Our stay in Las Cruces, NM was over when Tim's replacement spring finally arrived for the KLR. With no shop open that could fit the new spring we left and headed North West; with dusk fast approaching we decided to set up camp in a small town of 60 people: Pie Town. The town's claim to fame is the homemade pies that they whip up there. When we woke and packed our campsite away we set out on our quest to find some of this famous pie for breakfast. We went to the the two shops that made and sold these pie only to find them closed; dismayed we started to leave town when a shop that was open caught our eyes with a large sign out the front: Coffee. Well if we couldn't have pie at least we could have some coffee to pick us up. The shop was owned by two lovely ladies; full of jewelry, knickknacks and much more, we strolled around sipping on our coffee that they gave to us for free. We told them of our quest to find some pie only for them to reveal that they have some pie there. Hallelujah! Pie Town lives up to its name; the pie was delicious. Whilst enjoying our bounty we met a Frenchman who was riding the Continental Divide on a bicycle. What a long, slow, and tough journey; at least bicycles don't weigh 700lbs.
We then set our sights for the Grand Canyon with a scenic stop at the Petrified Forest National Park. This name was a little misleading as we all were expecting some trees standing that were petrified and more of forest. Nevertheless, it was cool to see these trees that had been turned, as if by magic, to rock. After hitting highway 40 heading West we set our cruise control until we arrived in Flagstaff, AZ. Here we happened across a motorcycle shop with the ability to change Tim's spring over. With a new spring and what felt like a new KLR we left with the hopes of happening across a rest stop to camp at as night was close at hand. We arrived at the rest stop only to find the entrance barred and a large "NO TRESPASSING" sign hanging on the gate. Seemingly out of luck we pushed on and found a campsite at the next highway exit. We pulled up and entered the reception of the campgrounds only to be told that they were closed. Bummer. As we were leaving a gentleman came after hearing what had transpired and told us of a great campsite just a little ways up the road, in the middle of the forest. Nature, seclusion, oh and bears. We decided to check our the site and immediately decided to stay when we arrived; it was so beautiful. With daylight fading we got to work setting up tents, collecting firewood for the night, and setting up early warning devices (lots of fragile twigs strewn around the camp) for bears. With the fire roaring we cooked up some delectable tin food, and enjoyed the soft glow of the embers in the fire. We made sure to put all of our food and trash far far away from the camp as to avoid our furry friends waking us up during the night. Following the very uneventful night we packed up our gear and loaded the bikes. The early warning devices work (or so we hope) as we didn't hear any branches snapping in the night; perhaps bears are very stealthy.
We left the forest haven that we slept in and rode, onwards to the Grand Canyon. The rate at which the scenery changed was incredible! One minute we were in the middle of a pine forest the next we were riding through sun scorched desert plains. Roughly 80 miles from our campsite we reached the Grand Canyon. Words cannot even begin to describe how amazing this enormous, impressive, even spiritual place is. We were all speechless upon first sight, and I am sure that most people have this symptom when they see this vast canyon before them. It's so hard to describe this feat of nature, and we are not poets so we will let the pictures we took do their best to explain. If you to are only travel to one place on this earth I would highly recommend it be the Grand Canyon. We somehow managed to pull ourselves away from the vistas of the Grand Canyon and continued our journey with a new destination in mind, Zion National Park. That day we managed to make it as far as Page, AZ and ended up finding a RV/Campground to stay at. Before arriving in this quaint town we stopped at another of Arizona's natural gems that it has to offer, Horseshoe Bend. This is another natural wonder that I do not possess the words to express. The magnitude of standing at the crest of the cliff overlooking the expansive canyon below that has been carved over many thousands of years by the green river below is almost too much to take in at once. Blink and pinch yourself because it surely doesn't look real.
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