It's a Gas!

When I was returning from Bob's last Tuesday, I noticed gas stations closer into the hub, with successively lower prices per gallon.  I had filled up at $2.99/2.89 and my last fill was at $2.84.  Keeping in mind that a US gallon is approximately 3.8 L as compared to an Imperial gallon at 4.5, it's not fair to compare directly across the board, or in this case, the border.

The lowest price I have seen so far locally was $2.73.  Now my math is a bit rusty, whose isn't in this age of electronic stuff, but if I were to convert the volume differential between the US and Imperial gallon and dollar exchange rate today, we in Canada are paying the equivalent of $3.62 per Imperial gallon in CDN dollars.  That is, in CDN dollars at 4.5 liters converted to US dollars and 1.18 USG.  To further confuse me, or you.. when I left PEI, gas had dropped to $1.25/Liter.  Now if you convert that to Imp gallons, that would be $5.62 per Imperial gallon CDN or ~$5.01/Imperial in USD .  Again taking the exchange rate into consideration, paying $2.73/ US gallon of fuel works out at ~$3.05 in current Canuck bucks.  No matter how you figure it, fuel is considerable less expensive here.

What this mean in English is thus:  at 70 MPUSG or the equivalent 84MPIMPG of my XT 350 and about the same for the Adventure scooter 150, I can actually afford to joy ride here for a lot less money, US or CDN!

To even further confuse the issue... that 84mpg works out at ~3.3L/100km...  what idiot bureaucrat  came up with that yardstick anyway!?

 




Whew... I think I need a cold beer. 


 

C,C,C Continued

THERE are several small groups of wild burros around Lake Pleasant.  They are descended from the pack animals that were commonly used to cart stuff like prospecting gear, and goods in the days before even wagon roads appeared.

Shy and wary (in recent history unknown persons have killed entire families) they are not often photographed and rarely even seen.  I got lucky this time and on previous rides in the area, only once before saw them and then it was at a distance.

There were 6 individuals, one dark brown the others, tan... able to literally walk into concealment like chameleons, blending in with the bush and appear to disappear in a second.  Soon as I cut the engine, they began to move away from me and I had to creep up on them in stealth mode, hard to do in heavy Icon boots and riding gear!

Not able to get closer than 200 feet, I used the zoom on my little Olympus to snap a few pics of the wild creatures.  What a great way to begin my day.

Shortly after I came across a Jeep TJ with Washington plates on it.  They flagged me down in a wash, something I am always cautious of since my very first encounter with a game warden/ranger here 16 years ago.  At that time I asked him what kind of animal would require the heavy caliber handgun on his hip and the rifles in his truck.  The answer... "Poachers."  Imagine having to prowl around in the back country rarely sighting another human day after day, knowing that you could be in the cross hairs of a high powered rifle.  Seems since cutback in funding, rangers traveled alone and several had been ambushed and killed over the years.  There are Trophy sheep and deer, and poachers apparently are not above killing humans any more than bighorn sheep.


The husband and wife Jeepsters were asking me for directions, I replied that yes indeed, that compound they passed a few miles back was the Castle Hot Springs (look it up) but no, I didn't know if those old buildings before that were part of the complex, I didn't think so.  They were quite surprised to hear I was actually a Canadian riding here.  We parted company, I continued NW, they opposite.



At Champie road I crossed the dry riverbed I'd been following, which makes up much of the CHS road, and headed north, climbing steadily higher and higher.  This is a short detour that connects the hot springs road with Cow creek.  At that junction, where I have been several times now, you could continue north to Crown King one of two ways.  The direct route which I wrote about for CDN Biker a couple of years back, or another through Minnehaha, which I intend to try.  Twice before on my way to Prescott through the mountains I was defeated. The first time missing the obscure, only the locals know cut-off and ending up dead ending on the Castle creek road?  where Jeeps fear to tread!  Man that was an ordeal (view blog a couple of years back)  The 2nd time the going was just too tough, I was exhausted in the heat and had a recurring pain in my left shoulder.  Hard to muscle around a 300 lb bike like that.



