Arizona

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Day 49……19/05/2012

Well as predicted, it was just a kick back day today, and I will struggle to find anything to say. Lynne caught up with her cousin Sophie who is eight months pregnant, and has not seen for around thirteen years, and I just generally got in the way while Brian, Sophie’s husband gave their pool a bit of a spruce up. He had this great little vacuum cleaner type machine that attached itself to the bottom of the pool, and then just merrily went about its business scrubbing away. But that’s all I can say about today really.

Day 50……20/05/2012

Today we will visit the Saguaro National Park which is situated just to the west of Tucson, where there are literally thousands of the famous cacti of the same name. We were warned to get an early start as todays temperature was set to soar well over the hundred degree mark. After the short ride to the edge of the park we were greeted by the sight of a Coyote running across the road in front of us, much as a fox would back home, not bothered by us at all. As we went further into the park it was quite an amazing sight to see so many of these magnificent cacti, there were hundreds of thousands of them, and apparently they have to be over 150 years old before they grow the synonymous arms that you associated with them. By around 0930 the heat had become almost unbearable, but by that time we had arrived at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, where hopefully we would get some shade. The museum was a fantastic place, there were exhibits that showed all the desert creatures you would find around here, some in enclosures like the Mountain lion, Ocelot, and Wolf, and some not so cute in tanks, like Rattle snakes, Tarantulas, and Scorpions. Outside back in the blistering heat, every sort of plant and cactus, were represented along mock desert trails, some of which were in flower and very beautiful too. But the extreme heat proved just a little too much for Lynne, and we had to heed the words of an old cowboy we had met a while back on our trip, who had said “keep it slow, and keep in the shade” and with that thought in mind we headed back. I dropped Lynne back at her cousins for her to continue her catch up, and I took off on ride to visit another recommended local beauty spot up at the top of Mount Lemon some 100 mile round trip. After the initial ride through the sweltering heat, I was rewarded by spectacular sweeping roads, breath taking views, and at least a 20 degree drop in temperature at the 8000 foot peak on top of Mt Lemon, the only downside would be the descent back into Dante’s inferno. The four of us went out for a meal that evening at a great Mexican restaurant, I even had cake, well it was my birthday after all.

Day 51……21/05/2012

We had to say goodbye this morning to Brian, Sophie and the little bump, and made our departure around 0730 to try and get a head start before the oven door that is Arizona’s climate, swung fully open. We rode the 85 mile route just as fast as we could to Phoenix, where I would meet up once again with my friend Mark, who along with so many others I had met six years ago. But unlike so many of the others, it has only been a few that I have stayed in touch with. I had met Mark at the Yuma Women’s prison motorcycle rally, some six years ago, and Lynne and I had received the gracious offer to stay awhile with him and his wife Paula, and further offers of his knowledge of this region to act as our personal tour guide to show us some of the hidden gems of this large State. We arrived a little after 1030, the sat nav, or GPS as it’s referred to here, took us straight to Mark’s house in Phoenix. After the introductions, we were shown around their house and grounds, and very nice it was. We immediately thought of it as resembling a cooler oasis of green, with tall hedges bordering the property, all surrounded by the hot and mostly shade less features of a very large city. After settling in we took a run out in Paula’s SUV, and were given a fairly comprehensive tour of this vibrant, modern city. We also made a stop at the Harley Davidson dealership to pick up a new ignition switch for Lynne’s trike, as it has been playing up for a few days. On the way back to their house we stopped off to meet up with Scott and Christine, another couple that I had met at Yuma six years ago. The day was nicely rounded off with a meal at the local steakhouse, where plans were made for the following day’s activities.

