Featured Touring The Best Laid Plans Of Mice & Men -- And Motorcyclists

This past weekend, Mr. Sandi and I along with two ride buddies, had planned a three-day/two-night motorcycle getaway to the town of Silver City, New Mexico. We were all packed and ready to roll as of the evening prior to departure. Weather had been a concern all but we figured all would be ok. Well, it was not to be. "The best laid plans of mice and men..."

Temperatures in Silver City for the weekend were predicted to be in the 20ºsF with snow and high winds. Disappointed, we abandoned Plan A. However, because we all had the time off already, we decided to come up with "Plan B". Plan B turned our weekend ride plan into three day trips, each starting at a different meeting point in Tucson. And Plan B turned out to be great fun with two of the three rides being to places we'd never been. It turned out to be a wonderful weekend with great adventures! What's that other saying? "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade".





Day #1: Saguaro West National Park with stops at Red Hills Visitor Center and Tucson H-D

I'd planned to ride my Street Glide Special to Silver City so decided to ride it for Plan B--whatever we decided that was to be. Of course I was totally and completely packed for Silver City so unpacked (rather grudgingly).


On Day #1 we met up for breakfast at a local joint called First Watch. I thought I'd been clear on the phone that we'd meet up there on the bikes, plan our weekend, then do our first days ride from the restaurant. Hmmm, evidently I was NOT clear because our two buddies each showed up in their cars! But we ate and schemed then Mr. Sandi (Steve) and I waited over more coffee for Russ and Larry to drive home and return on their motorcycles.

Our plan went from a single destination (Silver City) to three separate destinations in the form of three day trips. Today we'd stay rather close to home and ride over Gates Pass and through Saguaro West National Park with a stop at the visitor center there and than another stop at Tucson Harley-Davidson. Day 2 would be to Tortilla Flat northeast of Phoenix and Day 3 we'd ride to Ajo, Arizona, about 140 miles west of Tucson.

We also spent time over breakfast planning for our big summer trip That trip will be 8 days / 7 nights and include northern New Mexico, Colorado, and northern AZ. Steve had e-mailed the group with a tentative plan and today we poured over the maps to nail down some details.




Red Hills Visitor Center in Saguaro National Park -- today it was packed with more people than I've ever seen here! The weather was terrific--sunny blue skies and temps around 60ºF. Out of all the vehicles in the parking lot, we only saw one with Arizona plates so there are lots of "snowbirds" and winter visitors in town.


Larry and Russell looking to the east at the Tucson Mountains from the visitor center


The view looking towards Gates Pass


And the views towards the west--the direction we'd be riding two days later on our way to Ajo


Day #1 Continued....

 

Day #1: Saguaro West National Park with stops at Red Hills Visitor Center and Tucson H-D

After our stop at Red Hills Visitor Center we journeyed on through Saguaro West. After all these years, I'm still grateful for and amazed by the fact that we can ride through a national park that's right in our backyard. We'd agreed that we'd make a stop at Tucson Harley-Davidson which is on one edge of the big loop we did today.

There were quite a number of bikes in the parking lot when we arrived at the dealership, which is rather unusual for a weekday these days. It turns out that all the bikes belonged to a big group that had ridden down from Idaho! We spoke with one woman who laughingly told us they'd ridden to southern Arizona to escape the snow but that morning in Tombstone they been greeted by snow piled up on their bikes.




This jacket was on the pillion of one of the Idaho bikes. It caught my eye and I thought "Hmmm, I'll bet some of the forum guys will get a kick out of this design." I'm not naming any names, though......

You don't see this every day in the breezeway at the Harley dealership!


Complete with a really cool and unique helmet


Mileage for Day #1


And our final route for the day.......



Plan B to be continued with Day #2......

 

Day #2: Tucson to Tortilla Flat



Tortilla Flat had been on our radar for years but for some reason we'd never ridden there. Well, we'll be doing this ride more in the future as it was spectacular! Larry had been to Tortilla Flat but only in a truck pulling a boat since this little "town" is just beyond Canyon Lake where Larry kept the boat he used to have.

