From the cold rains of Benson and Tuscon Arizona to the snow covered mountains of Tahoe has been quite a trip.
Following a great visit at Roswell, NM and an hours long tour of the UFO Museum I headed for Carlsbad Caverns.
My Golden Passport Senior Citizen Pass worked again.
This pass which Lois and I purchased years ago, has been used at many federal parks during the intervening years.
Good Investment.
The Caverns are deep and cool.
I purchased a sweat shirt to wear on the tour.
The tour itself lasted an hour and a half and provided an in depth look at the fantastic rooms and all of the giant columns of stone which had been carved in to beautiful sculptures.
Lighting behind some of them brought out the many colors and shape.
It is beautiful, but pictures just don't do it justice. The surrounding countryside is also spectacular with boulders jutting out from every hillside and making the miles long drive into the caverns from the highway, a great drive.
The narrow, winding entry road makes a great motorcycle ride.
I filled up at the only gas station and turned on to the southbound highway.
I knew this was going to be tight on gas, even with the reserve gas can I have on the back of the sidecar.
The road to El Paso was long, with many hills, but not a lot of curves.
A good ride.
Dry and sunny, this was a good change from the days of rain I had on my way to Houston and while I was in Houston.
Seemed like the rain was following me across the south.
As the city of El Paso drew ever closer, it seemed I might make it without going to the spare gas can.
Didn't happen.
Some 20 miles out of the city I sputtered to a stop.
It's nice to have the spare gas can, but even nicer if you never have to use it.
This time I had used up the reserve and reached for the spare.
Glad to have it too.
Sure beats having to walk to a service station that appears to be miles away.
The day before I had stopped when I saw a biker sitting under an overpass with his Harly Sportster.
Out of gas, he said, "I have been sitting here for five hours and no one would stop."
I filled his tank with two gallons of Chevron Premium and when he insisted on paying me I told him to pass it on to the next guy.
He was one happy biker when I left.
The next day as I was nearing Tuscon, the rains came.
Light at first, but enough so that I pulled off at Benson, Arizona and traded the Mini Mate camper for a room at the Days Inn.
The rain was supposed to last for two days so I booked the room for two nights.
By mid-afternoon of the second day the forecasters had added another day of heavy rain so I elected to stay for a third night.
TV News was full of stories of "Swift Water Rescues," and reports of 8 inches of rain in the mountains.
Washes, gullies and creeks were running bank full.
The sun was bright by Sunday morning and I was ready to ride.
But wait!
I was headed for Phoenix, and this was Super Bowl Sunday.
I searched the internet for highways that would give me the widest distance from the Super Bowl Mania and found it on I-8, some 40 miles south of Phoenix.
Turning onto The 8, as locals called it, I headed west away from the big game.
Great ride and signs directed me to the best Phoenix by-pass highways.
Mojave Arizona Spaceport!
That's what the sign said, and of course I had to pull off and seee what was going on out here in the middle of the desert.
The pictures are great.
Unfortunately, they are still on my old Windows Phone, and with the assistance of Mike Klebig I have progressed to I-Phone 6!
I'll upload pictures of the desert spaceport and old plane "boneyard" after I get them transferred over.
I moved on to Quartzite, Arizona.
The Desert RV Campgrounds was a big difference from the state campgrounds and the KOA's I have been frequenting along the way.
The office was closed on weekends and registration was by placing a ten dollar bill in the envelope and sliding it through a slot in the door.
The tent camping area was a wide open area of sand and gravel.
This is what they mean by "Dry Camp."
No water or electricity, just a place to camp for the night.
And not a bad night at that.
The next days ride from Blythe, California to Needles carried me through some great scenery along the Mojave Desert and Colorado River.
Two lane highway at a relaxed speed.
I have just learned something new about California.
Road signs warned trucks of a maximum 55 MPH.
BUT!
Signs also warned any vehicle towing a trailer of a maximum 55 MPH speed limit.
This is great.
I'm pulling a Mini Mate tent camper.
I HAVE to drive slowly through this beautiful area.
When the speed limit is 75 and I'm driving 65 I feel guilty for impeding traffic.
But here, the State of California is ORDERING me to drive at a nice relaxing 55 MPH.
It is great and this law for towing vehicles extends across the state.
Worked well as I drove through the coastal mountain range approaching Santa Margarita.
Suddenly the narrow two lane road began climbing via switch backs signed at 15 MPH.
Sharp turns appeared as I looked down at drop offs several hundred feet down.
No Guard Rails!
As I slowly wended my way up the mountainside the drop offs were deeper and deeper and the turns seemingly sharper and slower.
It was a GREAT ride.
But still a relief to reach the top and make my way down the back side and in to a beautiful little town called Santa Margarita.
The KOA camp was 8 miles out and I camped by Santa Margarita Lake.
It was so quiet I could hear the frogs on the shore of the lake.
What a beautiful night of camping.
From Santa Margarita I had a fantastic ride up Highway 101 to San Jose.
Mile after mile of orchards and fields of vegetables.
The countryside was alive.
Migrant workers were working the fields and the irragation water was flowing.
This is the real California.
Beautiful.
Finding the Klebig home was easy with GPS working fine.
Stories of the many adventures at San Jose with the Klebigs will have to wait until I get off the mountain.
For now I will enjoy the Heavenly Ski Resort and Lake Tahoe.
THANKS Jordan and Vaughn.
The odometer turnbed over 19,000 miles as I pulled into the Klebig driveway.
About 10,000 miles from where I started this epic ride last Sept. 27th.
Great adventures continue as I leave next week for the return trip.
Watch for me.
I'll be in the Right Lane America.
Del "Lonnie" Lonnquist
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