Day 4: Sedona, AZ to Gallup, NM (381 miles)

Woke up this morning to a beautifully sunny, cool day in Oak Creek. We couldn’t get a table at the Red Rock Cafe across the street from the hotel, so we rode up to Sedona to the Creekside Bistro. No regrets: it was a gorgeous ride, and the food was fantastic — with a glorious view to boot.

We stopped to take a few pictures before heading south towards Camp Verde…

…then east through the Coconino National Forest to Payson. We stopped on the way to go up to Baker Butte Lookout . When Clo saw the dirt-and-gravel road leading up to the lookout she just shook her head NO, but I decided to forge ahead. After almost 2 miles of riding on dirt, then coarse gravel, then rocks, then mud, I finally arrived at the road leading up to the lookout tower, only to see this:

Onwards to Payson, where we stopped in a promising-looking Thai restaurant only to nope out of there (Clo: “Why does it smell like a pet store in here?”) and go next door to a pizza place, where I got a Greek salad for a much-needed change of pace from all the rich food we’ve been eating lately. It was actually great, and it completely beat my expectations of salad from a pizza place .

From there, we rode through Sitgreaves National Forest — more beautiful twisties! — and planned to ride through the Petrified Forest National Park, but it was closed by the time we got there. I tried to convince Clo that we should wait for an exiting car and then sneak in the automated gate, but for some reason she didn’t like the idea of trespassing on federal property. So we took a quick selfie in front of the park…

… and then to our last stop of the night, Gallup, NM, where we got a room at the historic El Rancho Hotel (filming location of Natural Born Killers and a whole lot of westerns I’d never heard of).

Turning in for the night. Tomorrow: to Santa Fe and beyond!