March 11 & 12, the Chiricahua Monument

So when I asked the Ranger lady who was asking for money if this Monument was worth taking the time to see, she assured me that it was. Instead of money I produced my 'golden geezer' card and was wave on in.

The very first thing me and Big Iron saw was three deer not 200 yards from the gate. If I had been faster I could have gotten a picture, but I'm sure you all know what deer look like.

Now I understand that a giant and up to 10 or so volcanic explosions covered this land with hot ash hundreds of feet thick. This made a big solid rock that cracked into hundreds of fractures. Erosion started at the cracks and these stacked columns are what is left. Makes for some fascinating hiking.

So that is what I did. I went to the top at 6000 ft. They had a neat hiking trail that made a 3 mile loop. I made part of the loop and took these pictures.





























































Just another last view of the large expanses between 'Sky Islands'. BTW, Cochise's Stronghold was in the mountains in the back ground.


So it was getting late,and I was supposed to cadge a nice bed at Tomboy's and YWR's place in Casa Grande (about 50 miles south of Phoenix). I still had nearly a couple hundred miles to go.

I could see getting there by about 4pm. Big iron was going delux. I had made it through Tucson, and was actually looking for their off ramp. Turns out it was still 10 or so miles up the road.

Hummmm....am I picking up a vibration or is that the road. I slowed a bit thinking that might help. But a mile later a rear tire blew....and me with a good spare but no jack. It was kind of a calculated risk. I called AAA for another rescue.  I thought about how this flat would have been handled up in those mtns that I been in a little earlier.

So again I waited on the side of the road for the AAA man to save my bacon. I had an off ramp to tell the lady about this time, and AAA had me running again in an hour.

So On to the YWR household where I was met by Tomboy then and Ye later. We had a pizza and beer night with Rob and Carol from up the road near Phoenix. I slept really good that evening as I think I considered Casa Grande to be on the home stretch, and I relaxed a bit. Thanks a bunch guys.

So it was up in the morning and off pretty early. I stopped and located a good used tire in Gila Bend. 30 dollars set my mind at ease. Still no Jack, but I couldn't need a jack now, could I.

I set my sights on Mike's in LA where I would leave the bike. After stopping for a chat with an old friend along the way, where I found that the Son of OMB who has the place in San Felipe has Colon Cancer. At this age there is scant good news.  (OMB is Old Man Bud, a 90 year old riding friend of mine)

OMB's son is a tough bugger. I bet he beats it.  (and he did beat it)

I ended up the trip at about 7:30 where I picked up some KFC and had dinner with Mike while he brought me up to date. Mike tried in vain to keep me up till 10pm with good tivo saved TV on his 50 incher. Soon I was a non responder ZZzzzzzzzzzzz

In spite of the turn of events it was a damned good trip. And again many thanks to my many new and old friends. :)

March 11th, excape from Tx

I got up late in Van Horn. Ive no idea what time it was as I've been changing time zones like a harlot changes underwear....and to boot Daylight saving time was changed, last night. Could be as early as 8 am or as late as eleven.

It really no matter as I've planned an easy day's drive. It's a 120 miles to El Paso and the NM border. The above picture was outside of Sierra Blanca, a little town that was all but gone now. I figure to cross the NM border at southern El paso instead of going to Las Cruces and staying on I-10.

In fact, I was tired of I-10 about 60 miles east of El Paso, so I jumped down on Tx 20 so I could toddle along through the small towns of working Tx. I prolly wasn't more than 5 miles from the Rio Grande all the way to El Paso.

I was getting very warm and fuzzy over this ride in the Sunday sun as I rode along at 50 mph enjoying the folks around doing what working people do. Some ranchos were well organized and then other just barely making it. Most folks were dressed up, and others fishing out of the canals in their grubbies.
The Rio Grande is just this side of those mountains.

No doubt they had earned the day off from honest toil. At least that's what I imagined. And the 'big iron' Dodge rumbled flawless westward with nary a complaint......
That is Mexico in the back ground just behind the Rio Grande River.

I could see on my map that there was a ribbon route around El Paso that would cross me over the NM Border just up the road apiece.  I was determined to take route 9 along the Mex border into Columbus, Animus and Rodeo as I approach Arizona.

With a minimum of mistakes, I was out into the suburbs of El Paso NM side of border. I was trying to take a short cut from the river over to the connector to hwy 9. It wasn't long, and I was where the dirt road started. A border patrol was out there so I asked directions. He said if you can find it, Airport road will cut you across.

