Day 51 Flagstaff- Ash Fork,Az - John's Half -N- Half Adventure - CycleBlaze

October 12, 2018

Day 51 Flagstaff- Ash Fork,Az

Finally a sunny day

This morning Karen, my warm showers host showed me around Flagstaff, we stopped in the Monte Vista Hotel for coffee. It's a Historic Hotel beautifully kept up. It's another coolish morning, but Sunny. Karen pointed me in the right direction on Route 66 to the interstate and a really nice descent from Flagstaff, then it flattened out going in to Williams. They're doing some construction on I-40 just before Williams, and if the road is even close to how bad the shoulder is it's a good thing .I was riding on the gravel on the side of the road because it was smoother than the shoulder. Once I got to the new smooth shoulder I flew into Williams. Did some grocery shopping in Williams. As I was pulling into the Safeway, I saw another touring cyclist. We talked briefly, he was headed out and wanted to go. I did my shopping, and then went looking for a place to get a bite to eat. I thought a diner would be great because I could get some pancakes, they probably serve breakfast all day long. Well I waited at a table for about 10 minutes for a server, nothing. I didn't want to spend a long time because I still had a ways to go. I had noticed that was a sign to a McDonald's I thought they're quickish I walked in,the place was filled with Asian tourists. I guess a Bus dropped them off. Well that's not going to work, there is a Taco Bell across the street didn't look busy so that's where I went, got a quick bite. Off I went, people had told me that after Williams there was a big descent. I left Williams and all I did was climb then a little descent not bad, and then the climbing again. When I got to the top of that one though, there was a sign" trucks use lower gears for the next 6 miles", it dropped I was loving it. Between The Descent out of Flagstaff and this one I probably got close to 10 miles of downhill fun. I pulled into Ash Fork, I was going to try to go to Seligman, but it was another 25 miles and the daylight was going to end before I got there. I didn't want to repeat of Grants New Mexico. If you remember I rode in the dark for about 30 minutes before I got there. I called the campground and they wanted $21 for a tent site, I found a motel for $29, I voted for the motel. I was a little nervous because the motel is painted Mary Kay pink on the outside. The hotel is from the 40s or the 50s so it's old, but it's clean, it has been somewhat updated.

The Monte Vista Hotel
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Karen, my warm showers host
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Cool old reception area, check out all the little Cubbies for mail
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They just don't make Grand hotels like this anymore
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Here we are in Ash Fork we dropped almost 2,000 feet since Flagstaff
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Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 2,793 miles (4,495 km)

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