Forty!

Beverly and I have reached a milestone in our relationship.....our 40th anniversary has arrived. 

We decide to celebrate this event with a motorcycle ride....you know....something different for this year.

So our plan is to ride to Silver City, New Mexico and then ride the Apache Trail. After that we'll ride

 US 191 from Clifton to Alpine Arizona, and head north for home.

We leave on a Monday and ride 170 miles in rain and snow before the wet stuff finally ends just in time for the winds to begin! And they are brutal winds, when they first hit with a sudden blast I thought I had had a catastrophic air loss in one of the tires, but no....it was just wind, a hard hard wind!

We finally make it to Bluff, Utah for our first night stay and I see I have a screw in my rear tire. 

It was holding air just fine but I don't like just leaving it in, so I screw it out and commence to plugging the tire. 

The next morning I add a couple pounds of air pressure and we take off for Pinetop, Arizona to spend the night.

While getting there we pass through the town of Snowflake, a few miles before Pinetop and we ride over to the LDS temple in Snowflake and find a quiet place to do some Earthing for a relaxing hour or so....

One of the very few complaints about the Tenere is the cruise control has a wonky cutoff switch at the hand brake, I've resorted to carrying a can of aerosol lithium grease to try to keep it functioning correctly....

it works....some of the time.

After leaving Pinetop we ride to Pie Town, New Mexico - well known for the wonderful pies that are baked there. Luckily her majesty the governor allowed business to open again a few days before our trip. So we stop at the Gathering Place where you are family the instant you walk through the door!

Their pies and other dishes are very good, but the warmth they extend to customers is their greatest asset and what makes them successful!

(it is amazing how just being greeted with a smile, and treated like family or a dear friend can make such a difference!)

I'm standing with Mike, he and his wife own/run the Gathering Place and he is an awesome guy!

We leave Pie Town fat and happy and ride south to Silver City to overnight. Once we get there we find out the Apache trail has a closed section due to a wildfire. We could ride parts of the other sections, but there is heavy smoke in the area so we decide to save it for another day and ride off toward Duncan, Arizona.

Then to Clifton, Arizona to ride the US 191, we arrive at 191 above Clifton, and find it too is closed due to another wildfire.....  Dang it all!!

So, we go to Plan C....and ride to Globe, Arizona and ride the US 60 from Globe to Show Low, which is yet another BEAUTIFUL road. We thoroughly enjoy our time on the 60

For the drivers that go too fast and over-heat their brakes, here is a very short truck runoff with an abrupt ending.....which results in a very bad day...

Part of  the beautiful US60

We overnight in Show Low, and I'm feeling the effects of riding two up in all this wind;

while Bev explored the Show Low walking paths, I explored the inside of my eyelids...

When we leave the next morning we stop and see these two guys....their story is on the plaque.

(control button and 'roll up' to make it easier to read)

We then continue on following Rt 66 for a while  

and make a stop in Winslow, and from there north to Page, Arizona to overnight.

We depart Page and weave our way through the 'millions' of boats waiting in line to go into Lake Powell.... 

And make our way to Panguitch, Utah where we stop for lunch at this hole in the wall where we have an excellent burger!

More wind on the way home, but it was a good ride, we bust out 387 miles for the final day of a 1,950 mile ride and make it home late afternoon plugged tire and all.

As my Mom used to say, "Travel east, travel west, after all.....Home is best!"

(and Home IS best when you are blessed with an amazing wife like mine!)

Life is good!