Start Location: Farmington, NM
Ending Location: Panguitch, NM
Miles Today: 363
Trip Miles: 2496
States Visited: 7
National Parks Visited: 1
Low Temp: 70.8° F
High Temp: 95.2° F
Min Elevation: 3825'
Max Elevation: 7462'
Route Map:
White Sands 2024 Day07
Today we were only in New Mexico for around 60 miles which was a good
thing. The roads were terrible and, on top of that, there were three
construction sites where there was only one lane open and you had to
wait for a pilot car to lead you through. Once we entered Arizona and
the Utah, the roads were vastly improved. I think this may have been
the first day when we were not on an Interstate for at least part of
the time. With this being the start of the weekend, and a holiday
weekend at that. you could definitely notice more cars on the roads and
lots more motorcycles. Even so I wouldn't call the traffic heavy.
We
passed through Shiprock, NM which we remembered from out Four Corners
Trip back in 2005. We also passed by the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake
Powell although we never really got a good view of the full lake. Later
this afternoon we did a drive-by of the Grand Staircase Escelante
National Monument.
We got a little rain in Kanab, UT and
then a few scattered showers from their to our final destination but
never got very wet. We are staying in a Quality Inn which is actually
located in Panguitch, UT. The Inn is about 18 miles from Bryce Canyon
National Park and 50 miles from Zion so our current plan is to stay
here 3 nights. We will go to Bryce tomorrow, Zion the next day, and
then head for home.
I forgot to mention in yesterday's write
up that we had a bit of a scare when we left our hotel in the
morning. I have a volt meter and ammeter on the bike so I can keep
track of the charging system and battery. In normal riding, the battery
voltage is 14.1 to 14.2 volts and the charging current is right around
7 amps. Suddenly the battery voltage was 13.75 and the charging current
was around 18 amps. I assumed it would settle down, but after 20 miles,
it hadn't changed at all. I checked the heat controls for my grips and
our vests to see if they had gotten inadvertently turned on but they
were all off. Then I remembered the fog lights, which I'm nor sure I
have ever used, and they had gotten accidentally turned on. After
turning them off, the voltage and current immediately went back to the
normal range. This was definitely a relief. I had visions of having to
find a battery and change it out in a hotel parking lot - not a job I
was looking forward to.
We ate at a local pizza restaurant tonight and we may be back there again - it was very good.
