Day 4: Easy Rider Tour – Needles to Flagstaff

I woke up early, got some coffee and decided to jump on the bike and scout the perimeter.     In a couple more hours, we’d head out. I crossed the Colorado, took some pictures and enjoyed the morning sun.       Made me think of one of the times i’d been here, in 1991, with Missus Zip.

Route 66 California Side
Route 66, California.   This sign has been here forever.
Route 66 until 1947
Old Route 66 until 1947
Colorado River - Easy Rider
Colorado River morning. Behind  me is the bridge from the Grapes of Wrath.

Random thought about bridges.     As I sat there that morning  and drank my coffee, I realized that 2 bridges connected 2 Fondas, crossing the same river.    Peter, from Easy Rider, and his father, Henry from the Grapes of Wrath.    They were both about the same age, and their respective movies made both of them famous.    Both bridges are a stones throw from each other.    I don’t know that any of this means anything, but to me it was interesting.

Grapes of Wrath Movie (1940)
Grapes of Wrath Bridge, Route 66,   circa 1940

Time to head back.   Finished my coffee, and back to the fold.  Kickstands up in 20 minutes.

Graham is a stud. she was there.
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and ready to Ride.   Nice Bike.

We headed out.   On to Oatman, one of my favorite places.

Park Moabi
We rode this, on our way out.
Easy Rider Tour colorado river
And  this.   One of my favorite bridges.   Exactly like the movie.  The Red Rock bridge (to the left) was torn down in 1977.
Easy Rider Colorado RIver
I can almost hear the Chorus…..

 

Easy Rider Colorado River
When you get off the exit at Topock, this looks exactly the same. Frontage road to the old Bridge.

Then through Topock, and on our way to Oatman Arizona.   The road started bending more, and the ride was good.     I don’t know how many times I’ve ridden this road, but its always good.    The first time I found it, this road was gravel almost all the way to Oatman.     Then route 66  hit a revival, and it got paved. We rolled into Oatman and bummed around for about 45 minutes.

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Paul and Big D, cooling off.
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The crew, Oatman Arizona

We headed out of Oatman before noon.

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Short break in Cool Springs, Arizona.   Behind us, Arizona’s nipple.

Out of Oatman, to Kingman, where we had lunch at some 50’s diner.   We headed on toward Flagstaff, wound through Seligman, Williams, and on to Bellemont.   More Easy Rider there. We pulled in, late in the day just like in Easy Rider.     It felt pretty cool to show these places in person to other people.

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Hey man, can I get a room?
Hey man, gotta room
Just like in 1969
Easy Rider Pine Breeze Inn
The owner wasn’t there, so he wasn’t able to deny us a room. Wouldn’t have mattered, we had reservations in Flagstaff. Either way, you have to ride off and shout “you asshole!”  Just like in the movie.    I’m sure the owner would understand.
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Our Crew, long day.    Good Picture.
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One last goodbye.   Keeping it Real.

we headed the 10 miles into Flagstaff, fairly spent.

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End of the day, Flagstaff Arizona

I had some work to do that night, so I had a couple of drinks at the bar, back to the room to get them done.     A great day. We had a lot more ahead of us.   Tomorrow we’d hit a few locations for the movie, and head into Monument Valley. Day 4:   205 Miles. View Larger Map

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