Today I had no such aspirations, this was a warm up ride and believe me, it was warm.  Hot sun, no cloud, little shade and my thermometer read 88 F !

I looked north and smiling, assured myself that this year... I would make it through via Minnehaha.  Like I say, there are several loops that I have touched on at various junctions but my goal is to close up as many as I can.

It was at this Champie/Cow creek junction two years ago, I met two deputies in a Sheriff's 4X4 that warned me not to try the CK trail, how more than a hundred vehicles get stranded each year in there.  They were surprised to hear I'd done it the year before on this same motorcycle.



After a few photos I turned right and began the trip home.  It was already early afternoon, I'd had a late start and I was getting tired.  The familiar ride by yet another abandoned and decaying homestead, eventually but not before several exploratory detours that really highlighted the fact I was out of shape for standing on the pegs bouncing over dry washes and rocks in near 90 degree heat, made me glad I use discretion as much as reckless, dam the torpedoes, full speed ahead abandon riding this country.

I was pleased I'd seen the burros, had a good hundred twenty mile warm up ride, the bike worked better than it has yet at any time, and I filled up on cheap gas, body and bike covered in fine dust,  I was back home by 4 pm, tired and dry but pleased with my first ride of the desert season.

The Three C's

I LOVE riding this country.  If I get too old, I will probably get myself another Jeep and continue driving.  From the very first westerns I saw on the old black and white tube box, to the stories I'd read in Cycle magazine, to the first rides I did in the South West... there is something just mystical, magical, awe inspiring and dangerous about traveling back there.

I first rode this trail in 1998, after returning from Baja.

Greater Phoenix is a city of 4.5 million mas o menos, but once you have ridden beyond the final stop light, once the last of the ever expanding housing tracts is cleared, once you are over the final ring road... out there you could be on another planet closer to the Sun.

It's hard to believe but just 20 miles from the city limits, you are in wilderness country, where rattlesnakes, tarantula's, scorpions and jack rabbits rule.  At 40 miles, you are in country where only the lonely live.  At 41 miles, there's nobody!

Perfect!!!  Just what the Dr. ordered...

Sure you may come across abandoned homesteads, a run down ranch, a broken down windmill, but out there, where you would be hard pressed to find water above ground, amid mountains and dry arroyo's and cacti, and rock-beds, where you can actually "hear" the silence, you forget that in our everyday lives, included my own home in Spring Valley, you never really hear silence.  Think about it?

Castle Hot Springs Once the playground of the rich and famous, now private.

Everyday and pretty much every minute of every day, there is some noise going on in our lives, we live with it and sometimes don't even 'hear' it, but believe me... its there.  When I park my bike in the desert under some decrepit shade tree,  and walk twenty feet away, it is utter and complete silence only broken by the odd F 15 overhead or maybe... maybe a cricket or two chirping blissfully.  There have been rides I have done where I sit down on a convenient rock and just, listen.  To nothing at all.  No cars, horns, kids, cats or dogs, nada... goose egg.  It's not hard to see why we as humans, crave noise.  It makes us feel like we are not alone, even though you can be part of a huge city and yet truly be more alone than sitting out there in the desert on that rock. 

When I am doing just that, I feel more a part of myself more a part of the planet and solar system and universe than packed into an elevator headed to the 15th floor!

Old equipment found along the road.

I was out for a short (in miles) ride Monday on the 350.  It's familiar turf the Bradshaw's and its also my stand by.  In 30 minutes after fueling up, I am taking the left fork of the Castle Hot Springs, Cow creek roads.  I have NO plan.  I decide en-route where I go and as long as I have fuel to spare I just ride.  The XT has a 12 liter tank, just over 3 gallons US and just under 3 gallons Imperial.  I have a safe range of 180 miles, with about 30 in reserve.  180 miles out in the mountains is a hell of a lot of riding.  Keep in mind I am standing much of the way, in lower gears climbing in and out of ravines and dry run-offs, riding through sand, gravel a foot deep, hard packed bare earth or exposed rock.  A hundred miles out here is a lot of work.  For each day I do a hundred miles, I need  two to recover.  This was the point of making it a point to ride these places beginning many years ago.

