Not so bad

After the bike got back up on two wheels, it doesn't look nearly as bad as I feared. Good thing we straightened out those auxiliary lights Dave. Think the new handlebar style will catch on?

I rode the free trolley to town, then walked the Animas river trail out to the Harley shop. It is a nice walk - but long (7 miles). Good thing I got my exercise because when I got back to town I found a taste of Durango type thing going on. "Men Who Grill" is a fund raiser for the Women's Resource Center. All of the groups had a theme - Flintstones, Kardiac Killers, Afternoon Delight, etc. Lots of good food. Just about everything was wrapped around a Jalapeno or covered in green chili sauce. I am full and will pay for this bit of gluttony later. The old part of Durango is very cute, lots of boutique shops and friendly people. Then I jumped back on the trolley to the RV park.

A view of my parking spot and the view out the rear window. Not so bad.

Seven words you can't say on the radio.

I've relaxed enough to talk about it. I was on Hiway 160 east of Four Corners. 6% downgrade ahead so I took the tranny out of OD and slowed to about 55. Big left hand sweeping curve. Also big dipsy dos in the pavement. The trailer jumped in one of the dips and I felt it kick to the right. I looked in my rear view monitor and saw it jump to the left in the next dip as I braked. Then I saw the trailer jump off the hitch. Only the safety chains kept this from being a bigger tragedy. I slowed way down and towed the trailer with the chains until I found a shoulder wide enough to pull over and survey the damage. I had to repair the coupler on the trailer and got it mounted back on the ball. Then I found out where the nearest Harley dealership was located - Durango. I did the next 60 or so miles at less than 40 mph. The trailer and bike are sitting at the dealership waiting for the insurance adjuster to show up. There should be no problems - $250 deductible on the bike. No insurance on the trailer, so those repairs will be out of my pocket. I had a drink, washed my shorts and am wishing my back didn't hurt. Must have been when I was working on the trailer. It's just a "thing" - a pretty thing, but a thing.

Valley of monumental sights

Another short drive, just up highways 89, 160 and 163 to Monument Valley, Utah. No cell phone coverage, but free wifi. We will explore the valley tomorrow in Dave and Paige's Jeep. My white Harley is not going for a run in this red dirt. Here are the views from the RV park. I'll write more later.

The view from the park is great. Can't wait to see everything up close tomorrow on the 3 hour tour.

Wow.

We opted for the self guided ride thru the valley in lieu of the $50 ride in an open flat bed truck. I'm glad we did. The Navajo guided tours went to a few places we couldn't go, but we saw enough to be thoroughly awe struck.

Dave took a panoramic video and will be posting it on their blog page.

I part ways with Paige and Dave tomorrow. I am lucky to have good friends and good people with whom to travel.

Parked in Flagstaff

An easy drive from Apache Junction to Flagstaff. Only 185 miles (but with a 5,385 foot elevation gain), a short driving day. Paige has found a restaurant that was on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" just down the road, so we'll be headed there for dinner.

Dinner at Salsa Brava (http://www.salsabravaflagstaff.com/) was okay. The margaritas were good - even though the waitress gave me Paige's Cadillac and Paige's was on the rocks when she wanted a slushy). Guy tried Chicken Stuffed Sopapillas when he taped his show here, so naturally I had ribs, Dave had carnitas and Paige had Enchiladas. We all shared a serving of flan for desert. Salsa Brava makes their own salsa and you get to go to the salsa bar to try them all. We didn't get past "hot", but there were "very hot", "pineapple habanero", "pico de gallo", etc. from which to choose.

All of you - but especially my motorcycle riding friends need to experience Hiway 89A between Prescott and Flagstaff. It's beautiful scenery, but don't take your eyes off the road. The bent and broken guardrails are testament to the fate of the inattentive. 89A winds through Sedona and the red cliffs, but that's not the best part. Dave mentioned how part of today's ride reminded him of our ride near Lake Tahoe and I reflected that it was kind of like the hill country of Texas. We tried to ride the remnants of Route 66 outside of Flagstaff, but we kept running out of pavement. Sections of the famous road are nothing but gravel now. We of course stopped at the local Harley shop for souvenirs. The store used to be in Flagstaff, but got run out of town some time back. The city is trying to figure out how to get them back inside the city limits so they can collect some sales tax. We had dinner at the Galaxy Diner on Route 66. Dave and Paige enjoyed their chocolate malt and I devoured my Red Cow (Dr. Pepper float).

Shakedown cruise

The L. Y. Southwind Storm took it's maiden voyage with me at the helm this week. It was a simple cruise to Tularosa, New Mexico from my homeport of Apache Junction, Arizona - a journey of just over 400 miles. I departed on Monday morning at about 0700 and arrived at my sister Christine's house just after 1600.

No leaks, punctures, creaks or groans were reported. The trip was uneventful with the exception of spotting a desert tortoise alongside Highway 79 just south of Florence. It is a rare thing to sight a tortoise. I wish there had been shoulders along the roadway to allow me to take a picture. This file photo will have to suffice. At first glance it appeared to be a cement statue, but when it moved it's head to look both ways for traffic, I knew it was real. I hope it made it across safely.

One animal that didn't make it across the highway safely was a dove. It started across in front of me, I was sure it would make it, but it turned around and hit the A-pillar on the driver's side and dove guts oozed down the side of the rv.

Chris has full rv hookups, so I was comfortable in my own bed for the three nights I was there. We spent Tuesday driving around, running errands and eating. The Waffle and Pancake House in Alamogordo was friendly and comfortable. The kind of place I want around the corner from wherever I'm staying. I can also recommend the Cajun pasta at Cheddar's in El Paso, Texas, our lunch stop. We were too full for pecan pie on the way home as planned.

No pie on Wednesday either. We got up early and got to work on some things that Chris had been wanting to get done - weed eating, kitchen flooring, learning how to use the gas barbecue. By the time we finished, the pie place was already closed. That's okay, we were both too sore to go anyplace.

The return cruise to AJ was also uneventful - no tortoise, no doves, no breakage.

I'll be leaving AJ on Monday, headed for Flagstaff. Dave and I hope to ride around red cliffs near Sedona. From there it's on to Monument Valley.

Golf and other lies

John, Miriam and I decided to play golf today. My goal was to shoot lower than the temperature. I figured that was attainable since it's another hot day with the predicted high of 107.
We played at a lovely course that normally charges $52 for 18 holes in the winter months. In the heat of the summer, they are anxious to attract golfers and we played for $26 and that included a cart.
I haven't played in a while and it showed, but I shot an 85 and didn't embarrass myself too badly.
With the temperature reaching 100 today, a record has been broken for the most days in a row in the month of May over 100. It is supposed to continue until the weekend.
All together now - "But it's a dry heat".

Life in the slow lane

Apologies to Steve Miller.

Multiple days with temperatures over 100 degrees brings life to a much slower pace. The majority of my day is spent inside with the air conditioner running. It is 7 a.m. and the thermometer reads 80 degrees. It does cool down enough at night to open the windows and get some fresh air. The term cool down is relative. There is a 30 degree temperature swing, but that just means it's a comfortable 70 degrees as I sleep.
How hot is it? It's so hot that the birds don't fly in the heat of the day. They find a shady spot and sit still. They make up for it about daylight (4 a.m.) and all of their racket affects my sleep quality.
It's 7:30. Time to close the windows and turn on the a/c.