As I was leaving this rural mistake here came a lawn mower motored go cart with a 10 year old gal as a driver. Could be the next Danica Patrick, she was a cute little shit, and driving hard too, she was.
Soon I was sure I was on the right road out of town, and I should get some gas as this is big country out here. Sure enough, I had passed the last opportunity to gas up. Hummmm. I had some gas left, but didn't think that I had enough to go 65 miles to Columbus?

I decided that I did have enough, but I was a long ways from knowing that I did, and when the old Columbus jailhouse showed up I was a happy camper. I'll never know why I didn't go back a few miles and gas up. My butt damn near ate the seat up for that whole sixty miles. I might have gotten a stomach ulcer from that hour of driving.


So as I drove along not more than a few miles from the border, I noted that there were many military (our guys) humvees with a small rocket launcher attached just sitting and waiting out there. Don't know how I felt about that.  It was a bit spooky.


I gassed up in Columbus and looked for a place to eat. No deal on the eating. I had another energy bar instead. 80 miles to the next little town, Animus. I thought I'd check out their little store for a snack. Nope they were closing up at 5:30. 20 more miles to Rodeo. I caught this guy just before he shut off the pumps. I gassed up.

There was about an hour and a half's daylight left. I had had a recommendation to check out the Coronado National Forest between Rodeo and Willcox. The 'Big Iron' was running so good that I was inspired to see 'whass up' with those mtns.

We were at 4500 ft at Rodeo, and soon in those Mtns I was at 5000. I was plesantly supprised to find the road was paved. I even took a 200 yard hike to a view spot for a picture. The ride through the Coronado mtns when like this. https://goo.gl/maps/FrzRKhrVk4M2  That link still works.

I even scared up a small deer on that walk. Back under way. Oh, there is the end of pavement with a sign saying something like 20 miles of narrow dirt mountain road that wasn't improved. Cool, that was what I was looking for.

It was very peaceful up in those trees. I found a little stream with a parking space and settled there for the night. I had 45minutes till full dark. I boiled up a pot of water in my homade electric boiler, and added my Ramen noodles, with a tin of Chicken, and a can of green beans.

A king's meal for sure, but it was over too soon as full darness set in. It was only 7pm. What the hell was I going to do for the next couple hours till bedtime? So after sitting there in the dark for a spell, I put the earphones in and listen to Patsy Cline till the triple A battery conked out.

I slept like a baby till about 5am. I was just on the verge of being cold. It was freezing ass cold outside. I knew it would be trouble when I had to climb out of that down sleeping bag. There wouldn't be any sun in those canyons to heat things up till about 10am. And did I mention that Big Iron didn't have a heater?

I stayed in the bag till about 7am then I was forced out by mother nature. I went down to the fast running stream and got a couple bottles of water as I was out of drinking water by then. I was carrying 5 gallon of water in a soap bucket that Linda gave me. Good for the van, if needed, but tasted like soap.

I apprehensively turned the key to get things started when I was ready to leave. 'Big Iron' lit right up. Whew, I was a bit worried about that. I plugged in my water boiler and off we went. A little coffee in a few minutes would be good.

Thought I smelled something funny. In about 5 minutes my plug for the cigarette lighter melted out onto the console. GuessI knew what was burning then. No hot coffee for me. Ha.

We climbed for a bit. Remnants of snow were beginning to show in the shadows. I still have to go up the road on that far bank of the picture, and higher after that, also. That was ok I was in no hurry and enjoying this bit of what the Indians called Sky Islands (Mountains).

In fact, me and Big Iron went right up near the stars.

I was real happy when I got to this summit, and knew that I wasn't going to get stopped by snow.

So for the next hour or so I worked myself down the mtn on the Willcox side. Eventually I was at the high desert floor. Thirty miles lay between me an I-10.
These 30 mile stretches of desert between the mountains make them isolated, and it is hard for different species to get over to the different mountains in the southwest. It make them ecosystems unto themselves.......But before we leave these mtn, there is a Chiricahua national Monument that they snuck into that mountain that I had to go see........

March 10th,..... bike rescue

I left the comfort and security of the Lambert's with a bit of regret, but on the other hand, I was excited to get underway as well.

I decide to take the shorter back roads to Ft Stockton of 418 miles rather than the freeways for 506 miles. Route 285 went down through Peco Tx. I don't think I'd ever been there before. I had to see that.