Wouldn't come any closer than this!

I'm pushing 60 now, and even though I feel pretty strong and fit, like I say... it takes a bit of recovery time after a trip through the outback.

Dry riverbed, but don't camp here!

The very first time I rode CHS road, in the late 90's I thought it was pretty tough, and it is definitely not a beginner ride.  The numerous river beds, filled with sand or rock or gravel are very challenging and tiring.  Monday, when heading back, I thought to myself; "Man this is a piece of cake!"  hahaha... 15 years ago it was tough, now its a Sunday, or in my case... a Monday ride.  The places I have ridden since have been progressively more difficult and challenging, sometimes stretching my skill and resourcefulness and mental and physical toughness to the breaking point, but I've done them anyway and here I am today, thinking, this is easy.

No kidding Sherlock!

Easy was good Monday.  The local temperature was in the high 80's even at 2500 feet, and what air there was, was hot.  Shade is pretty much nonexistent here so you are always absorbing the heat and trying to shed it from your pores as fast as you can.  I drink lots of water.  Ummm, let me rephrase that, lot's of water!  You can't afford to get heatstroke out here, no siree, not when you're by yourself. 

Over the years, many people that I know well, ask me why I do this... "Frank, why go out there by yourself and punish yourself doing this?"



I look at it differently than that, after all... I really have nothing to atone for, I haven't killed anyone, stolen fortunes as a financial adviser, nor cheated on my wife.  I do this, because it takes me to a place I like to go at times, and challenges me while getting there.  Like the first time I rode Castle Hot Springs road, it was tough, I thought it would never end, but by the time I got to, Wickenburg probably having a burger and Coke... I decided to ride it in reverse, as the sun was going down.





That's the beauty of taking on any challenge, you defeat it and get better at it.  Some people take them on, others do not.  The choice is yours :)

Old? yes, Bold...

Not so much.

Why do I like those bikes?  Having spent nearly 25 years in the MC business, I seem to have a soft spot for simple, functional, mechanically accessible bikes.  Over the years I was fortunate enough to have ridden some cutting edge machinery. 

I rode the super-bikes like the Hustlers, Mach III's and IV's, the Excessive Eleven's, The Turbo's (all but the Suzuki) the original Ninja's and everything since then.  The single R's, the double and triple RRR's  Japanese bikes, German bikes, Italian bikes, Brit bikes...

I've had V Max's in the garage, CBX's, Ducati's, Gold Wings, Venturer's and Venture's... and still, I like the operational ease of my XT's, the VX, and even my little TY 175.



Last year, while contemplating what and how I was going to make the 350 work for what I wanted down south here in Arizona, I kept punting my head into the proverbial brick wall.  There was no way it was ever going to be a road bike.  Take today for example, I ran down I-17 for a visit to Bob's Used bikes parts... the posted speed is 55MPH.  I can cruise relatively easily in sixth gear at that speed, with the engine turning 5000 revs.  Not exactly stratospheric but for the air cooled 4 valve single, acceptable.  Of course traffic in every lane is at least 20 mph above that and sometimes even more, judging by the paint being sucked off my fuel tank in the vacuum!  Even if the engine were capable of ton up speeds, which it isn't, the seating position, the lightness and the tires conspire against such antics. 



It's a dang good compromise bike for what I bought her to do.  That is, to legally get me to the boonies and without too much fuss, across the mountain trails.  My fill up yesterday showed 84MPImperialG, that's 70 MPUSG.  Loaded we wouldn't exceed 300 lbs and for me, tiptoeing across the Bradshaw's, that's plenty.