Day 52……22/05/2012

Up at 0700 this morning to ready ourselves and beat the heat away from Phoenix, and a planned 340 mile round trip tour of the countryside to the northeast. Mark had a route in mind that would take us up into the mountains, through spectacular canyons, and along high ridges, it all sounded very good to us, especially when he mentioned that it would be a little cooler the higher we climbed. Well we started off and rode out through the hustle and bustle of Phoenix morning rush hour, and on towards the mountains, which could not come soon enough as there were predicted high temperatures of 107-8 degrees, and already it was baking hot, the scenery changed from the characteristic desert, to a more rugged and rocky backdrop, and it got slightly cooler but not much, at the moment. One thing that does take a little getting used to when riding in this part of the US is the sight of the rider in front “Mark” openly carrying a loaded gun in a holster slung across his shoulder, not something you see much at home, but that’s their right in this state and fiercely protective of this right they are too. The road got twistier the higher we went, and the views ever more stunning, we were glad to have Mark showing us these little known biker routes, as we would probably not have found them on our own. We got to Salt Water Ridge, and parked up at an overlook, the views from there took your breath away, and I would go as far as to say that they equalled the best that the Grand Canyon has to offer any day. The ride continued on with mile after mile of brilliant views, and changing from deep ravines to thick pine forests, and then onto a high ridge that headed us towards home, it was a little breezy on the top but still great riding. Eventually as we got to about 60 miles from home and started to descend, the heat began to return, and even at 1800 it was around 100 degrees. We stopped for fuel at about 30 miles out, and had to throw water over Lynne to stop her melting completely. Well we made it back and had had a great day, tomorrow we may just rest and do some maintenance on the bikes.

Day 53……23/05/2012

Now Lynne’s trike needed to have a new ignition switch fitted, and we could not have been at a better place than this, Mark’s cavernous workshop was almost purpose built for repairing Harley’s, a thing he sort of does for a living amongst other things, so this was the perfect opportunity to sort things out. So while us chaps played in the shop, Lynne, Paula and Bella the Chihuahua, relaxed for the day. With all the jobs done, including the replacement starter motor on Mark’s bike, and even a new front tyre on the trike, which should last her for the rest of the trip, we called it a day at around 1930 that evening.

Day 54……24/05/2012

The plan today will be to ride to Mark and Paula’s other house, around 85 mile north of Phoenix in Prescott Valley, where they claimed it would also be much cooler, so that’s what we did. Paula and Lynne went up in the car, with the dog and all the stuff, and we rode up. In this area of Arizona, there were some serious fires that the emergency services had been struggling to contain, but thankfully nobody has been hurt yet, and it is some miles from their house. We made the short ride up interstate 17 and we were there, but not before we stopped at a biker bar for a cool drink of iced tea, and a rather large chilli burger that I knew would come back to torment me later, well actually torment Lynne rather more than me, but oh hum never mind that’s all part of being engaged and caring and sharing. Once at the house we got comfortable, and had the tour around their beautiful home, which sat quite high in the hills near the small town of Mayer. Once again the discussion turned to the following day’s plans, and it was decided that Mark and I would take the bikes on another long looped trip to see the sights to the north, and the ladies would go shopping, fair enough then. The evening was finished off with a fine meal cooked by Paula, and several games of pool

Day 55……25/05/2012

The aim today is for us to take a circular tour that will include Sedona and Flagstaff, and a few other gems that Mark has in store, the first of which was breakfast in the local Denny’s. The forecast for today was for it to be a little cooler, but there were warnings of high winds throughout Arizona, so we might get blown about somewhat on the more exposed roads. Our first stop was at the small town of Jerome, which nestled in the mountains, and had seen more than its share of fame and fortune over the years. We parked up and took a look around the now thriving tourist attraction, we watched a short movie all about the history of Jerome, and it told of the once thriving mining town, that had at the turn of the twentieth century seen one billion dollars of copper removed from the surrounding hills, along with this it had the dubious reputation of being the wickedest town in the west due to being a hotbed of prostitution, gambling, and vice. From there we visited Sedona, with its striking red sandstone rock formations, making it a real attraction with tourists, the winding road out to the north took us through deep gorges, and looming rock faces and on into Flagstaff, where we would turn and make our way back. The road south was as expected very windy as we rode along more open grassland, at one point the bikes were nearly at 45 degree angle to the road, until we got into the protection of more sheltered forest. A great days ride again, at the lesser than expected distance of around 200 miles. Tomorrow will be the day that I have been looking forward to, as Lynne and I are going shooting in the hills nearby with some of the small arsenal of weapons that Mark has brought with him, but only at targets mind.

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