Thursday, December 6, 2018

Vegas to the rescue



Snow and cold temps have arrived in Utah, so Adrian and I plan a ride to (warmer) Las Vegas where we'll drop in on the weekly 'Geezer Breakfast' (a bunch of riders/retirees meet every Tuesday at a Vegas McDonalds). Then we'll get out and ride for two days before returning home.

The night before we leave it snows all night long, so Adrian breaks out his trailer, we load the bikes and head for St George.
We drop the trailer at his friends house and ride to Vegas.

I don't have any pictures of the Geezer Breakfast, but here are three, Adrian, Lenard, and Jess.

Then we ride over to the "ghost town" Nelson, Nevada - Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, there were a couple of porn shoots going on while we were there so most of those photographs can't be posted here.

However here are two of the many planes in Nelson.



We also visited Hemenway Park in Boulder and saw these sheep.

And this sign....we sent this selfie to our wives and told them we took a wrong turn...  haha.

The next day Adrian and I ride out to Rhyolite, Nevada to see the "Open Air Museum".


Adrian makes some friends..

The glass bottle house.


More museum art.




The Last Supper


And some ruins...

It was a very nice way to spend four days. Not a lot of miles (700), but relaxing and fun.

We'll be riding back to Vegas in a couple weeks for the New Years Death Valley ride.

Friday, October 12, 2018

Going south P.4

The Zona del Silencio - I only learned about the Zone of Silence a few months ago, but ever since hearing of this strange place I've felt like I was on a  Quest to see it.

On June 2 1970 the US launched a test missile from Green River, Utah. It was supposed to land in the White Sands test range in NEW Mexico, a distance of about 470 miles - IF it flew in a straight line like say - two African swallows carrying a coconut.

But somehow the missile got confused and kept going right on past White Sands and flew an additional 455 miles and landed in Mexico. After the US military found the errant missile they, with permission from the Mexican government of course, went into the area and cleaned it up. That is when they discovered that compasses and radio signals acted erratically in the area. Add to that reports of strange sightings of lights and other objects (and aliens....) and the fact that the Zone of Silence is on the 27th Parallel as are the Bermuda Triangle, and the Pyramids at Giza - and it all starts to make sense...

It was quiet when I was there, but I didn't very far on the nasty dirt road.

The next day it was time for an oil change...only three more to go..

Things along the road.




I got on a nice 'freeway' to burn some miles and saw a town off to the side. I thought I would take the 'exit and check it out.

This is what greeted me at the end of the 'exit'..
I'm looking back here, and it was harder to see at speed.
 I was to close swerve so I just hit the brakes hard then let off so the suspension would be settled and went across, and bumpity-bump - The Super Tenere did her job with aplomb and kept me upright.
I crossed at the nasty part.

I cross the Tropic of Cancer


I'm not in the most scenic of areas, when I get farther south I'll see more ruins etc. But I do like old churches and missions, and I found this one quite by accident; I saw a neat road and started following it and ended up here. The only name I could find was St. Tomal Mission. No dates.




I'm six days across the border and learning that my Spanish skills are lacking. I can read and understand a lot of that, but speaking requires patience of the native I'm speaking with. I'm improving slowly.

I've also learned that, in my case at least, gout doesn't like Mexican cuisine. I've had pain that got worse each day until finally two days ago I could not walk let alone ride on Mexico's unpredictable streets. I had taken the prescription meds I had brought with me, but they seemed to have ZERO affect on the problem. After a long day and a longer sleepless night, I threw in the towel and was going to return home...

Luckily I had earlier in the day visited a Pharmicia and they had sold me a bottle of some NSAID.  I'm leery of taking things when I can't read the label, but by three in the morning I was desperate for some pain relief...
I took two.

Within 20 minutes I fell asleep, then I was able to limp out to the bike the next morning and rode 200 miles north (foot and knee pain steadily improving this time..), was able to have a goods night rest and woke up around 8:00am wondering What-The-Hell I was doing going NORTH!?!

So...as long as I'm able I'm going to continue on and right now I'm focusing on my second goal of Panama City.

Stay toon't I hope to visit some Mayan ruins tomorrow, and make the Mexican southern border in 9 days if I can keep my bod together.

EDIT to add:  The gout wins. It returned with a vengeance so I have turned around and have headed for home.
I am bitterly disappointed to say the least.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Going south P.3

Bev stays at the condo, her flight is in the afternoon.
I ride south from Tucson toward the Mexican border. My plan is to cross at Agua Prieta, and my route takes me through Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee is a pretty town with an even more pretty main street. I've been there before so I just snapped a couple pics and mosied along.






Stopped for a loooong time for some road construction, Martin and his older brother visit with me, and helped pass the time.

I end up in Nueva Casas Grande, at the Hotel Pinon. Most of the place is undergoing renovation and a bit dusty, but my room is spotless. The new owner comes over to talk bikes (GS for him) and is a great guy. I ask if my bike will be safe here and he leaves for a moment then returns with the night watchman and gives him instruction to pay special attention to my bike... Sweet!


Next day I stop in Camargo.



 I hate to admit this but I've been hurrying so as to get ahead of my Mexican insurance* schedule, I need to make an adjustment so I can do more rose smelling.
*Travelling in Mexico requires special insurance.

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Going south P.2

Went to see San Xavier Mission, a few miles south of Tuscon.

A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction on the church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797

The Mission.




The courtyard next to the Mission.



After a very nice visit at the Mission we returned to the Pima museum to try and see what we missed on our first time there.

And there was plenty more to see!

B-36 230 foot wingspan. Winner of the cold war.

Mig alley...








C-14, one of two built.

787 Dreamliner

Bev standing in front of the Super Guppy which was used to haul plane and rocket parts. It only had a range of 500 mile so I hope they didn't have to go very far.. It was built on the C-97 platform.

Beautifully restored, airworthy B-17

Me landing the lunar module on the surface of the moon...pffft, nailed it both times!

Holy Helicopter (s)!
(Just a few of the many!)

Plane art...



Numerous Buffs

Bev flies home tomorrow and I ride into Mexico.