I noticed yesterday that all those country roads are now posted... you must be street legal, and have a motorcycle license to ride out there.  Now to give you an idea of what "out there" is like, the only vehicles I came across in the back country were 3 Jeep Jeeps, and a VW engined buggy!  I mean, who goes out there but the hard core guys and still you need all the paperwork now.  Long gone are the days you could tear across the Mojave on your Husky or Triumph twin.


So I was on the prowl for a more suitable bike that I could ride to Apache Junction or Globe or Tombstone with.  It had to be powerful enough, able to ride at freeway speeds at least for short distances, comfortable enough so that I could toss some soft bags and a tank bag on and maybe explore the state or even California or New Mexico.

It had to be skinny to get it into my humble little back yard and light enough that I could spin it around on the side stand to point it back out.  Do you know how many motorcycles fit this bill...?  Not many I can tell you.  Sure there are dozens of 250 Ninja's for sale, but I wanted something more practical than that.  There are a few GS or EX 500's but they lean more towards sporty.  Although I wasn't looking for a DR 650 or KLR 650, I wanted a bike I could ride down a 10 mile gravel trail to get to a overlook.  I even test rode a couple of Buell Blast's!!!



I ended up by buying a 1982 Honda FT 500 Ascot.  A street bike that started its life as a dirt bike.  Light at 350 odd pounds, strong enough at 35 hp to give me 65 mph speed, and comfortable enough that a small windshield and cordura bags would allow me to ride the black top a much greater distance than my little dual purpose XT.

It needs work, and that's pretty much what I have been doing this first week.  Scrounging around in the boxes the previous owner left me, I've now got brakes, lights (except for a missing headlight) and I've been able to ride it around my complex a couple of turns to makes certain the running gear is mechanically good before I spend the real bucks on her.  Cosmetically, she needs some attention, being badly sun faded, but that's not what I was after. 


I wanted a simple reliable, decently comfortable road bike that could, in a pinch, manage that short gravel secondary road.

In the next few days I will finish off my Bike Bandit shopping list and order up some parts.  My goal is to have this Ascot do some kind of loop before I leave here this time round.

Wish me luck, send me good vibes, or cash would be appreciated too, after all... we're keeping this old Honda out of Bob's 5 acres of bent frames, rusted hulks and boat anchor engines.

"You're so pretty, so so pretty...

Snoopy in her last days...

WHAT
a pretty, little kitty you arrrrreee.."  

I am a cat guy, plain and simple.

In fact I stated that flatly during my years of internet dating.  If you couldn't dig it, I wasn't interested.

I love animals in general sometimes even more than humans, but cats and I have a very special relationship since the days of Smokey.

Spirit

Smokey was a cat that befriended me when I was pre-school.  He was a sweetie staying with me till I turned 18 in far away Fort McMurray.  He basically was my very best friend growing up.  The absolute most surprising thing I remember of him and there are tons of memories, was his turning up at our new home in Wellington (NW Edmonton) out of the blue one day.  You see, we found each other in Kensington which admittedly was only the next community over, but once we'd relocated he, beyond belief turned up at our new home.  He somehow covered several miles of a busy urban city with out any aids, no smells, no transportation and found me in my new digs.

Phx

There's been a treasure trove of kitties since.  Too many to name but I can tell you, when I die and turn up at Rainbow Bridge, there will be a re-union of epic proportions!  I will be surrounded by dozens of felines that had all contributed to my life in a positive way.  I have always believed that animals enhance our existence on this planet and if you treat them with heart and kindness, the rewards you receive will far out perform the stock market!



Several years ago, at the end of March, my best pal ever, Einstein died at home after spending nearly 20 years living with me.  I have always been heartbroken when a cat died or didn't return home one day but his passing really shook my soul, in fact we were probably soul mates more so than people can ever be.

Abby

That winter, while in Phoenix, Anna and Brenda came for a visit.  They procured a little community kitten that ultimately rode on my lap the 2500km to then home, Calgary.  Little Phoenix has turned into a big strong long hair, that I'm told by two vets, has some wild cat in his blood.