I gassed up the Van. It took 22 gallons, and I set out east on I-40 to connect with 285 about 40 miles east of ABQ. The dual exhaust rumbled very pleasently as i drove out of town. After a few miles I was gaining confidence in this van. Big Detroit iron has an attraction all it's own.

As an example, I raced unlimited VW stuff in most of my off road career, but one year I ran a V8 Jeep CJ in the Baja 1000 race. It had open headers, and I far prefered the roar of that American V8 to any noise I could get out of a VW.

Anyway I must have climbed 1500 ft or so out of ABQ as i picked up snow on the side of the road.
This picture is high desert in northwest NM. It wasn't really that dark, but it was a cloudy day. I was glad of a low temp day, because I didn't want to stress the cooling system.

At one time, I stopped for gas. As I filled up I notice that a gas leak had developed, and I was making a puddle under the tank area. I took a look and there was an 1/8 inch stream squirting from a hole about 3/4 the way up the side of the gas tank.

I figured that my best bet was to get underway before I made a bigger lake in the station. I had at least 15 gallons below the leak, so I motored on toward Ft Stockton. I passed through historic places like Roswell, Carlsbad, and Peco.....still the Van churned on with authority. My confidence with it's reliablity was soaring along with my spirits, in spite of the gas leak. It turned out that I could hold at least 16 gals. That would easily get me to Ca.


As I drove through the back country, hundreds of example of the population abandoning the country life for the city life. These old building are left to return to eventual dust. A sort of recycling, I don't like it.

Pecos Tx had a historical block. I Couldn't resist a once around through there. Remember Judge Roy Bean? Faint lettering can be seen on this old building.

More of Peco is seen here with the Pecos Mercantile building
in the background.


So with the sight seeing over for the day, me and my van rumbled on into Ft Stockton at about an hour before sundown. Luckily I found the tow driver at home. He was more than happy to help me cobble up a ramp to load the bike.

The Van already had a couple of hold down hooks bolted to the floor in a great place to hold the bike.

I wondered why the driver was at home. He said that a cop had run his license a day or so ago, while he was out on an impound, and that he failed the test, so he was home permanently while he cleared up his driving privileges. Never a dull moment in Ft Stockton.

I felt bad for him, so I paid him 50 dollars for watching my bike for me. He didn't want the money, so I told him to give it to someone who did need it, then. He said ok, finally.

Although it was dark, it was way too early to go to bed, so I motored on out of town with Van Horn Tx (120 miles) as a destination for the night. I rolled in there at about 9:30pm. The couple hours of night driving was ok, because there isn't much to miss in West TX.

The room I selected was 29.95 with free wifi. It was way sleazy, just the way I like it. I logged on to a desert Inn Wifi. It wasn't the Desert Inn that I was staying at, but a peculiar thing was that two days later in the outskirts of Phoenix, I was again connected to the Desert Inn wifi. But this time I was in a residential district at the home of Ye Wilde Ryder, and 5 miles from a freeway. I had 5 bars of connectivity. The world is too confusing for me. LOL

March 4th....the rescue

Back to the story........The night before, in the Motel, I got the word out Via the internet of my plight. Folks far and wide were sympathetic. One of the most concerned was Linda Lambert from Albuquerque, NM.

Now I don't know Linda and her Husband face to face, but we have emailed one another over the last few years, and I was going to stop by her place on the Way back from Daytona for a visit and a meetup. She had gotten an email out that said she would come down (some 400 miles) and pick me up if I wanted her to. Mike Seidel, from OH, called my cell phone with the message, thanks Mike.

Scheesh, I thought.....that is a lot of effort for someone you hardly know.........but I would get to meet them and maybe get to ride around ABQ a bit on one of their multiple bikes. Hummmmmm, that sounded like an upturn to events.

Since the possibilities of finding a truck In ABQ seemed much better than podunk FT Stockton, I decided to accept her offer. Linda left ABQ at 2pm in her husband Steve's Nissan 350Z .  It was a Valentine-1 equipped Freeway burner.

She was there that Sunday evening by 8pm and we were back at her place by 3am. It was a mercy run way beyond the realm of standard expectations. I felt like I knew Linda after a 7 hr trip with her in the car. She kept up a conversation for all but the last hour where I wasn't responding very well. I slept in on Monday. 

