So far payment was required to park for our hike at Cathedral Rock in Sedona, our ride round Sunset Crater near Flagstaff, our two entries into Arches National Park and also our visit to Canyonlands. And there is a raft more coming up as we are currently at Bryce Canyon National Park. But we really did know about this. We had therefore bought the 'America is Beautiful' card which allows us free access to all National Parks in the USA for a year - and all it costs is $80 - that's less than English Heritage or the National Trust. No hidden extras; State Tax, City Tax, Resort Fee or tip. So we are dollars in!
Bryce Canyon is known for its Hoodoos - which are stone pillars. We had visited it in 2014 but did not have the time to hike down into the amphitheatre. We had the time pressure of going back to work. This time we had the time and braved the heat. We are getting a decent mileage out of our dual purpose motorcycle/hiking boots.
We are restricting ourselves to 'modest' accommodation in America - the truth is we have been doing that most of the trip but here it seems to be more of a conscious effort as prices quickly soar for benefits we don't need and wouldn't use. Our motel was just a few miles from the entrance to the National Park and was part of an overall resort where we could eat if we wanted. There wasn't much other choice nearby anyway. You could also have a Country and Western themed singalong dinner which tempted us - unfortunately during our stay it was Bluegrass every night and not Country hits which was just not our thing...
We also had a ride out to see the Grand Staircase - Escalate National Monument. We are not sure what the difference is between Monument and Park, but we didn't have to pay for the Monument as we rode along 'Scenic Byway 12 - An All American Road' as the signposts told us. And there was a very interesting ride on the top of a ridge that was well worth the effort.
One thing to note here is how good, brilliant even, the quality of the roads here - not just no potholes but no speedbumps of any sort. There is also a total domination by Harley-Davidson of the big motorcycle scene - everybody is riding one like the one we left at home. However, despite everybody telling us that the PanAmerica is a roaring success, here we haven't seen a bike like ours on the road since Montevideo.
We sheltered at the Visitor Center and watched the film about the area - millions of untouched acres, loads of dinosaur fossils and 200 types of bee.
Sheltered? From the sun, not the rain this time!
