Featured Touring 3 States, 4 Friends, 9 Days, 1800 Miles, And Countless Smiles! Our Annual Tour Of The Southwest

@Armando Morales
It is spectacular, Armando! From the ride reports you've posted, I think you'd love it. It's all paved, though, so no off-roading on this loop. However, I know there are a number of off-road routes in this area, too, for both mountain bikes and adventure bikes. Hope you can put together a trip to this part of North America. It's beautiful!

 

Yes, @learningtofly, it is such a totally epic route! I know that there are accidents that occur on this road but my guess would be that most of those are during the winter. The road is technical enough that I have a hard time believing that people on it wouldn't be on high alert. But, these days, who knows?! It is interesting that guard rails aren't required. But the reason I've heard and read is that the snow plows that keep the roads cleared have to push the snow off the road and over the edge as there's no other place for it to go.

 

Day #7: Durango by foot...a day off the bikes
Daily mileage: 0
End of the day trip odometer reading = 1,273 miles

Over dinner last night the four of us agreed that it would be fun to sleep in a bit, explore Durango on foot, and give the bikes a well-deserved rest day. After eating a delicious--and free--breakfast at our hotel, we set off in our Van's to explore Main Street. The weather was picture perfect with mostly sunny blue skies and temperatures in the 70'sºF. We had no place in particular to be nor any particular time to be there so we could just poke around to our hearts content.

Today's report will mostly be street photos I snapped as we spent the day hanging out in Durango. I may include a caption or two here and there. Enjoy! And please stay tuned for Day #8 which will be Durango, Colorado to Winslow, Arizona.

Main Street is vibrant with numerous shops, restaurants and cafes, historic buildings, and even a food truck court!



This is the Strater Hotel which dates from the late-ish 1800's. We stayed in overnight at this hotel one night on last year's SW tour.



Hurray! A Triumph! We didn't see many on this trip and this one was a beauty.



This was an interesting sight--four H-D Road Glide Specials, all within the same model year or two, perfectly lined up nose out. I struck me kind of funny, like maybe four guys said, "Hey, let's all go buy Road Glides. But we all have to get a different color so we can tell our bikes apart."

BTW, those last two red bikes in the lineup are two different reds. And the orange one is the same orange as my bike ("Scorched Orange"). I don't know what the heck that green (?) one is!



Steve peeked in through the window of this store yesterday when it was already closed so he wanted to step inside today and look around. Lots of guitar goodies and some cool musician / guitar art. The name of the store was Highway 550 Blues. Highway 550 is the main north--south road in Durango and is what's called the Million Dollar Highway as you go north out of town.





We saw this couple and their kids as we continued our stroll down Main. We commented on what a cool setup they had for their cooler and the tabletop it provided for their kids. Turns out they have Tucson connections and the woman used to be a special ed teacher in the Tucson Unified School District where I worked some years ago.



At the recommendation of our waitress last night, we had lunch today at El Moro Spirits & Tavern. It had a great vibe and delicious food. Unfortunately, I was so busy enjoying my big bowl of corn and roasted chile chowder than I completely forgot to take a photo! Sorry, @Pegscraper, @Armando Morales, and @Dartplayer!



This was another place that our waitress recommended--she said it's a favorite place of hers to go. We didn't eat there this trip but I loved the "couple" sitting out front!



The cool new food court at the far end of Main Street



Day #7 continued in my next post...

 

Day #7 continued: Durango on foot

A few funny signs and flyers caught our attention, too.



For some reason, the guys were particularly interested in this flyer!



For any of you boxing fans out there...





Ron plays multiple musical instruments including the guitar, trumpet, and the piano. He took the opportunity here to play a few notes.



Durango has a distillery located just off Main Street. I couldn't convince any of the guys to go check it out but went on my own out of curiosity. It was really cool and I'll remember it for next time we're in Durango.



The interior of the distillery. That's the Colorado state flag next to Old Glory.



And Durango Craft & Spirits resident pooch, Annie. She welcomed me in then went back to business--which for her is clearly napping.



There are several large bronze statues throughout Durango including this one which is my favorite. It's located in front of the Durango & Silverton Railroad Station.



We liked the Derailed Pourhouse so much that we went back to its comfy back patio again tonight!



Next up, Durango, Colorado to Winslow, Arizona

 

Day #8: Durango, Colorado to Winslow, Arizona
Daily mileage: 309
End of the day trip odometer reading = 1,582 miles



Today's ride was another "pack it up and move on" ride after spending three delightful nights in Durango. Our destination on this day was Winslow, Arizona. This particular route took us through beautiful, rural countryside for the first portion of the ride and then through the heart of the Navajo Nation reservation from Shiprock, New Mexico to Gallup, New Mexico for just under 100 miles. Although some might consider the landscape through the reservation as bleak, it really has its own unique beauty, not to mention massive open views. Then we hit our second stint of a freeway at Gallup where we were on Interstate 40 for about 125 miles into Winslow.

Our destination within Winslow was the Las Posada Hotel which I've posted photos of here before. All four of us love this hotel which was renovated by the same couple that renovated the Plaza and the Castaneda in Las Vegas, NM which I reported on back on Day #3 in this report. It's a brilliant hotel and reason enough to spend time in the small, rural town of Winslow which is right on Route 66.



Today's route was a bit tiring but we arrived in Winslow well before we anticipated, partly because we forgot about the time change when we crossed from New Mexico into Arizona. We gained an hour so we couldn't check in for about an hour after we pulled in and parked the bikes. So we did the only logical thing...stored our belongings and went to the bar for a beer.