So suffice to say that I spent 5 days with the Lamberts. I worked on her ST1100 with success.  It needed it Carbs cleaned.   I rode some of the local hills. We ate good food. Two noted dinners were a local southern BBQ joint that was run by an old Negro Gentleman in the style of the deep south, and another evening we had Raggin Cagin food. I had never had Cagin crawfish before. Cool.

I also looked in the classifieds for a likely transport vehicle, but Linda spied a 72 Dodge Van less than a mile away at a residence. The '72 really interested me because that is the first year to be smog exempt in Ca. I went to look at it. It had 'me' written all over it. But it had set for two years before the widow decided to sell her late husband's pride and joy.

It was a mess really. Certainly not cleaned up for the sale. As I wondered if it would make a trip to Ca, I was getting cold feet. I could just see me in the middle of NM with a dead Van........ and a dead motorcycle inside.  Hummm....how would I be able to salvage that situation?

You have to understand, that this van only had a used battery put in it, and one of the tires, that had gone flat, replaced. That was the extent of getting this vehicle ready for the sale. The Wife's brother had done the work, and he drove it up from the farm some 35 miles, he said. He was a savey 35 year old feller, and he said the van really ran good.

I took it for a test ride of 2 or three miles, and I couldn't put my finger on anything really bad, but it wasn't very confidence inspiring either. The van looked to have a new alternator on it, and a box of new parts in the back that the guy had, just in case, and it wasn't leaking oil anywhere. All good signs, So I decided the old owner was one who took care of the important issues.......I was at least hoping for that to be the case.

But as a friend of mine said, "no guts, no air metal" or "Faint heart never fu@ked a fair maid", so I pulled the trigger on the deal....not really expecting an air metal...or the other thing, either. Mostly I was just hoping to get home. I was keeping all fingers crossed.

I had been offered the Lambert's ST to tour around NM as much as I wanted.....and as Steve told me stories of near and far Indian places to see, I was temped to use up a bunch more hospitality, but my mind kept returning to the task at hand of getting home. The nagging problem of getting home was ruining a possible good time.

I decided to leave the next morning, Saturday, for FT Stockton. Let me say here that The Lamberts were an oasis in the middle of nowhere, and my eternal thanks go out to them. 

Mar 3rd, quick trip to Daytona

This story took place in 2007 during Daytona bike week. I was 67 then and had decided to attend bike week. I'd make a quick trip allowing 2 days to get there from San Diego.

Quick trip to Daytona
I was going to go to Daytona for Bike week. I had put a good used/new, to me, engine in my '84 1100cc Sabre (motorcycle) that was, I thought, to carry me for the next 10 years.

So to that end, I left for Daytona one early morn to try and make the run across I-10, The southern route to Daytona, in 2 days. Along about the 14th hour and somewhere in westTexas a noise in the power plant, that sickened me, indicated the end of my trip. Oops, you can't miss the noise/symptoms of a spun bearing.

A total failure in the crankshaft department had left me along the side of the freeway about 15 miles west of Ft Stockton. It was dark and cold. I did thank my lucky stars that there was no Tx wind to add to the ordeal as I waited for an AAA tow truck to haul me into town.

I have been a tow driver, and there is nothing worse than to be sent out on the freeway to look for someone when you don't know exactly where they are. So it's night in west Texas. There are no landmarks.

I'm on the incoming freeway side of the freeway. The tow truck will be coming out of town on the other side of this four lane freeway. The AAA lady keeps asking me for an offramp close to me. I tell her, "This is west Texas, lady, there are no off ramps." At least not for 50 miles.

I had passed a sign that said 28 miles to Ft Stockton, So I guessed that I was about 20 miles from town. After a bit, she settled for that. I watched every vehicle that passed on the outgoing side of the highway. I could see enough of an outline to guess at what it was. The semis and passenger cars were easy, but the mid length vehicles were hard to make out.

I was looking for a flatbed hauler. When I would see anything remotely the right size I would turn my headlight on. The pickup with a utility trailer almost got by me, but then I tumbled to him being a possible as well, and he responded to my light signal by throwing a quick u-turn across the 30 yards of Tx desert that they call a center divider.

The wait for AAA took nearly an hour. That wasn't nearly enough time to solve my problem in my mind, but it was time enough for me to realize that my plans for Daytona were out the window.

The tow driver set me up at a motel with WIFI right next to where he would keep my bike for me. He was a very nice guy of about 30 years old, and offered to let me keep the bike at his house under a tarp. I was thankful for that, and went to the motel after bedding down the bike.

