The VLA is an interesting place. Anyone who has seen the movie Contact with Jody Foster will recognize the place. It’s used for radio astronomy. You can read all about it here.
The wind was howling out there, more so that I have experienced before, but the sky was clear as a bell.
The towers are huge!
and many…
Right down the road is Pietown, which I have tried to stop at on numerous occasions to sample the wares. I have heard there is an excellent variety of pie, but I’ll never know apparently as they have yet to be open. I do enjoy this place that is a well drillers property. I think of it as the VSA or very small array.
Things we don’t see anymore…
Love the fire extinguisher…
I changed my original route from TorC to Grants so that I could leave later and enjoy El Malpais NM. The park is beautiful, but I was amazed how few people I encountered. I felt like the highway was my own.
As I entered the park
I love seeing the layers in the stone.
Gorgeous country!!
La Ventana is the largest natural arch in NM.
The sky was crystal clear. Little did i know that as I traveled west I was about to encounter some weather!
But oh, how gorgeous!!
Around Holbrook it began to sprinkle so I decided to end my day there as it was getting late anyhow. By morning the storm has passed and once again I got gorgeous blue sky.
It was this morning that I had some electric problems and I decided to go to Flagstaff and have it checked at the Suzuki dealer. Northland Motorsports, was very helpful getting a service guy right on it. He tested everything and my powerlets all seemed to check out, but what would make both my GPS and ‘lectrics no longer work?? It’s today’s million dollar question.
On to Route 66 and Siligman. Everyone that goes this way just has to see it!
Traveling down Route 66 there are a series of very funny signs. I got shots of one, but the one I didn’t get was “If daisies are your favorite flower, keep pushing up those MPH…burma shave.
Love seeing the trains…
and the wildflowers…
My next stop was Oatman to pet the burros. The road up there was about as bad as a paved road can get! Can you say tar snake?
Not so bad here but near the top there was absolutely no asphalt. It was broken pavement and dirt. I couldn’t imagine it on a big ol’ Harley.
Once into Oatman, it’s well worth the journey. The town is adorable and the burros are plentiful.
These three Harleys had riders to match. The skull on the purple one was simply too much and the guy was in full regalia pirate garb as well as his pillion. It truly seemed like a costume party.
Gary thought i was kidding when i told him burros walked the streets. NOT!
These two guys faces matched their gear. They were riding all dirt in the desert. They trailered from CA and were into the outback experience. I think they both needed to invest in decent sunscreen!
More burros…
Can’t resist a photo of this biz…
I ended my journey this day in Bullhead City, across the river from Laughlin. I was tired enough to order a Domino’s Pizza and consume a bottle of red wine and go nowhere. So much for the lure of gambling.