At 3:45 on Friday, as soon as my customer had enough of me, I bolted out the door, changed into riding gear, threw the gear on the bike and started riding. I knew I'd ride on Thursday, so I put my gear together, so all I'd have to do is tie it down to the bike and leave. My destination was unclear and equally unimportant. I considered that there are many wildfires in the middle part of California, so a northern route from Redlands wasn't going to be much fun. Temps in Utah, specifically around Bryce, were already dipping into the high twenties in the evenings, so Utah wasn't going to be a good option. The Pacific ocean stopped me from going too far west, so east it was. I left the office at 3:45 and was packed and on my way by just after 4 pm.
I stopped for the night in Blyth California, after the sun called it quits for the day. After gassing up, I strolled into the Comfort Suites and checked into a room. I realized after stepping out for dinner that the room hadn't cooled down at all and had to pack up all my stuff and move to another room...and then another room. The first two did not have AC. They were controlled by wall thermometers that just weren't making the fan come on. At 75 degrees F, there was no way I was going to sleep, and there was no way I was paying $89 plus tax for a warm room in the desert. This hotel did something for efficiency where the occupant is required to slide their room card into a slot inside the room to get the lights to come on. If the card is pulled out, the lights all go out. The idea is that if you're not in the room, the room shuts down and saves electricity. I'm wondering if the energy savings idea also means that the temperature is controlled at the front desk and management doesn't let it go over 75. I'll never know because the nice young lady at the desk was helpful in finding me a room that had an airconditioner with independent controls.
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(Saturday)
California was hosting a Red Flag Alert up and down the 95 corridor. For those not in the know, and I was one of those people until Google came to my rescue, a Red Flag Alert occurs when the government believes that conditions are ideal for wildfires. I believe they were right because when I got off my bike in Blythe California, I noted that it was completely covered in ash and I was able to smell burning wood for several miles coming into Blythe. I've done a lot of things on this motorcycle, and it did cross my mind to head up 95 anyway. I mean, how many riders can say they outrode a wildfire? Despite the temptation, I really didn't have a good destination for after Hover Dam, so I planned to have lunch in Sedona Arizona and come up with something from there.
My route took me to Brenda, Arizona where I picked up Rt. 60. Brenda is just another desert town occupied by RV's. There is nothing in all directions. I mean they probably had dial-up internet access. Verizon isn't going to be laying down fiber anytime soon.
Rt. 60 is a straight road with lots of desert all around. Soon enough though, I picked up Rt. 71 for more straight, desert riding. Similar riding continued all the way into Congress, AZ where I encountered a single twisty segment followed by more straight road. Eventually though, I was nearing Prescot where there were lots of twisty roads! The speed limit was a souring 35 mph and to make sure I wouldn't violate that, Arizona placed an elderly lady in a red Kia squarely in front of me, doing between 20 and 35. To make double sure, they also placed a state trooper in one of the turnouts. The trooper was easily avoided because some nice guy on a Harley alerted me to his presence a few miles beforehand. Someone should write to John McCain about that section of road. There should be a law against having laws that detract from having fun.
Behold the lady in the red Kia:
From Prescot, I hooked up with 89A, and there are some nice twisty roads on the way to Jerome. I shot a ton of video coming through Jerome. Guess what? None of it came out. I have no excuse. I'll do it again ( :-) ). Jerome was a happening place. There was some burger place serving haunted burgers or something. People came from miles around for these. After that, the next real town was Cottonwood. Cottonwood is not a destination, but it had gas, and enough of it to get me all the way to Sedona, maybe 10 miles away.
Sedona is a nice place and is obviously the gateway to the Red Messas. I thought about deploying the drone until I saw helicopter tours being given. I suppose if I get there first, I'm just as entitled to the airspace, but, being a pilot myself, I'm just not up for chancing a close encounter of the helicopter kind. The drone stayed in its case. Lunch was a very nice Greek Salad at some pizza place with outdoor seating. I have to say that the weather in Sedona was perfect. In fact, even in the desert portions of this trip, the weather was perfect. I took a look at a map and realized that I barely had 500 miles in on this trip, probably due to all the low-speed limits and the red Kia. I still had a day and a half in front of me, so I decided to stay in the Coconino Park, go back to CottonWood, take a left on 260 and follow that to the western edge of the state. I thought I'd re-work the plan from there.
Coconino is a very nice park. I'd say that it's not exactly a park I'd plan a trip to, but it has some nice country views. I had my sights set on Slow Low, Arizona to figure out my next move and I was a little surprised how fast I got there. I was expecting more slow riding, but the speed limit was 65 in parts. There is nothing much in Slow Low, except a gas station and a turn onto 60 to get me to the Interstate, where I would look for suitable lodgings for the evening.
About 10 miles out of Slow Low, the October sun was setting and at a horrible angle. After getting gas, I really had to get off the road or risk an accident. I could barely see at times, and I knew I wasn't being seen. Time for supper. I found a place called Judy's something or other. I thought I could get a decent meal there. I was wrong. I had asked the waitress what on the menu was home cooked and she got this very befuddled look on her face. She said, "Honey, nothing is home cooked anywhere anymore." How distressing. I had some reconstituted pot roast. It was edible. I was disappointed, but not surprised. I did not expect to find fine dining, but I am always hoping to find memorable quisine when I get to a little town.
On the road again, I headed toward Mesa. I was a little concerned with my chances of finding a room if I stayed too far west. The first Best Western I saw was Gold Rush Best Western in Gold Canyon. After the previous evening's fiasco, I was looking forward to an uneventful stay. The room was nice, but it had this very faint smell of cigarette smoke. It wasn't enough to set off my allergies or cause me to get a new room, but it was noticeable, particularly when going out of the room and coming back in. The king size bed was comfortable though. While I relaxed, I pulled up Google Maps to see what my next move was going to be. I was 350 miles from Redlands, and it would take 5 hours plus stops to get back.
I decided that I would take a nice leisurely ride back in the morning and get some things done around the apartment...like catch up on my blogging. I was up at 6 am and on the bike by 7. 7 am seems to be my start time more often than not. The plan was to take 60, circle the city to the north and pop out on 10 for a super-slab ride back home. The ride was mostly uneventful.
Somewhere west of Phoenix, my check engine light came on. I pulled off the highway at a Lowe's truck stop and consulted my GPS-911, which I carry on all long-distance trips. It occurred to me right then that I might not have been able to use it if I hadn't brought my laptop! I was considering leaving it behind. Lesson learned! The indication was that one of the coils was having an issue. This is good news and bad news. The good news is that if it gives out, I'll lose power (18%), but I'll still make it back. The bad news is coils cost $200 each, before labor. If one coil is going, it's likely the rest are going to go before too long; after all, my bike now has 74,000 miles on it. All I could think about on the ride back was whether I should just get a new bike and forego dealing with the issues that come with a high mileage bike, or if I should just replace all of them ($1200 + labor), or if I should do the work myself ($1200 + time). I needed a contingency plan knowing that I was just about to start a 3-hour trek across the desert and had a risk of being broken down, so I ran inside and grabbed an extra bottle of water before getting on the road again.
The ride through the desert at mid-day always sucks. The air is so dry that your nose will water to stay moist. Even though it was only 96 (112 the last time I went through), it was hot enough to zap every bit of energy from my body. There was some split-lane travel required around Indio, but other than that, the ride back was uneventful.
Here are the maps:
I think my next gig needs to be in Dallas, or maybe Boise Idaho, so I can start filling in some of the empty sections.
Ah yest, look what I discovered about my riding boots...
Time to see the cobbler.