I was damned happy to be in a bed at midnight after leaving Ca at 4:15am. In fact it was a bit of a relief to not have to continue riding for most of the next 30 hours. I pondered the possibily that I had run the bike out of oil. I figured my bike was using a qt of oil every 2000 miles from my riding before I left.....but riding hard will use a bit more. Do you suppose..........?

My first impulse was to Abandon the bike in Ft Stockton and send the tow driver the pink slip. I have long since advocated that with an old Sabre that I could afford to do that......but what were my other options.

I could..........bus home ............................................159.00
Drive my van and trailer back................800.00....round trip W/expenses

Or, I could..........buy a vehicle there & haul...............2000
..........Plus expences.................................... 400
and ......................Prolly get money back.....................2000

This buying a vehicle thing looked like a good deal. I spent the next day with that in mind. The vacation/trip had taken a new direction, and I would just have to enjoy what it had become. Here is an accounting of my Day in Ft Stockton.

I had a day to work out my
logistics in Ft Stockton. I got out of the motel room by the check
out time. At that point, I was within three blocks of the tow driver's
house (where my bike was being kept for free) and the Greyhound bus
depot. So after breakfast at Lupe's Cafe (breakfast Burrito with
cheese and sauce). BTW, Texas Mexican food is altogether different
than SD Mex food). I went to work on buying a pickup for under 2000.

I saw a gentleman sitting in a pickup, and asked him about buying a
truck. Of Course, it was Sunday which eliminated car lots in this
sleepy little dying west Texas town. So Abraham Gonzales (ABE) it
turns out is 68 years old and his family has been in Ft Stockton since
before the Alamo event.

Abe was an interesting guy. He made and lost a couple fortunes
there. He bit it big time when the Tx oil boom died in 1980. Said he
lost about a mil from that deal. But he has property and family all
over town. But today he needed to get an 89 Lincoln moved from in
front of a house a few blocks away.

So Abe was laying in wait for a tow driver to come out from the
little Cafe where I had breakfast.....and said that the driver might know of a
pickup for sale.

So in the meantime, Abe and I became best friends. Abe will do
anything. He has owned liquor stores, antique/thrift shops, mex
restaurants. This car he needs moved is purely junk, but it has a
good set of tires that he is eyeballing.

I offer to steer the car to his property if he tows it with the
chain. Well, we get there and find out he doesn't have keys so we
can't steer it ..That's out. So back to the Cafe to talk to the tow
driver about moving it for him.

The tow driver want 50 dollars to move the car and lies to Abe about
doing it at 2pm. Tom driver also calls a couple guys that have car lots. They
have pickup trucks for 5000 dollars. Abe tells me the car lot owners are no good
SOBs, and to be careful.

Abe wants to know about my tow driver. So I get Abe an
introduction. My tow driver say sure he'll move the car for him but
has to wait for the tow truck owner to go to church so he won't see
this free tow job happen, otherwise, he'd have to charge 50 bucks also.

Abe takes off and I go on a couple tow jobs with my new tow driver
friend (Mike). We also stop for burgers from the local convenience
store. I try to buy burgers, but he won't hear of it. I end up with
a free lunch. We go back to have our burgers with his live aboard,
Serina.

We eat our burgers and watch 'Edward Sizzorhands' and drink cream
sodas. Life is good.

Tow driver says it time to move Abe's car. He contacts Abe, and we
get the car and take it a couple miles to Abe's 25 acre parcel of
Desert. Holy cow, Abe has a junkyard of all manner of trash as well
as a dozen cars from years past.

Abe and the tow driver talk about the Various old relics there, and
who used to own them, and who is now dead and who is in jail.

In Fact, tow man, Mike, was in jail a couple days ago for not
having a moto license while he was riding his '04 R1. Seems as though a
check on Mike's driving record show 3000 dollars worth of past due
tickets for one thing and another. Mike is now making payments to the
county.

Mike tells Abe that if he's a friend of mine the tow job is free. We
say goodbye to Abe who is beside himself with appreciation. Then we
go out to a buddy's wife's house and give her a free jump start, cause
her old man is in jail also for warrants.

I could go on......I tell you this stuff, because I don't want
you to think I'm not having any fun. Life in Ft Stockton is a blast,
sport bikes are everywhere. Mike know them all, and they all will pull a
wheelie when they see Mike.

Mike gets a call to go impound 4 cars for the local cops. Seems the boys
were getting into a little mischief and racing down the main street in town.

Rescue for me is on its way.