I sit here stunned at how well this trip has gone. 3 days in and I'm just starting to settle down into the ride. The weather has been more than I had hoped for. Not a single cloud in the sky over the last 3 days. Not even wind to worry about. Sunday Morning I was up at 2:30, go figure, couldn't hardly sleep. Got dressed and.. COULDN"T FIND MY KEYS.. after all that planning my mind went blank. So, I dug into my pack for the extra set, I wasn't going to miss this kickoff. Of course when I went to put my gloves on, there was my original set with my gloves. 4am found me meeting up with Ed Skvor, and we quickly headed out. We got to Blythe, Ca 200 miles in about 3 1/2 hours and had breakfast at our favorite place "Steak & Cakes". Once finished we gave each other a big huge and Ed headed back toward Fontana (I'm sure he hated ever mile), and I headed off. Weather was perfect and the bike was motoring along like it was made for this trip. A brief fuel stop at Buckeye Az then on to Phoenix. I was pretty tired of I10 Superslab riding be then so I headed out some 2 lane black top, to Oracle,Az this is where Biosphere 2 is. Quite the interesting and mildly run down place, but worth the stop. I got to my campground (Glibert Ray Campground) a really lovely and very clean campground. Like camping in the middle of a Cactus Garden. I spent a nice evening talking with the people in the campsite next to me and then had a nice sleep. Monday I woke up about 5am, it was already light, and made some coffee. Nothing better than the small of camp coffee in the morning. I packed up the gear and by 7am was off headed east towward Las Cruces New Mexico. Again the weather was really nice, 70's and I got to my campground about 2pm. Leasburg State Park, just north of Las Cruces. This was another surprisingly nice campground with Water, Electric and Showers. I made quick work of a nice shower then had a modest dinner. Waking up This morning, I packed up and again headed east. Next stop Carlsbad. riding through White Sands and stopping at the missile base where they had a large museum with missiles that they had tested at the sight. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. I then rode to White Sands National Monument. A very interesting place covered with miles of white sand dunes. From there to Alamogordo. then up over the mountains through Cloudcroft and to Carlsbad. Here I had my first GPS error. I had plugged in the Carlsbad KOA address and the Female British voice was giving me directions. I came to a town called HOPE, NM and it told me to turn on Armstrong Road. So obediently I did. Riding out into the plains of New Mexico, the voice whispering in my ear "In 9 miles turn left at Rocky Canyon Rd." So I plodded along till I got to where it said turn. UNIMPROVED DIRTY ROAD!!!! are you kidding me. I passed the turn and I heard the familiar voice say "RECALCULATING" "Proceed 5 miles to Roddy Road" Obediently I followed instructions now 15 miles from the main Hwy 82. ANOTHER UNIMPROVED DIRT ROAD!!!! I shouted a couple of expletives at my British Companion, turned around and plodded back 15 miles to Hwy 82 and finally got to my Campground. I'm sure the cattle roaming Armstrong Road had a good laugh at me as I retraced my steps. Alas I'm siting here in my campsite, tired by invigorated by 3 days of wonderful riding. Even the detour was fun, in a sick and demented sort of way. I'll post some pictures tomorrow before I head down to do some spelunking in the Carlsbad Caverns. Night Night All....at Big Red at White Sands National Monument. Miles and miles of bright white sands. Yeah I was there too. :) What a beautiful Place
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AuthorTim Stubbe AKA Archives
June 2013
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