The route to get to the Gold Canyon--Apache Junction area is very familiar to us because that's our standard route for any ride taking up to or through the Phoenix Metro area. But none of us had ridder on Apache Trail, the twisty, hilly, view-laden little two-lane road that takes you to Tortilla Flat. In two places once you reach the lake, there are two bridges that are one-lane only, one of which is metal grating material--a bit "pucker" inducing, if you know what I mean.


Here's a YouTube video I found of the Apache Trail route. The video is long so just check out snippets of it here and there to get the flavor of the scenery and the road itself. It was loads of fun--particularly on the way home since we knew what to expect the 2nd time 'round.



Tortilla Flat is at the edge of the Tonto National Forest and is now a tourist draw. But in the past it has been a way station for hundreds of years. More recently it was a stage coach stop in the early 1900's. It was purchased recently by a woman and a group of investors to the tune of $500K and "renovated" into what it is today--four old-fashioned looking buildings including a saloon and restaurant with a stage for bands, a post office, a country store, and gift shop.


We were there on a weekday (Friday) and it was packed, reminiscent of the Red Hills Visitor Center yesterday. I guess people from all over the country are here enjoying the warm weather and blue skies. Parking was at a premium and there were lots of motorcycles that came and went during the hour or so that we hung out.






The "official" population of Tortilla Flat. 6



It was a bit chilly today but calm winds and beautiful sunny blue skies. I just wore long undies and chaps and about six layers on top. Stuff goes on, stuff comes off.....


Mileage for Day #2 -- and this is round trip from our house! We'll definitely be doing this ride again.


Day #3: Tucson to Ajo in my next post...later today or perhaps tomorrow. Stay tuned.

 

Thanks for the extra style points for matching my shirt, buff, and helmet, @Mrs Visor. Woman to woman, I can tell you "get it". I do like to match my gear. Believe it or not, that helmet is a stock color and is nearly a spot on match with the Street Glide paint! It'll be a sad day when I have to retire it. Harley-Davidson's sort of "official" colors are orange and black--not the reason I chose that color scheme for my bike. But I did already have motorcycle jacket with orange accents.

Thanks for the kind words about my write up. I hope that your weather improves so you can get out on your Street Triple!

 

Thanks, @Dartplayer! Yes, it was a disappointment to not do the Silver City trip but we had lots of fun--way more than we anticipated--doing the day trips. And as you said, we got to shower at home at the end of the day. Our evening arrivals each day pleased Ellie, the Boxer, too.

I'm about to report on Day #3 here in a few minutes before I head off to bed.

 

That's an interesting observation, @littleade. I think you may be on to something. I suspect there has become a connection with Harleys and "Americana", particularly (perhaps) in the West even though H-D has been headquartered in Wisconsin forever. Maybe it's the connection with Route 66, much of which runs across the West or the open road or the wide open spaces of the West. There are a lot of other brands and types of bikes around here but, as you said, somehow the Harleys seem to "fit in" this environment.

 

Wow, a chain saw course, @Glenn2926? I have to say that's a new one. But I guess it makes sense. More sense anyway than just saying, "hey, I need a chain saw and I've never used one but what the heck!" Not that I've ever observed any of the men in my life doing that.

I hope you get some good weather so you can ride that new Rally Pro! Shortly after I got my Fat Boy the weather turned sour for about a week. It was tough to see a new bike sit in the garage. I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures from you here on the forum of rideouts on your Tiger.

BTW, I don't think you'll be envying our weather here in southern Arizona in a few months when the temperatures soar to well over 100ºF! Ouch.

 

Day #3: Tucson to Ajo, Arizona

Today's route was very different than the twisties of Apache Trail yesterday in that it was a flat and nearly straight shot west. Most of the ride took us through the Tohono O'Odham Indian reservation and past Kitt Peak National Observatory. We had another beautiful day with cool temperatures and very little wind. Typically it gets extremely windy out here so the calm was unexpected and appreciated.

