Day 10 Gallup, New Mexico - Williams, Arizona - 250 miles

Another beautiful day and the temperature is hot already at 08.00. After having breakfast in the hotel we set out back on I40 towards the National Park where we are set loose on our own to go through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. Gary gives us a set time to meet at the other end, with a proviso that whoever is late buys the beers that night. This is much more like John's normal speed on a bike and we spend an amazing couple of hours travelling through. We aren't going to say anything, just put the photos up. Absolutely stunning. John comments that the forest must be of a similar age to the forest he found in the Libyan Desert.

The old route 66 (1926 - 1930) follows the line of telegraph poles in the distance

We leave the National Park and stop off for lunch at a local small business, Joe and Aggie's which sadly at the time of writing neither of us can remember! We journeyed onto Holbrook where we visited the Wigwam Motel and met from Cars. This old pick up truck was digitally scanned to create Mater. The concrete Wigwams are still in use as a hotel, and Tim and John check out whether or not they have AC. Each room has a classic car (mostly not restored) in front of it that it is a heaven for John.

Wendy and John with Mater from Cars

We head off after 40 minutes or so for Winslow, Arizona

Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me Come on, baby, don't say maybe I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me We may lose and we may win though we will never be here again so open up, I'm climbin' in, so take it easy

Another example of where the economy has found another way of surviving after I40 has cut them off. Gary blares out the Eagles song on his radio, and we take our lives into our hands having our pictures taken in the middle of the road. we are all told to buy long sleeved white t-shirts for going through the Mahova Desert over the next couple of days and need to stay coo. We do as we are told, but know that we will still be wearing our protective gear. In actual fact the Spada Air jackets that we bought have so many vents that we stay very cool, and don't suffer as many who didn't bring summer weight bike gear with them.

We drive past the Meteor Crater which was created after a meteor impact left a huge hole in the desert.. Gary's view is that we will be seeing a bigger hole in the ground tomorrow so it is passed by. We stay on I40 as most of Route 66 has been subsumed under it and head into Williams, the gateway to the Grand Canyon.  With another stop off at another Harley Davidson dealership - we're not sure how many t-shirts a soul can buy.  However we do see one of the Santa Fe steam trains and also some vehicles with frames looking suspiciously like eBears.

All the men sitting in a row at Harley Dealership

Another fast and furious ride, but we do arrive at the hotel at 16.00, although hang on it's really 17.00 as the clocks have gone back another hour! Ah well.... it feels like a short day. Strange what the mind can do for you when you are tired. We eat in the hotel with other members of the group and look forward to our next day off. We debate whether to ride up to Grand Canyon or take the steam train. We are however told that the steam train very rarely runs and it is a diesel. So we decide to ride the "beast" .