Bay Area to Monument Valley 4/21

[Blondi]

Hi everyone
Not sure if this is the right place for this but I hope it is.
In 2 weeks I am headed out on my first road adventure of this magnitude.
Leaving early Saturday morning
, heading south towards Las Vegas, then towards the West Ridge of the Grand Canyon. My goal is to get there by Monday the 23rd. I turn 43. Total road trip adventure.
From there Ill be going about to Monument Valley. Places I have dreamed of since i was a kid.
I'm hoping for any suggestions on places to see &/or visit.
I have 8 days of me, my bike, with nothing but road. Plan on doing a lot of painting on this trip. Looking for veautiful views, places with character.

Thank you!

 

[Butch]

A friend moved to Lake Powell and wanders around that area doing photography.

I'll ask him. He does a little on Instagram as mojosez

 

[berth]

I have 8 days of me, my bike, with nothing but road. Plan on doing a lot of painting on this trip. Looking for veautiful views, places with character.

You do have a lot of road in front of you.

If you plan on doing a lot of painting, then you plan on doing a lot of stopping.

You should probably think about settling down in Flagstaff, and then "day tripping" from there. Even still, Monument Valley is 3hrs from Flagstaff. Certainly a long day trip, but it's doable.

But you also have "ready" (for assorted values of "ready") access to the Grand Canyon, to Sedona, to Jerome (if you like mining towns), Montezumas Castle (if you like cliff dwellings).

I'd push you farther north to Utah (because, it's Utah), but stuff is even farther apart up there. If you were camping, and going point to point, it would be much more doable. But you have to be careful in Utah -- not every dot on the map has gas.

You can bivouac out of SLC or Cedar City and get access to a lot of stuff, but Monument Valley is still pretty far away, and so is the Grand Canyon (although you'll see some amazing sites in Utah).

But in the end, you want to be refreshed to make the trip home -- with it's "a stick in the throttle and handlebars secured with bungees while you sleep" route home.

Also, be aware, it's still going to be a bit cold around there. Dry, likely, but cold, especially at night.