After getting a text that our room was ready, Steve and I got our keys and moved our things into our room for the night which is known as The Betty Grable Room. We've stayed in this room before and it has a nice patio out to the back side of this bank of rooms. Many of the rooms at La Posada are named after famous movie stars or politicians. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Betty Grable, here's a bit of info if you're interested in learning who she was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Grable

While in our room I could hear music that seemed to be coming in the direction of our patio. Here's what I saw when I stepped out to see what was going on. We realized later that this duo was staying at the hotel and were in a room just a few doors down from us. Their music and the whole scene was delightful!



We were eager to see our friends, Brian & Lori, proprietors of "The Motor Palace". We first met this lovely couple a few years ago when we spent a night in Winslow and discovered The Motor Palace. We immediately hit it off and have stayed in touch ever since. I'd emailed Lori when we knew we'd be in Winslow on this date to invite them to join us for dinner. It was fun to see Lori's 1946 Ford pickup parked in its usual place in front of their building.



And across the street from the Motor Palace was a new-ish restaurant called Flat Bed, named after the line about a flat bed Ford in the Eagles Song called "Taking It Easy". You know the other famous line..."standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, I'm such a fine sight to see".



Lori saw us coming and came out front to meet us. She was sporting a cool new belt buckle which was custom made for her. It's her pickup truck!





We were sad (for us) and happy (for Lori & Brian) to learn that they have sold their building. They decided to keep their residence but sell the building and business so they can have more flexibility to do the things they'd like (like motorcycle trips!) and to spend more time at their home in Joshua Tree in California. So we realized this trip would be the last time that The Motor Palace as we know it would be around.

After looking at how the Mercantile part of the building has changed, Lori brought us to the back part of the building--the part we LOVE! There was Brian among all of their motorcycles which they have started moving to their residence along with other items and memorabilia. Here are Lori and Steve sitting on a really cool piece of furniture that was renovated and given to them by a friend.



And here's the wider view of "the back room". I've shared photos of this room here before but always notice--and want to share--more things every time step foot in here! But this visit is most likely our last to this motorcyclists' mecca.



Day #8 continued in my next post...

 

Day #8 continued:

After heading back to our hotel and relaxing a bit, the four of us in the ride group along with Lori and Brian met for dinner at The Turquoise Room, La Posada's restaurant. It's a beautiful space with food to match.



The bar has been redesigned and is immediately on your left when you enter the restaurant. This is where we had our "beer in waiting" a bit earlier in the day.



I was in the mood for a proper martini so after asking our server what gins they had available I excused myself and went to check out one I'd never heard of that sounded intriguing. And I have to admit that a part of my interest was due to the name of the gin--Gray Whale. The bartender was great and he asked if I'd like a taste. Hmmm, YES!



After discussing the merits of this particular gin for a martini, the bartender said to go ahead and try it and if I didn't like he it'd just make me something else. Can't beat those odds!



I suspect he knew when he made the offer that the martini wasn't coming back. It was delicious!



And speaking of delicious, here are my dinner and my dessert. Yum!

Pork Carnitas



Homemade Sea Salt Caramel with Truffles gelato



Day #8 continued in my next post. The rest of the photos for today are motorcycles that are part of Lori & Brian's collection.

 

Day #8 in Winslow, Arizona at the Motor Palace

No captions, just motorcycle "porn" in this post. There is, of course, a story behind every bike!





Well, one caption. Lori said that this Ruby helmet was a gift and if her pride and joy.















Tomorrow Day #9 Our final day in the saddle as we make our way back home to Tucson

 

For us that love the Motor Palace, it was a very sad day and, yes, hard to say goodbye. We'll see Lori and Brian again but the Motor Palace will be no more.

 

Day #9: Winslow, Arizona to Tucson, Arizona
Daily mileage: 275
End of the day trip odometer reading = 1,856 miles



It's always sad to wake up on the last day of a great road trip with the realization that, yes, today is indeed our last day. And this morning was no different. But waking up at La Posada softens the blow because the hotel is so special, the breakfasts are outstanding, and I love to check out the morning train traffic along the tracks behind the hotel.

Unbeknownst to us, a large Harley Owners Group from somewhere in Phoenix had arrived yesterday evening so the "Motorcycle Only" parking was full to the brim with additional motorcycles sprinkled throughout the rest of the parking lot. Since Steve, Russell, and I each ride our touring Harleys on these trips and the additional bikes were all "HOGS", Ron had the lone non-Harley on the premises. Which he relishes.



This morning there was a string as far as the eye could see in each direction of freight train cars labeled, South Dakota Soybean Producers. My Minnesota brother farms corn and soybeans so I thought he's get a kick out of this. For those of you unfamiliar with U.S. geography, Minnesota and South Dakota share a border on Minnesota's southwestern side.



The Turquoise Room has wonderful breakfast selections and the food is always super fresh and beautifully prepared and presented. I'd never had their crepes with a cheese-ish filling, fresh strawberries, and an orange marmalade sauce. So that's what I opted for this time and it was a fine choice!



Thanks again to Google Images for these photos depicting what much of today's route looks like when we are near the town of Payson, Arizona, which is on the Mogollon Rim. It's a fantastic riding area and the temperatures in Payson were sooooo nice. We enjoyed those temperatures even more knowing what we'd be riding into in a few hours.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogollon_Rim







As we dropped down into Phoenix and found a place to gas up and get something cold to drink, we were greeted with temperatures in the 90ºs. Welcome back to southern Arizona in the summer! But anything other than 100ºF will soon be considered "cool".



Home again, home again after an outstanding trip with a great group! I am so grateful and blessed to be able to take trips like this. Hope you've enjoyed "the ride" with us!!





Next up is the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally at the end of July!

 

Thanks, @Bikerman! It really was a fantastic road trip. And many times throughout this trip I was riding along counting my blessings, among them my wonderful husband and great friends. I'm glad you enjoyed my report!