Finally out of Phoenix

We never thought we would get out of town. Not that we were not enjoying ourselves. How could you not when you are hanging with great friends, with great weather and all the time on your hands. Roby has definitely learned to sleep in late. Our final quest was to pick up the motorcycle and store it at our friends house. It did not disappoint. We got to the warehouse at 7:00 pm and the crate was falling apart and had a big bulge in the side. This was not a good sign. Upon tearing the crate apart, I was in disbelief, my motorcycle was laying down which is not a good thing. Thank god the tank did not crack or blow up. Those wonderful movers-I would not suggest Kauai Commercial to anyone. they failed to lock in the tires and thought a few tow straps would hold it in place and we paid them $500 for this cardboard box. Thankfully Roby had attached the helmet to the bike and it acted like a brace which limited the damage to the bike. But this just added more issues to deal with and we were supposed to be leaving the next day. Needless to say it was not over. The battery was dead so we had to replace that at the warehouse and did not get the bike to our friends until almost 9:00 pm.

We woke the next morning, finished the packing and headed out the door-albeit 1 hour late. With our luck we stopped at a subway for lunch and right next door was a motorcycle shop so we were able to get an estimate for the motorcycle. We would be able to file our claim once we hit Colorado and found a fax machine. Things were coming into line.

Since we did not really have any schedule we decided to stop off at Arcosanti-Paolo Soleri's sustainable city he has been builiding for over 30 years. Amazing what he is doing and his goal is to design and build a city where you live, work, and socialize for over 5000 people. they have workshops and internships and volunteer work to help with the building and learning how to do his pottery. You also get to take courses and interact with Paolo. Well worth it. Roby and I are considering going and living at Arcosanti for the 5 week program when we return.

Now that we are two hours behind schedule, we decided to forget having a schedule and bagged going straight to Monument Valley and took a detour to Antelope Canyon near Page Arizona. We needed some firewood so we stopped on the side of the road and broke some dead limbs off a tree and somehow piled them into the truck which was filled to the brim. Money is tight so we have to pillage our wood. We also encountered our first fiasco. The great idea to put the grill cover over the bikes did not fair so well. I guess it was not made to withstand the wind shear at 75 MPH.

We arrived in Page and found a campground mainly for RV's but it had an area for tents and it was pretty full. No wood fires were allowed so fortunately the weather was cooperating and we had a nice evening. Set up our new tent which was a snap!! We learned what real retirement was when I encountered an older lady brushing her dentures in the bathroom!!

I recommend Uncle Ben's Brown Ric packets, they need very little water and cook quickly which is important when you are hungry and cooking over a bunsen burner.

The next morning came early and we had to be at the Tour Place at 8:00 am for our adventure to Antelope Canyon. Good thing we are fast. We broke camp and got ready in less than 30 minutes and arrived on time.