Author: myironhorsejourney

It was 54 degrees this morning when I took off from Benson, Arizona.  The weather report is cloudy and cool all day with a 20% chance of showers.  As I was driving, I was getting sprayed from the water on the roads as I passed the big trucks.  Some areas the roads were wetter than others, so I must have just missed some rain.  I passed a sign saying 18 miles to Lordsburg, New Mexico.  About two miles from there the sky’s opened up and it started to pour.  Thank goodness it didn’t last long, but now I’m wet and chilled.    I had my heated jacket on, so my top was nice and toasty.  That was definitely  a good investment!  I remembered I stayed in Lordsburg on my way through, and the hotel was very nice.  I stopped for gas and booked the hotel.  I only went about 120 miles, but had enough for today.

Hopefully it will be warmer and dryer in the morning!

I don’t usually put stickers on my vehicles or bikes, but when I’m all loaded up I didn’t think people could see my license plate well to see where I was from.  I mentioned it when I was visiting in Payson and Dave came out with a few to pick from.  He then put it on for me, looks good!

This is the first rainy day since I got over to New Mexico, Arizona area.  At 9:30 it was pouring, so I decided to stay an extra day.  Today was a complete relaxing day, I did something I haven’t done in years….I took a nap!

Hopefully I can be back on the road tomorrow, weather is getting cooler here in Arizona.  Time to move on!

 

I rode up to Payson, Arizona to see friends of friends of mine.  They moved here a few years back from Maine!  On my way up there I stopped in Superstition/Apache junction and got my bike serviced, 3,000 mile oil change. The temps were about 70 in Superstition, by the time I rode up through the mountains it was low 60’s in Payson, Arizona.  The next morning I rode up to Winslow, Arizona.  By the time I got up there the temperature was 46, it’s getting to cold to be this high up in the mountains.

So, Winslow, Arizona is famous for the Eagles song Take It Easy – see lyrics below:

 

 

Across the street is a store with all kinds of memorabilia and outside they are playing Eagles music.  The ride up to Winslow was beautiful.  I took Route 87, which had all kinds of twists and turns through the mountains.  The mountains were covered with wonderful Arizona pines.  After you got through the mountains there were miles of wide open terrain.  It was a great ride, definitely want to do more of that area when the weather is warmer.  Will be heading to warmer area now, as it’s winter is here!

 

 

 

I caught up with a co-worker and her husband this week.  She’s been retired for a couple of years, so I got to see how wonderful retirement really is.  We sat out front of their place and looked at the beautiful mountains, sipping wine while watching the sunset.  Life doesn’t get any better than this.  You don’t realize how nice it is to see and talk to someone you know.  I’ve met a lot of nice people along the way, and we’ve had great chats, but not the same as an old friend.  I had a great time catching up.

This picture was taken in the morning, how beautiful is that to look at daily.  They took me over to this so I could see how the terrain changes, and then to look back across the other way.

While there I asked about a couple different things I had seen along the way.  One was the group of trees just outside of town.  It was like an apple orchard, but I knew they weren’t apples.  They were pecan trees!  The other thing I saw a lot of was large grates across roads, and that’s to keep the free range cows from crossing and going into traffic areas.

Now off to my next adventure…..

Before the girls left Tombstone, they said I should ride and see Bisbee.  I took off around 12:30 and headed that way.  The views were beautiful, and I drove past the historical town to the mine area.  On the way there I had to ride through a tunnel, those are always fun.  I stopped and checked out the mine area, then went back and checked out the historical area.  Very fun town to visit.

On the way out of Tombstone, I stopped at Boothill Grave Yard.  There were over 250 graves, they gave us a pamphlet with all the graves and a description of how they died.  Talking with a couple who were looking at all the grave, we joked that they were either shot to death, suicide or found dead days later!  They had some cute quotes on the graves that I took pictures of.  The view was amazing there too, which you can see in one of the pictures.

 

Today I decided to ride over to Vail and do the Colossal Cave.  When I got riding, I was glad I had made today a relaxing day, the winds were up a little more than normal.  This cave was a little different from the one I did in Arkansas, it was a dry cave.  Which means no water was in the cave or goes through it.  The temperature inside as about 72 degrees, very warm.

After I left the park I headed towards Benson, Az.  It was a great ride on back roads.  It was still early when I hit Benson, and I saw a road sign saying Tombstone so many miles.  I remembered seeing some attractions that I wanted to check out that was in Tombstone, so I kept riding.  When I got to town, I pulled over and found a hotel, I then went and checked in.  I got a map of the town at the office, so I decided to go get dinner before dark.  When I left, the town was only one block away, I could have walked.  They had the Main Street blocked off as they have stagecoaches going through.  People dress for the time.

When I drove back to the hotel, there were 6 motorcycles parked.  When I was getting off my motorcycle, I saw two ladies dressed in leathers.  We started talking and I found out it was 6 ladies out for a ride.  They asked me to join them, and we walked over to the town for them to get dinner and drinks.  It was a nice change to hang with other riders for the night.

