Oh, that was a good idea not to start yesterday. A nasty storm hit Joshua Tree Park and Twentynine Palms. Fortunately nothing happened here. Lasse is feeling better, we're starting today.
We set off at 09:30. We say goodbye to Zoila and Axel and head east. After buying water and medicine for Lasse at Walmart, we turn off into Joshua Tree National Park. Break at 3.00 pm. We have cheese sticks with ketchup rolled up in slices of toast (not toasted, of course). After a total of about 200 miles (320km) we actually want to spend the night in Salome at a Koa campsite, but it is still blisteringly hot and the campsite is more of an RV park. So we decide to drive on. We are pleased that we can watch a cool American train pass by.
30 miles before Prescott, Lasse's engine suddenly stops. The rear wheel locks up and he struggles not to crash. The black mark on the road is considerable. Engine jamming! This can't be true. On the first day! Is it already over? The XT has used up all the oil. We top up with 800ml. I also spray chain grease into the spark plug hole and use the last rays of sunlight to loosen the exhaust valve a little. We are lucky! The engine has come loose and starts again. XT is indestructible! Everything has roller bearings - no plain bearings. A quick photo with an organ pipe cactus and on into the darkness. Our destination is a campsite that Robin and I had looked at but didn't take because of the rain and snow.
After 510 kilometers we reach the campsite at around 9 pm. It's at an altitude of 1,650m and we're cold. We only have two 100 dollar notes and can't deposit the required 18 dollars in the envelope ... never mind. We'll do it tomorrow. Set up the tent. Cooking. We have chicken franks with noodles and ketchup. Lasse agrees with Johny from Belgium, who always says: "If you drive with the Zündel, then set up your tent in the dark!"
While Lasse gets a good night's sleep, I get up and remove his tank. Although I have little hope that the XT will then start better, I replace the ignition coil. I've got it with me, so it's worth a try.
Around 08:30 I drive to Prescott and buy oil, fuses, brake cleaner and milk. Unfortunately, the blue XT is acting up. Feels like no gas. I make it back to the campsite. Tinkering, breakfast, packing, off I go.
10 miles later, we drain the fuel from the float chamber and poke around in the main nozzle. I assume there was some water in the gasoline. XT is running again. We buy another multimeter from NAPA to look for the fault in Lasse's electrics ... when we get the chance.
We cross a mountain range on a beautiful little highway (I recognize the turn-off where Robin and I took our first snow photos) and turn off onto gravel in Jerome.
As we were already in our sleeping bags at 9.30 p.m., we can get up at 7 a.m. today. The place is really nice. We set off for Sycamore Falls, but the parking lot is very lonely and the hiking trail is at least 3 miles long. We don't want to leave the XTs with helmets and jackets alone for so long ... and we don't feel like lugging them around. So no Falls today. The host at the campsite has already told us that there is a CAR SHOW in Williams this weekend. We end up in the middle of it.
There are some very cool carts to see. We have breakfast and buy more water and food. Off we go to the Grand Canyon. Two years ago, the annual pass was still valid for one car or two motorcycles. Now it's only valid for one motorcycle. So in addition to the one we already had, we had to buy a second one in Joshua Tree.
After some lunch, we set off for Tuba City at around 2.40 pm. Lasse has found a campsite there with tent sites and showers.
As this is only 80 miles away, Lasse also looks up a route to Tuba City on Google Earth. The route is fantastic. Hardly recognizable, not a building or soul on the horizon. And, of course, with turns and looking for a new route and pushing and tipping over.
After our battle with the first plateau, a young Navajo on a quad bike meets us on the plain. We ask him if we can get to Tuba City on the dirt road, which he denies. Too difficult at the next plateau. But he offers to drive ahead to the track to Tuba City. He only lost his cap briefly in the video. Later, he stops at a junction and shows us the way. Very nice!!!
And the rest of the route is awesome too. We reach Tuba City before 7 p.m., check in, shower and ride the 5 minutes to Denny's Diner for dinner without a helmet (Arizona style).
160 miles today
I get up early to dismantle the Ginger's electrics. Using the multimeter, I discover that the diode is intact. The fuse also has continuity from the positive battery terminal to the headlight. I am at a loss.
After a delicious breakfast, we set off at 10.30 a.m., although it is already 11.30 a.m. here because we are now in the US Mountain time zone. After 70 miles we buy some Arizona iced tea in the last supermarket and drink it in Arizona.
Hopefully no one will notice that we still have two cans of Arizona in our backpack ... Next stop Monument Valley. Unfortunately, motorcycles are not allowed on the Scenic Drive. So we just take a few photos and drive on. Gooseneck State Park. Only 2 USD entrance fee, but a shady spot and Starlink WLan. Very nice.
We drive back to Mexican Hat to fill up with gas and then take the cool route to the Natural Bridges Monument. There we booked one of 13 camp spots online in the morning.
Right at the start of the route, you climb up a rock face on gravel. A beautiful route. Once we arrive at Natural Bridges, we pitch our tent and drive into the park on the loop in the sunset. We walk the short trail to the third bridge and are thrilled. After that it's already 9.00 pm. We have thin spaghetti with corn and ketchup.
We don't get up and pack until 8.00 am. I traipse to the visitor center to maybe buy some drinks - but they don't have any. Just a water dispenser with chlorinated water.
We head east. 10 miles before Highway 191, we turn north onto Cottonwood Road. Super!
I thought we were going straight into canyon country, but no. We drive into the mountains and get into forest and up to 2,600m. It looks more like Oregon.
We only approach canyon country at the end of the route when we meet the 211. However, we turn east to drive to Monticello for gas and shopping.
From here, we want to ride the section of the TAT that Peter and I skipped in 2019 in order to ride to Needles Outlook.
The TAT piece was not so convincing. It had something of Oklahoma about it. Very straight and agricultural.
But the second part to Moab over the Geyser Pass was great. It was almost hard enduro uphill. We had to help each other and maneuver past a tree trunk.
A bracket on the luggage carrier of Lasses XT has broken off.
We splinted the break with an 8 mm box wrench and cable ties.
The pass is at 3,200m and we pass snowfields. It's 7 p.m. and we want to get to Moab. It probably takes just as long on the road as it does on the TAT ... so we continue on the TAT.
8.00 pm we are in Moab. The first campground is full. The Apache Motel too (I was there with Peter and Robin). But there's still room at the next campsite. Showers and to Dominos.
Because there are power sockets at the tables and all our devices and power banks are empty.