He rode shot gun in the Ford, as we slowly crossed the country in 2012 and has been joined by first Abby, a mature female that needed a new home, and Willy... a wiry little spark plug we found at the Humane Society in C'Town.  That's our little brood on the Island.

Little boy in the bubble, Willy

Last fall on my very first night in Glendale after a two year absence, I am airing the place out, the patio doors are open.  Next thing I know a little kitten is up at my ear on the back of my couch!  Turns out Boo is from next door and she became my constant companion for the two months of my stay.

In recent weeks prior to my latest arrival, neighbor Judy, has been writing me that Boo has been sitting on my mat in front of the door, seemingly sensing my imminent return, and sure enough, within hours, Boo Boo had made herself comfortable and is truly at home.

Boo helping herself to the water fountain.

She has not left my side for the week I have been here, and she is most welcome.  I know I am but a temporary stop for her but I appreciate the feline company a great deal.

In recent days, a blonde colored male has been hanging about as I work on my bikes out on the fenced in patio.  He too is a local community pussycat that Judy tells me is named, Mr. Tickles. Mr. T as I call him, hangs out mostly across the street from me with Jude's brothers family, but seems to be spending lots of time meowing at my feet as I sit on the ground installing brakes or a new drive chain on the old Honda.

Mr. T.

Last night he slept in the yard (it's very pleasant out) and was howling at the patio door as soon as he heard me up and about, around 5 30 am. 

I have also noticed a little black and white kitty munching on Boo's kibbles the other day, so I am truly on the feline jungle telegraph so to speak.

Einstein.

Longtime friend Tommy G. who I've know since my Bow Cycle days, says I attract... ahem pussy-cats like no one he's ever seen!  He should know if anyone does. 

So,as the story goes... "they're so pretty, oh so pretty, so pretty a kitty they arrrre."

Progress

SINCE buying the XT 350 Yamaha a number of years ago, I have been working on her with each trip.  There has been the gearing issues, attempting to find a suitable combination that will work for me given the riding I do.  Lacking a transport vehicle to truck the dual purpose bike to distant destinations, I have to find a compromise between off road ability and highway cruising to get there.  It will never be a comfortable road bike, because it can't be that and a suitable stand up off road bike.  Then there is the issue of jetting.


The previous owner, during the times of emissions testing had experimented with engine leaning.  I have the bike worked out now so that most of the stumbles are gone and my only real issue is the occasional miss and  stall.  With no electric leg to instantly re-start, this can pose a problem on busy streets at a traffic light if the engine dies suddenly.  It's tall and the kick-starter is high up on the engine case.  This can be awkward for my 5'4" frame to deal with on pavement. Normally to start the engine, I prop the bike on it's side stand, stand on the left peg, and then kick the engine through. Off road the occasional stall is not so much of a problem, I usually have an uneven surface and can get a good handle on the lever to kick the engine over.


Late last season on one of my last rides, I'd made it nearly all the way across to the western outskirts of the city when I encountered some severe low speed running problems.  With each stall, I had a difficult time restarting the bike and once I did I headed for interstate 10, which was only about a mile distant and rode home gingerly.  It wasn't too bad on steady higher speeds but was frustrating at traffic lights where I had to keep the engine revving to fend off a stall.  I found upon inspection that the secondary carb to head rubber manifold was cracked clear thru.  Had this happened out in the boonies, there would have been no fix possible.  I could maybe have limped it back if I electric taped the manifold but there was no guarantee of that and without proper tools, highly unlikely.   

Yesterday I pulled the side covers, seat, tank, gear shifter and magneto case cover off, the spark plug out and the valve cover off.  I had brought my feeler gauges and valve adjusting tool to check the valve clearances.  If I needed shims, I would have to get on the Adventure and find a shop that carried them.  Fortunately, the valves were within specs and in 2 hours total, everything was buttoned back up and the engine was running.



