But a week ago we did go back up to Rock Springs on interstate 17 headed North from Phoenix... The ride wasn't overly exciting as we went around the 101 and then headed North on I 17.... And like usual, I order a plain hamburger with cottage cheese instead of french fries... So that wasn't all that exciting either....
But we had fellowship with about 20 folks in a private room that is mostly the bar... And we had to keep our tickets separate from the pies and rolls that folks were buying... So perhaps there are more than one vendor within the various rooms inside of that place.... But if needing a cup of coffee or a really good piece of pie, that is the place to stop North of Phoenix...
On Friday night the 6th, Mesa had what they call Bike Night.... I had never been to this endeavor before, so I rode the trike down to the old part of town here in Mesa.... That's about 100 blocks back to the center of the town and 40 blocks to the North from here... It took about an hour to get there, as I didn't ride the Superstition Highway... I ride it when I have to, but that was just an evening ride for relaxation...
They block off two or more blocks of Main street with traffic cones and only let motorcycles onto that part of the street.... The bikes park along the curb with their back wheel parked at an angle to the sidewalk... There were thousands of them..... With all their riders walking along looking at all the other bikes... Everyone talking and music stages and beer tents and impromptu sales shops under awnings... Along with the restaurants and bars that are normally open along that part of the street...
Our Goldwing club had a membership table along in with some permanent park benches.. And a lot of the club members had gotten there early enough for parking in the street along the front... My trike was too wide to get into the parking barricades, so I parked in the next block and walked to the activity... I was still among hundreds motorcycles and cars were several block away...
This was mostly a Harley Davidson event, but I did see several Can Ams sprinkled along the parking.. So they must have gotten beyond the barricades... It was well after the late news when I got home that night...
And then yesterday the club declared that the lunch was to be in Bagdad... As in a small town North and West of Congress, Arizona.... But we never made it there... It was to be 170 miles each way, so I decided that I would have to take Biscuit with me as I would be gone too long... I fell in behind the motorcycles with the Jeep to tag along... We knew it would take a long time, so we met at 9 AM...
Things were going along famously as we were on Az 74 South of Lake Pleasanton when there was highway resurfacing.... We came to a complete stop.... As we sat there waiting, one of the guys said his tire felt squishy on the CB radio... And it was squishy... So all the motorcycles and my Jeep pulled out on the side of the road to see what we could do for him...
And we did blow it back up with a portable pump and my cigarette lighter socket... But we didn't get on more than a couple of miles more and he was flat again......... So we messed around deciding it was hopeless and then called the roadside assistance that is part of the GWRRA, our club...
This meant that we had a dozen motorcycles hanging around because no one wanted to be the one that left this poor fellow... So I did what a good club member would do for a fellow member and told the group to go on on their ride, and I would wait it out for the truck...
We told every story we knew for the next couple of hours.... But the flat bed truck finally arrived...
Once he was loaded and away toward the city, I gave chase to the group who I surmised might be in Yarnell, Az at the top of the big hill...... And they were...
Yarnell, is where the flash fire burned 19 firefighters a year ago killing them in the process... Today the town seems to be rebounding from the fire, but then I don't recognize the remains of places that haven't been rebuilt....
After the lunch, (I grabbed a quick McDonalds in Wickenburg on the way thru), we rode and I followed on Highway 89 into Prescott... This is about 35 miles of twisty hilly, curvy road that is perfect for motorcycles.... It is placarded against trucks over 40 feet long... You climb steadily up to 6000 feet and the forest becomes fur trees rather than desert... Prescott is kind of touristy, if you haven't been there, reminding you of a town out of the old wild west...
Once in Prescott, we went thru the downtown area and then back out to the I 17 about 20 miles on an Easterly feeder road.. Then we paid for our trip by having to drive back thru the center of Phoenix at 4:30 PM.... I didn't get home until after 6 PM... Big cities are such a pain, in rush hour traffic...
I was glad that I had taken the Jeep, and Biscuit was safely with me.... She had been outside to do her business several times during the day and drove poor Art crazy while he waited inside the Jeep for his truck.... But he said he liked dogs... or at least the air conditioning that was running while he waited LOL
Retired Rod
Did ya give us a big hoot, holler, & a wave when you went through Congress:))
ReplyDeleteYes Al I thought about going out to your place, but got this idea that you were busy and I shouldn't just drop in... And as it turned out, you had two visitors yesterday, so perhaps next year....
DeleteYou have definitely been keeping busy. Our kids are here until Tuesday but after that we need to take a trip up to Superior.
ReplyDeleteOur dogs do rule our lives at times! My trip to Mexico without the cowboy the other day was because we didn't want to leave Emmi alone for too many hours. We too had a breakdown on the trail Friday and several of the guys helped Joe get going again--took a while!
ReplyDelete