I spent most of my day at the Harley dealership, trying to get a headset working in my helmet.  The other day while I was there the salesman said the 20S would work where it’s Bluetooth.  I took it to the hotel and plugged it in to get it charged.  In the morning I went outside multiple times trying to get the headset linked up with my bike, nothing.  I then tried to link it up with my phone, again nothing.  Once I got packed up, I headed back to the dealership to see if they could get it going.  They had me drive right into the building, and Wolf the service guy started working on it.  We then found out it needed a cable to be installed for it to work.  It wasn’t going to be too bad on my wallet so he was going to do it.  Then he realized it also needed another device, they have them separate in the catalog…. NOW it was going to be approximately $500.00 more, and I had already purchased the headset…..  By the time they did that, the headset, and the XM radio that I had put in before I left it was over $1,200 – nope can’t justify doing that – there must be something else.  Time to do some more research.

I left the dealership deflated, tired and done.  Drove around having no idea where I was or where I was going.  After going through a busy area with a lot of stop and go, I decided to find my room for the night.

Another reason I’m tired, my hotel last night had a lot of people coming and going.  I was still awake at 2 a.m.

Start out fresh in the morning!

Today I did a little manifesting, I went RV browsing.  I spend all afternoon at Lazydays RV, and checked out motorhomes.  I wanted to see what my options were and then start thinking about whether to go this way or once I figure out what area I want to live in maybe rent a place.  Today I looked at Class C motorhomes, I would put a lift on the back to carry my bike.  I don’t want to haul a trailer or anything, would like it to be one unit.  Still not sure what way will be best, that’s why I’m looking and doing my research now.  I’m not planning on doing any of this until next fall at the earliest.  They have RV dealers all over out here, so once I decide what I’m going to do spending time hitting the different dealers will be a must.  Taking my time and really looking, I’m sure I will get a good deal.  They had a good variety of used homes, and they were in great shape.

 

Last night I stayed in Goodyear, Arizona.  A friend told me about a holiday light show that was at the ball park there.  I got over there just before dark, so I parked my bike until it was dark.  I’ve attached the link, they have a video of the show, I wasn’t able to stop during any of it to take any pictures.  I wasn’t the only biker to go through this, the ticket booth said two other bike had gone through.  Here’s the link:  www.Christmasincolor.net I think the coolest was riding through the tunnels of light!

Today I did a lot of driving around all the small towns that surround Tucson.  A lot of them were developed retirement communities like Casa Grande, Coolidge, Florence, Marana.

When I stopped to get gas, there were two other bike taking a break.  I pulled up and started talking with them.  One of the guys was from Arizona and his friend was on vacation from Montana.  He rented his bike so they could go riding.  After talking for a bit I found out he’s a biologist and works in Maine once in a while – small world!

Great day riding, very relaxing day, no big city or traffic!

 

I road up Pacific Avenue, such a nice ride with the ocean on one side and either store or homes/condo on the other side.  There was a separation between the two sides were palm trees 🌴.  It was interesting to see people with surf boards walking through town barefoot in wetsuits carrying their boards through town either going to the beach or back from it.  I saw bicycles carrying boards (with special brackets to hold the board), I even saw a motorcycle carrying a board.  When there is a will there is a way!  The beach went on and on, I stopped a multiple areas looking for the muscle men….🤔 with no luck.

Yesterday after my acupuncture appointment I went to the grocery store to pick up water and something for dinner.  I was taking my helmet off when a gentleman came up and talked to me about my bike.  Before we left, he mentioned that he and a bunch of his friends meet for coffee every morning a few blocks from where we were, and said stop by.

I woke up early this morning, so got everything packed up before I headed to the coffee shop.  I think Leon was surprised to see that I stopped by.  He introduced me to the group and we sat around and talked for awhile.  They have a couple of big events that they like to ride to.  I think they said about 50 people will go in their group for some of these events.  I left there and went back to the hotel and packed up.

My first stop was Palm Spring Harley Davidson shop.  Talked to the two sales ladies, I found out one had moved here from New Jersey.  She said she doesn’t miss the cold weather or snow.  When I was walking out a gentleman was walking in and he asked if that was my Ultra Glide outside.  I knew he was talking about my bike, so I told him it was a Street Glide.  He came out and checked my bike out.  He said the first thing he did was change his seat on his bike.  He showed me how he could change the comfort of the seat pan.  I didn’t sit on it as I was afraid I’d fall in love with it and want one.  😳

Just before I got ready to leave the dealership, another sales person Alice had overhead me talking the the girls inside and told me about a sponsorship event going on that I might be interested in.  Getting sponsors would be fantastic, send out positive vibes for me everyone!

The girls from the dealership gave me directions to get to Laguna Beach, well I never saw the exit I was looking for…..so I ended up doing the highway – bummer!  While driving I went through a large area that had burnt.  Scary see the whole area all black, I can’t even imagine what it was like while it was burning.