The ride began with one of our favorite routes--the ride over Gates Pass which I've reported on in the past. We could have taken Interstate 10 and Interstate 19 to Ajo Road...but why take the freeway when you can ride over a winding, twisty, beautiful mountain pass?


Today's route took us right past Kitt Peak National Observatory. It's about 40 miles to the turnoff to Kitt Peak and then another 12 miles or so up the mountain to the observatory located in the Quinlan Mountains. The road has been closed to the public for awhile--I'm not sure of the reason for that. For today we were happy to have a clear view of the observatory and many of the dozen or so giant telescopes as we rode past.

From Google Images




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitt_Peak_National_Observatory

Most all of the miles on today's ride were on reservation land on AZ State Route 86. Some of the road quality is quite good while some is quite rugged and in need of repair. This area feels--and is--very remote and runs fairly close to the U.S.- Mexico border. Many Tucsonans drive this route regularly to go to Puerto Penàsco, Mexico, fondly known as Rocky Point, to go to the beach on the Sea of Cortez. From the town of Ajo, Rocky Point is about 45 miles to the south.

At first this route seems somewhat boring, but I found that it became very mediative and contemplative for me when I settled in. The desert out here is vast and nearly empty save for several small and very (very) poor reservation communities. The tribe that owns most of the land we rode on today is the Tohono O'Odham tribe, the second largest tribe in Arizona at approximately 34,000 members, most of whom live off the reservation (per Wikipedia).



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohono_Oʼodham_Nation

We came to a T in the road after about 115 miles of nearly straight road then made a right turn at the tiny town of Why. Why is it called Why? No one in our group knows why. But after going through Why and past the Desert Diamond Casino, we another 15 miles past a now defunct copper mine (the Cornelia Mine) that went out of business in the mid-80's and finally rode our bikes into Ajo. The word ajo means garlic in Spanish but it's speculated that the town name more likely derived from a Tohono O'Odham word that sounded like ajo. Ajo was a thriving mining town for many years. Now it is primarily home to Border Patrol employees and their families, young families, retirees, and--more recently--artists. It is built around a town square that is anchored by a historic railroad depot. The current population is estimated around 3,000.



Steve quickly found a parking spot on the square directly in front of a cafe. He has a homing pigeon instinct for restaurants when he's hungry! This time he really did hit the jackpot. The panini sandwiches were delicious and service was quick and pleasant, as were the skies and the temperatures.






I didn't happen to see the guy that pulled in on this bike (I was off taking photos) but evidently he was wearing Birkenstocks according to my riding partners. I have a feeling this is a town with a lot of character--and characters!


Day #3 continued in my next post.......

 

Day #3: Tucson to Ajo, Arizona continued

Another friend of ours who was not on the ride today had told us he'd read that there was an old school in Ajo that had been converted and repurposed into artists' studios and apartments. So I went off in search of it...it wasn't hard to find as it was only about a block and a half off the square. It didn't look like it was open to the public but I think it would be fun to do a bit of research and ride back out to Ajo and do a little more exploring.




I snapped this photo in honor of my many UK and small but mighty contingent of Canadian forum friends. This was in a gallery located on the square near the old railroad station.


There seemed to be a "white theme" in the center of town. All of the buildings on the square were painted white and there were two churches on the other side of the street from the square, also white. It made for a beautiful setting with the blue sky and many palm trees and cacti and ocotillo that set off the white architecture.


The town Methodist church


And the town Catholic church half a block away


We didn't see all of the town of Ajo, but the guys were a bit itchy to get back on the road so off we went. We needed to gas up to made a stop in the tiny town of San Simon which is on the reservation. Note the Tohono O'Odham district tribal seals posted at the top of the walls in the convenience store where we stopped for gas and one last bathroom break before our 120 miles home.


We arrived back home around 4:30pm, satisfied that we'd come up with a great Plan B. And we wound up with just over 600 miles over the three days, very close to and even a few more miles than we'd have logged had we done Plan A! Maybe I can become a bit more spontaneous in my old(er) age!