The Eastern Front

Gina, Marlene and Janna



Duncan (an Australian ex-pat) and Peggy



Gilligan's Island




6
6
Today has me tucked into a motel bed in Seligman, Arizona. I did the grand tour of Hoover Dam in the morning and lunched eastwards with some reluctance. My trip is East-west and any eastwards travel has to be redone. But the Canyon awaited.

I spent yesterday afternoon in the Roadkill Cafe on Route 66 after enduring a snowstorm on the interstate going east towards the Grand Canyon. I was dressed for rain but not what happened next. I had rain, sleet, snow and a very real fear of ice on the road. I saw a pile-up involving at least two bikes on the other side of the expressway and it looked bad.

I was freezing on the bike and my best waterproof gloves weren't keeping the cold out. It was below zero and Seligman was still 27 miles away. I tried to warm my free hand n a cylinder-head but it was a bit risky, I just had to wait for those 27 slow-motion miles to crawl by.

I arrived at the Cafe and lurched to the bathroom to give my fingers five minutes of warm water to get the pain out. It's been years since I've had to do this.

I was lucky to have stopped in at a place with all the things a cold clod needs. I managed to score a good room at the motel next-door, which was a prized item that particular afternoon.

Once the necessities were secured I managed to relax into an evening with four couples in the bar. Three of them were on their way, on Harleys, westward and had stayed after I told them about the pile-up. We ate, drank, played pool and generally had a great time. One does one's best on these occasions.

I tried to get the Guzzi started to move it's snow-laden carcass over to the room but I would have needed to run it under the tap for five minutes. The throttle was frozen and I, quite wisely I think, gave up.

I saw the weather pattern in the forecast but forgot to add the altitude into the mix. I'm at 5000 ft here. The place I was headed to that day received six inches of snow, so I was lucky to stay put.

So there you go. Safe, sound and sane. Not sure what happens next. Stay tuned.