I was sitting there eating my barbeque plate and it occurred to me I did not want to ride to Monument Valley and through Colorado. It was just a matter of being tired of being blown all over the place day after day by this unrelentless wind…and being cold. I was ready for some warmth.

So I made the executive decision to forego the remainder of my planned trip and head home on a more southern route,visiting my Dad in Alabama before going back to Atlanta.

This still means a few more days of riding, and it’ll only cut the trip short by about one day, but I’m just tired…and I want to go someplace where I know people.

So I assessed the situation geographically and just headed south right by the Grand Canyon…

I took the 89 alternate which leads in a wide arc around the northern perimeter of Marble Canyon where I was able to get a couple of shots of the Vermillion Cliffs area.

Then I took the regular US 89 to Flagstaff…just in time, by the way, to see the smoke boiling up from the fire which was in the news today. I jumped on I-40 and rode it down to Holbrook and US Hwy 180. This took me down to connect back with US 60 and pretty son I was back in Pie Town for the night.

We’ve all heard the phrase “you can’t go back”. Well, it applied in this case as well. It was free camping but the allure of Pie Town was somehow lost. Plus I left this morning much too early to have a second piece of pie. So long, Pie Town.