Another bad camping night.  My sleeping bag clearly isn’t cut out for cold nights.  36 degrees.  But I am sure that once the stars align I’ll have some great camping experiences.  Sunrise this morning almost made up for the night.  Well, no, not really.

Got to Columbus, NM without really remembering why it was on my list.  Did know that I wanted to go 3 miles south and walk into Palomas, Mexico to visit The Pink Store, which I did.  After all the hubbub at international airports, walking across was certainly anticlimactic.  Mostly, I just walked across.  The Pink Store was all it could be.  Full of colorful stuff that you’d buy, take home, then ask “Why did I buy this?”  I had Heuvos Rancheros and two cokes for $10.00.  There were dentist ads everywhere.

I returned to to discover why it was on my list.  On March 9th, 1916, Pancho Villa raided the town.    Note the date.  I missed the centennial anniversary by one day!  Though actually, they’re celebrating it on Saturday.  So if you’re somewhere in southern New Mexico, you now have somewhere to go.  Apparently, some riders will come up from Mexico to reenact the event.  That’s a border crossing I’d like to see.  The town has a beautiful State Park and Museum commemorating the event.

The ride, though, was getting to me.  Frankly, southern AZ and NM are boring.  So I changed course and headed to I10 for a fast getaway.  From there I decided to skip along to White Sands (a quick visit) and finish up in Artesia, NM.  (The ride through Lincoln National Forest was fun.) I’m about a day ahead of schedule.  I should get to Fort Davis tomorrow (Friday) after seeing Carlsbad Caverns.  The observatory there has a thing every Friday evening.

In Palomas, MX. Worth a walk across the border.

In the Pink Store.

Huevos rancheros.

Palomas. Pancho Villa.

A forerunner of a tank in 1916.

Looking west. There were no mountains looking east.

White Sands sledding.

The Titan Missile Museum south of Tucson was fantastic, sad and somewhat scary. The simulated launch made you think. I highly recommend the tour.  There’s a Minuteman museum in Wall, SD that I now need to visit.

The Tumacacori Mission a little further south had a lot of unique history that made it better than I expected. The church was interesting to me because I visited St. Peters just last December.  Entirely different, but somewhat similar.

I was running late, so I skipped my next stop.  Honda’s NAV is stupid. I deleted the one waypoint and it then kindly directed me back to the route’s beginning! I had to delete all previous waypoints.

Drove through Patagonia.  What a great name!  I stopped at Kief-Joshua Vineyards in Elgin (at random).  Along with a bunch of dogs, they have a very bored looking wallaby shuffling around the tasting room!  Weird.  Wine was good.  They had an 80% syrah/20% viognier!  Very unusual.

Tombstone.  Ugh.  Like Niagara Falls without the Falls.  98% tourist trap.  I was lucky to find the 2% history: The Tombstone Epitaph Newspaper Museum.  The rest was stupid touristy.  Go with kids, or don’t go.

Bisbee was on the way but not on my stop list.  My bad.  The drive through was a wonderful experience.  I did in fact stop for a few minutes, regretting my time at Tombstone.  It’s an old copper mine and mining community.  The open pit mine is huge!

Douglas, AZ was just a town I’ve always wanted to get to.  (Same with upcoming Austin, TX).  Turns out I visited the place twice, because 15 miles out I remembered that I needed to buy gas there.  I returned.  Lucky I did, because the next day I found nothing for miles and miles. I found the campsite just at dusk.  I saw my first javelina.  Ugly.

Overall, the roads were dull.  The stops made the ride.  Rodeo, AZ, with such a nice name, is a dead town, as were many other spots along the way.  Lots and lots of Border Patrol.

The Control Room. 1960’s technology.

The entire control room is mounted on springs to be “nuclear earthquake” proof.

The launch codes.

Our treaty with Russia requires that the hatch stay half-open

The Titan II put Gemini astronauts into orbit.

The bell tower isn’t damaged. It just wasn’t finished.

Signs, signs, signs.

Patagonia. I just like to say Patagonia.

A wallaby in a winery. Musical.

A vineyard in AZ. Not quite what one expects.

Sanitation Car. A port-a-potty on wheels.

Bisbee. The stock exchange is in a brewery.

850 feet deep.

Near this spot the indian wars ended with Geronimo’s surrender in 1886.

Sentinel Peak Park gave a nice overview of the city.  (It was certainly a nicer view before the city, but what can one do?)

Went to Musselman Honda for new tires.  From arrival to departure it was less than two hours.  Had some great conversations with service desk guy and customers, so it was time well spent.  Harley-Davidson dirt bikes, days of finicky carburetors, crazy drives, crazier drivers, etc.

Rest of the day at Pima Air Museum.  They include “and Space”, but it’s not really.  Huge place.  In four hours I barely scratched the surface.  They have 300 veteran volunteers to help spread first hand knowledge.  Paid extra for a tour of the Government “Boneyard”. 

New wheels!!

T-28. I flew in one of these in 1974. Didn’t barf.

T-2. I also flew in one of these. Barfed.

Boeing Demo 787 given to the Museum.