During the afternoon, I started the task of working on the Honda Ascot.  It came over mostly as a rolling chassis with several boxes of parts.  I have an extra carburetor, air cleaner, controls and things that I have yet to sort through.  Late last year just prior to leaving, when I bought the bike, I had it running but poorly.  I took the carb apart and found the pilot jet clogged with no way to clear it so, I mounted the alternate carb.  Unfortunately, having neither work bench (using the patio as such) nor proper lighting and working on my knees (ouch) for the most part, I had inadvertently dropped the float retaining pin when I re assembled the carburetor and luckily found the pin as I was cleaning up the lawn furniture and closing up for the season.



I pulled the carb off, which in itself is rather time consuming, having to take pretty much the same stuff off as I did on the XT plus the air-box, I can see myself eventually rigging up a battery box (currently the battery sits in a recess molded into the air-box) and putting a pod filter on the bike.  When everything was bolted together the engine fired and ran pretty smoothly.  Don't really know when this bike was last used but the previous owner had bought it to strip into a 'tracker'.

 

Today I am going to find out what the brakes need, what parts I have to scrounge, and install those parts I have in the box, like a new drive chain.  (Non O-Ring whaah!!)  This will narrow down whether I can have this up and running before I leave.  Hopefully there are no mechanical issues, and it's simply a matter of replacement of missing or defective parts and bolting everything on.  I do have a small fly screen that came with the 350 and some cordura saddlebags from home.  With these light weight accessories, the bike will make a decent back road touring bike, and I have a better chance of  avoiding being run over for those occasional freeway romps.



The tires have plenty of tread and no apparent cracking, but I think if I can get things sorted and running to my satisfaction, I will put new skins on it as well.  I have been contemplating taking another ride down the Baja peninsula next year, and thought of course of riding the 350.  With more suitable gearing, and some spare time I could ride the Yamaha, speeds are not an issue riding Baja, where the typical paved road speed is 80kph,

but if I wanted to stick to the pavement, the 500 would be a fine ride and is light enough to handle some of the back road unpaved gravel roads, after all... it began its life as an XL/XR 500 dirt or dual purpose bike!

Gotta Love it!

WOW... I've slept the better part of a week, since my arrival last Thursday.  Must be jet lagged...

Wingin' it!

I don't know if it's the heat (see below) the quiet or little Boo, the feline sleeping pill.  This is the first year in memory, maybe since I bought the southern pad, that I have not arrived just after a cold, while having a cold, or just catching a cold.  First time in recent memory that I am, well healthy!

Cramped seating, sometimes it's an advantage being short!

Usually my first job upon arrival is to get the scooter geared up, it is after all, my Phoenix "Mule"  I use it for groceries, paying bills, banking and sightseeing.  I would like to take a 'trip' on the Adventure 150 and may just do that this year.  It would be slow, the top speed is maybe 60mph, but I think we would have a good time.

Peahen and chicks at the Glendale library.

The second order of business once settled in, is to get the 1998 Yamaha XT 350 up and running.  For those that read the blog but aren't exactly familiar with Motorcycles, this is a four stroke air cooled, kick start only, 4 valve, double overhead cam (DOHC) single cylinder street legal trail bike.  The engine produces about 24 to 29 hp depending on who you are reading, and with a six speed transmission, and the current gearing, she can cruise sort of comfortably at 55 mph and has a top speed of approximately 80. Blah blah blah.

 I have been playing with gearing, moving away from the very low ratio the previous owner had on the bike, that was really only suitable for trail use.  This trip I am going to gear up with a smaller rear sprocket, not so much to increase the top speed (the bike really doesn't have enough horsepower to do that) but to reduce the revs and increase my cruising speed somewhat .  Of course this will affect the low RPM power delivery but as it stands, first gear is pretty low anyway, and with 6 gears, I should still be able to trail ride her and make things just a little less squirrely on the freeways. 

No matter how you look at it, I have to do a fair bit of pavement riding to get anywhere out of town.  I mean Apache Junction and the  start of the Superstition  mountains is 65 miles across town and even my favorite
Bradshaw riding is half that to the North. 

