience and knowledge did an incredible job. Yes, he did sweat a bit when we (I love saying we!… even though I watched most of the time…), had to enlarge an engine hole and retread it. Much stronger bolts now are in… Loctite… My Karma as to where to break down has been incredible, Mississippi where my friend and ace mechanic Walt fixed me up. And now near Kingman where Mark got me going on the road again.

Being in transit means stopping at Food stores… and my mood has been on pork chops and potatoes. I am enjoying what I am calling my Micro Cooking, not microwave please, but the fact that the only space I have is 2′ x 2′! And all this was done in one pan. Thin sliced potatoes sauteed in butter, make room for the pork chops, add a few floret of broccoli. Dish it out and in the same pan make a quick sauce mixture of Dijon mustard and horseradish with the drippings left from the pork chops. Garnish with green onions, red roasted peppers… whatever you have handy…easy enough…

If not, a little patience and the recipes that I make on the road will be made into a cookbook…

A motorcycle, or for that matter any vehicle, camping cookbook! I believe that food should look good and trust me that with the explanations you will do it even better than me! The book by the way will be spiraled and laminated… will fit just about anywhere and will take your abuse!

And I thought I was on vacation!!! Honestly, I just love what I am doing…

Time walk with the monster, look at some pictures, more cooking… it has been HOT… very warm, but NOAA still comes up everyday on the screen… no need for surprises again!

You be well…

Ara & Spirit

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 7:22 pm and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.