Laguna Beach is beautiful, and a cute coastal town with all kinds of shopping.  Streets and streets of shops, and restaurants.

 

 

I stayed in Scottsdale for 5 nights, I really enjoyed the hotel I was in.  Marsha and Jeff that worked the front desk and helped guest were fantastic.  They made me feel so at home I debated staying longer.  When I mentioned that I was going to go over to California, Marsha said I should go to Laguna Beach that it was a beautiful place to visit.  She loves going to that area with her kids every summer.  With her recommendation I headed to Laguna Beach.  My GPS had me take Route 10 West across.  When I hit California we had to go through an all vehicle check point, they basically flagged us through.  The temperature dropped about 10-15 degrees which was weird.  Down the road a sign was flashing saying heavy winds were happening.  A little while later I read a sign saying State Prison next exit, then underneath in large print “DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS”. Hummmmm, do they have many breakouts?  I didn’t hit any wind until I got into the mountain area.  I saw a truck/hill sign saying next 10 miles.  That’s about when the winds started to pick up.  They really hit hard when I got into Palm Desert, I felt my bike come off the ground twice with two of the big gusts.  That was enough for me, I got off the road and pulled into a parking lot to find a hotel.  I stood on the opposite side from the kick stand to give my bike support so it wouldn’t get blown over.  I had to ask Siri where I was, I then started to look for hotels.  Not knowing how far they were, I then asked Siri to find hotels close to me (so glad I thought of that) I found one 0.3 miles away.  I was so glad to be off the road!

I walked down the road to the grocery store to get water and something for dinner.  Here is a picture when I was coming back.  You can see the dust storm.

About an hour after I finished eating I began to get a temperature, I was freezing, but my body was burning up.  I started some essential oils, but I still ended up getting a sinus infection from the dust (which later on the news they mentioned that was happening to people).  I was down for the count, I went to the front desk each day to extend my room then right back to bed.  That’s why I have been missing in action!

Yesterday I went and had acupuncture along with cupping.  I had never had the cupping done before.  I was still sore last night, but today I felt great.

I had the hotel shuttle drop me off at the bottom of the mountain.  The parking for the mountain is quite a ways away from where the trail starts, so having drop off and pick up service is fantastic.  The mountain is 1,520 feet in elevation.  I was amazed at the number of people hiking, it was a steady stream of people going up and down the mountain.  I would say 100’s of people.  I saw a few dads with babies or small children in packs on their backs.  It was totally awesome seeing that many people outside enjoying what they have in their backyard.

By the time I hiked an hour, I overheard someone say I still had about a 1/4 of a mile to get to the top.  I decided I didn’t want to push it, I’m not use to the altitude, temperature, along with getting back down.  Down is usually harder for me, I’ve had 9 knee surgeries, so I didn’t want to risk hurting myself.  I need to pay attention to what my body is telling me.  Doing something stupid would risk me being able to finish this trip on the bike.

I was amazed that it wasn’t as bad as I figured coming down the mountain.  I had people pass me running down (crazy…..)  One girl tripped, but she was able to pull her feet in front of her before she fell – I was blown away on that one.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful views.  I will post a panoramic view later on Facebook.

I’ve had a few people ask if I forgot anything, or would I have packed differently.  One thing I thought I forgot was my SD card reader.  I went to download my photos from my camera to my hard drive and I couldn’t find my SD card reader.  So I went out and purchased one.  The other day I found mine, didn’t pack it with my electronic stuff…..  The other thing I took out at the last minute was a small backpack, after hiking the mountain, I wished I had it.  I carried my water in one hand and my camera in the other, if I had the backpack it would have left my hands free for climbing.  So, I passed a Sporting goods store and picked up a small one.  Besides that, I’m  pretty happy with everything I’ve packed.  Now that I’m in warmer weather and don’t need all my cold weather gear, I’ve had to re-arrange things.  It’s pretty tight, no room for extras.

 

Today I walked from the hotel to Butterfly Wonderland, it was about a mile and a half away.  It felt good to be walking for a change, and enjoying the warm weather – LOVE IT! Oh wait, I think I already said that!  💕💕💕💕

When you first go in they take you to a theater to watch a 15 minute video on the monarch butterfly.  Only 1 percent make it after birth to a butterfly.  They feed off of milkweeds.  I didn’t realize that they go dormant for the winter.  After the movie we into a room with a wall of cacoons, they were all live and if you watched you could see them become a butterfly (see pictures below)

After we passed through a room before they let us into a room full of butterfly’s.  This is to make sure non get out.  There were 100’s of butterflies, it was truly amazing to see them flying all around.  All different kinds,and colors.

 

After the butterflies, I went to see the aquarium that was attached.  The only thing you won’t see is spiders or snakes, I couldn’t look at them let alone take any pictures – nope couldn’t do it!

By the time I went to walk back to the hotel it was 89 degrees outside.