The Honda I bought last year just prior to leaving, fits in my back yard... is fairly light, will have better road ability, and should be much more comfortable than the XT.

I had all three batteries on my little tender while gone this past 10 months.  I had my doubts that they would still be fresh especially the XT being only a tiny little thing not much larger than 3 D cells.  Fortunately they all are almost topped up and the scooter of course is running, although I like to kick start it, and today I installed the 350 battery as well.

My Deluxe tool kit!

I have been speculating how many kicks it would take to get the XT running, after all it's been nearly a year, sitting here in hot temperatures.

To my not so much of a surprise, after draining the fuel from the float bowl, letting some semi-fresh gas in, and one push through on the kick starter to make certain nothing was seized, presto... it was running on the 2nd ( well actually the first) kick!  Why doesn't that surprise me?!  It conked out after about 60 seconds of running on the choke but started right up again with no problem.  It's less problematic than hauling bikes from Calgary as I was initially and of course with no more emissions testing, is very convenient.

Running in one kick!!!

This is why I bought a simple dual purpose bike to leave here.  It has to be reliable given the places I normally explore.

The trail bike and the project!

Before I ride the 350 I will go over the bike make certain all systems are go and then... go!  I want to close a few more loops in the Bradshaws, the Senator highway (don't be fooled, it's a jeep trail) and the Wagoner road including Minnehaha!  (Google maps)

My tires are still in pretty decent condition although prior to leaving last December, I bought replacements from Bike Bandit, not because the current set is worn out, but I knew that the exchange rate would deteriorate before my return and I was right.  We are down around 88cents to the USD, so buying in advance was a good move.

I will be placing another order soon for some parts that I need for the Ascot and of course bits for my bikes back home that will fit in my carry on luggage.

Not a Freeway in sight!!

Gotta love it...

Home is where you hang your helmet!

Back, back, back in the U.S. of A.

After a 13 hour day, leaving C'Town late, then the same experience in Toronto.  An hour late, getting off the tarmac, I arrived at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix Arizona right around 9 local time, which by then was after midnight for my body!

It was after 10 when I popped the key in the door and walked into my home.

Took just a few minutes to get the lights and water up and running, and by midnight I was in bed.

This morning I got up at 6, and began the task of getting the Adventure 150 running.  Drained the carb, put the battery back in and after about two dozen kicks, there was enough fresh fuel in the float bowl to run smoothly. 

I had to get food, there wasn't even a can of salmon in the cupboard!

Before I could get the bike out the door... I had company! 

Little Boo showed up under my fence!  At first I thought this must be one of her kittens from the summer, but no, I called her name and she trotted right on over and began rubbing against me, standing on her hind legs to get a lift.  She was soooo excited, wheeling about me like I'd never left!

She's been here ever since, even though I took her back to Judy's earlier in the day she trotted back with me.  In fact she is laying here on my coffee table as I write this. 

Under cloudy skies, temperature in the mid 70's, knapsack on my back, I headed to my favorite nearby Safeway only to find the door boarded up!  When was the last time that's happened?  I looped around to WalMart, picked up two bags under the seat, two in the trunk, two in the back pack and one each for my elbows!  I was fairly voracious by the time I arrived home, as was my company.  I got chicken and Boo got Salmon in beef stew!

During the next few days, I will be back several times to stock the larder, get the outdoor furniture set up and inventory the bikes.  Next on the list will be getting the 350 geared up and useable, it may need a part or two and of course I have to completely go over the Ascot from last year.  Not sure what it will require, a headlight assembly for certain, new tires brake fluid etc.  I likely won't have it up and ride-able by the end of the month, but hopefully before this trip is done.

I feel quite at home here, people are generally friendly and the service is good, and the cost of things like gas and groceries is substantially less than (other) home.  Dozen eggs... $1.77, banana's 56c a pound and a loaf of unsliced French bread... a dollar each! 

Oh yeah, gas under 3 bucks a gallon!