B-1 Lancer. $283 million plane, being used for parts.

Great weather day, with one bad news/good news caveat.  Tucson was having visible rain squalls and high winds.  Mission Rules dictate that I shall not have two consecutive bad nights camping, so I checked out hotels and found that Tucson has inexpensive rooms, well within my limit.  In addition, tomorrow is a scheduled hold-in-place day, so I booked two nights.  (It is raining now, contrary to weather forecasts.)  Anyway . . .

Yuma Proving Grounds has a great display outside the base (good luck getting onto the base).  Included is an M65, the only type of cannon actually used to fire a nuclear shell.

McPhaul “Bridge to Nowhere” Bridge.  Considered too flimsy to use in the 1950s, but it refuses to fall apart.

Ajo, AZ has mountains of slag, residue from open pit mining.  Sad to see, but they are impressive.  Ajo also has a truly incredible Border Patrol Office (Ajo Station), 9 miles south on 85.  Just massive.  On 86 East there were numerous little roadside memorials, like those I’ve seen for car accidents.  I don’t think these are for that.  As expected, lots of Border Patrolmen.

Drove up Kitt Peak, 6750 feet.  Large observatory installation.  A fun winding road to the top.  Great views.  Very nice visitors center.  I missed the tours.

Passed a group of 12 GWs heading west.  Three Trikes.

Tomorrow I’m having my tires replaced.  My present tires could probably do fine for a bit longer (San Antonio), but they’re a drain on my mind and I’m gong on roads less traveled.  Getting Dunlop E3s, for those who understand.

Sunrise at Squaw Lake Campground

Bridge to Nowhere

No Idea

Hey Arizona: The Mohawk Valley is in New York.

Ajo City Hall

Slag Pile

Monument across from the slag pile

Steering is unimportant.

NOTE: Pictures are in no specific order.  Still learning.

Began three hours early to avoid rain.  Failed to avoid driving through clouds, but not too bad. Had apple pie in Julian. All journeys should begin with apple pie. Then rainbow in mirror! Strong winds. Became hot. Met an old cyclist pedaling to Florida: caused me to reflect that there are degrees of insanity. North Algodones Dunes Wilderness, Museum of History in Granite in Felicity, Yuma Territorial Penitentiary tour. Then STRONG WINDS. Gale force, with blowing sand. Erected tent on concrete walkway on the leeward side of the campsite’s showers. Sand is in everything. I mentally prepared for cold (layers of warmth) and rain (hotel). Didn’t think of wind and sand.

Yuma Territorial Prison. The Yuma High School team name is “Criminals”. (1914)

A piece of the original spiral staircase of the Eiffel Tower

The more things change. . .

Washed and ready!  Got the GoPro, Spot Tracker and solar charger mounted.  I’ve installed a skid plate, fog lights with shields, headlight shields and front cover to protect the investment.  I even have some unused space in the trunks.

Sunday, March 6th is it.  Rain is forecast, but not much.  It’ll be wet/cold in Julian, but dry in Yuma.  Arizona looks to be hot next week.

My test drive to Santa Barbara was useful, but caused a few extra trips to REI.  I’ve given up on the hope that I can depart with a completely empty bag on top of the trunk, but it’ll still be empty enough to pack my MC jacket for extended walks about towns.  Theft is a concern, but not a big one.

I received the 2016 edition of “The Milepost”, an absolutely exhaustive tome about traveling towards Alaska through Canada.  Over 700 pages.  I’ve begun to rip out pages that don’t apply to my intended route.

I am 95% packed.  I’ve hopefully gone to REI for the last time.  Really, the only things left to sort out are the electronics and their paraphernalia.  I’ve spent a lot of time deciding whether to wear a headset that lets me use my iPhone or one that connects to the bike’s navigational system and Sirius Radio.  My final decision was to use neither.  But there are a mess of cables I must take with me, which take up space and require some form of organization.

I’ll be leaving the house with a new kitchen with new microwave, refrigerator, and dishwasher.  The house’s outside is being painted as I write.  I have a cover for my car, so Yoriko’s SUV can sit in the garage.  She should be pleased.

I’m a week away from beginning my Motorcycle Adventure.  (Assuming the kitchen remodel is completed, which looks very likely.)

To recap: I have seven legs in mind:

• Home to Key West, FL;
• To Fairbanks, AK;
• To Seattle, WA;
• To Prince Edward Island, Canada (Perhaps Newfoundland);
• To Glasgow, Scotland (Explanation below);
• To Apex, NC;
• To Home

My VERY tentative completion date is in August, though I may fly home a few times along the way.  I’m reserving the right to adjust or cease the Adventure at anytime.  I have completed a detailed itinerary for only the first leg.  This is emphatically not a race to the finish line.  The goal is to camp five out of seven nights, focusing on natural wonders, not cities.

In early July I’ll fly to England and, at the least, spend 8 days walking across Scotland with my sister Connie.  It’s certainly the first item I placed on my bucket list (1973).  This probably preceded the concept of a bucket list, but I clearly remember the time and place when I thought “I have got to go there!!”