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Alan & Debbie's Spring Vacation Thread

Can you believe it? I actually registered to be a member of something. Alan, You and Debbie have me so fired up about a trip that I just couldn't stand it. I'm so glad to hear that the trip is what you had hoped for. I've ridden some of the roads you guys are on, both two and four wheels. Absolutely beautiful. Keep it headed in your direction and enjoy your time away. See you when you get back.

Later,
Tod
p.s.: we only put north dallas in the dark once since you've been gone...
 
:welcome:, Tod

So it took A & D going on vacation to get you to drop in? ;-)
Now, when they return and we have them out to a Tuesday night Tarrant County Meet&Gree&Eat to show pictures and spin stories (embellished, of course), will you join us? :trust:

Need more pictures, Al! Hand that camera to Debbie! :-P
 
Hey, we're in Kayenta, AZ. Zumo said there was motel here and gave me the phone number so here we are on the Navajo Reservation. We bagged the North Rim and Glen Canyon Dam today. Literally bagged, as in "counted coup" on them like Chevy Chase at the Grand Canyon. Walk to nearest observation deck, have stranger take our picture and walk back to bikes. Oh well, we're about canyoned out. Glad we got in there early, the line was stacking up when we left and the Harleys were out in force! One group of all Electraglides went by in parade formation across the desert; I don't quite understand that the purpose in that. One guy's a foot from the sand and the other is a foot from the center stripe and there's two foot between them; at 70 mph in do-rags. No thanks. My ear tubes swoll up coming down from Jacob Lake to Lee's Ferry and I'm sure I whimpered out loud when I pulled out the earspeakers. It went from 51 degrees to 96 in that 4000 foot plunge.

Great day of riding; we did 350 and of course, 90 miles of that was the North Rim road each direction. A whole bunch of those "how fast do you want to go?" sweepers.

I'm sick of tourists. Old tourists, young tourists, I'm sick of 'em all. If you walk up and scare the squirrel they are trying to photograph on the trail they act like you passed gas in church or something. Four kids seemed to be the minimum-size family in the campground. I'm done when the sun goes down, so I just put in ear plugs to drown out the chorus of screaming babies last night.

On the last run of the day we were doing 80 in a 55 because our rears hurt and so far the Belden has no problem with K-band cops, which seem to be the most prevalent. I get the slow tick, tick, interupting my XM Cafe several miles before I see them. Can you tell I like my new toys? I'm loving the gizmos!

It's not too crowded in Kayenta. I didn't know why they would have a Hampton Inn until we got here, but it's because the Navajo Monument is near here. We eschewed eating at the hotel with the tour bus that arrived so we walked down a dirt street to a small cafe where I had my first Navajo Taco. I'd heard they were big and I heard right. Think of a beef and bean taco salad served on fry bread as big as a medium pizza. I liked it. Tomorrow we are getting on 191 and going south as long as we can stand it. Maybe stay in Alpine so we'll be fresh for the good part. When we stayed over in Zion the extra day, I sacrificed the trip to Turkey Flats. That was Jack's 366 route. Something else to save for next time. And now are some pictures:


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I'm submitting to save my work. Check next post for more pics.
 
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Some LONG overdue chain maintenance today!

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That was a mostly tongue-in-cheek rant the other night about the tourists, but we were surrounded at the Zion campground, in close quarters, with several mini-vans carrying large, young, families. And then we had a tour bus unload at the same time we were checking in at Kayenta. Thus, the rant.


Sunday was the cure for that, however, as we made another 300 miles due south to a US Forest Service campground at Hanaghan's Meadow, about 30 miles south of Alpine on 191. Zumo said we were at 9200 feet and it was 31 F when we crawled out this morning. The only dew was on the inside of our tent.

Getting off the reservation was good. We got panhandled everytime we stopped. I gave the first guy fyebucks; not because I believed his story but hoping he did have a real need that I could help with. From then on, I learned to say no before they got started. It was sad.

At one point south of Ganado, I stopped to put on a Frogg Togg top. Debbie motioned "should we cover our bags?". We could see the ribbons of rain directly in our path ahead. I motioned with thumb and index finger that it would be a quick shower. Two minutes later, I've got hail balls coming inside my collar and simultaneous lightning flashes and thunder. I swear I felt the repercussions off that one. The lane tracks were running four inches deep. I was correct that it wouldn't last long, but I misjudged the intensity.

Today was nothing but incredible roads. We had 191 on into Clifton (didn't like the town for some reason), then 78 back into New Mexico and then 152 over to the interstate. We saw so many switchbacks today, I felt like I was chasing myself. It was exhilirating and exhausting. I kept my hardware off the deck, except for once. Perfect temperature, almost no traffic, unbelievable riding.

I've never seen those Phelps Dodge copper mines before; how incredible of an operation is that?!

When we got to Hatch, we were hurting units and had 40 miles left. No big deal but the wind was blowing out of the west about 50 mph, steady. We are the former Hilton hotel in Las Cruces tonight about to go across the street to one of my favorite pub/grills -Farley's. Oh yeah, and Village Inn breakfast in the morning. Something with eggs and green chiles, you bet.

Tomorrow, we're back in Texas! Don't know where. I dread getting through El Paso, I know it will make Debbie nervous. We'll hit after rush hour and before lunch break.
 
Alan and Debbie, this is a great ride report! I'm lovin it. And you guys looks great too. Trim and fit as fiddles! :zen:




Looking forward to more...:thumb::thumb:
 
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Oh boy, Village Inn, my favorite breakfast in the world, here we go, wait, why is Debbie's tire flat? So, I pull an old rusted shard of metal out of her rear tire and knock the new off of the Airman compressor and the Stop-N-Go plugger. Both worked great. The Airman went right into my 12V aux outlet (also a first use). Since the tire had 7k miles we missed breakfast trying to find her a new one. No luck, but a real nice guy at the KTM place on the west side of Las Cruces did call around the whole town AND El Paso until he found us one. I decided if the plug can make it to El Paso, it can make it home. I know there are different schools of thought on the safety issue here, but I'm thinking the plug is just to keep air in, it's not part of the integrity of the tire wall; if it's working, it's working. So far, it's working. How about 80 mph on I-10 for several hours for testing it out? We talked about how to recognize if she was losing air and how to react. She took it easy on the twisties to Ft Davis (hwy 118). Nice road, bad pavement.

I've blown through Marathon many times on my way to Big Bend. Never stopped here for anything but fuel. I knew the Gage was a old hotel, but I didn't know they had such wonderful food! Our stay here, though brief, like most places we have visited, was one of the best. It's very quaint and comfortable and the bar and restaurant are just outstanding. I'm glad I found time to finally check it out. It's a destination.

Besides the flat tire, yesterday was uneventful. El Paso was...El Paso. We didn't get run over, anyway. We'll see if Houston is as kind in a few days. Today is Day 12 and we have right at 3k miles on the clock. We pushed hard after the late start yesterday and did 100-mile stretches between breaks. Of course, at a legal 80-mph, that's not long in the saddle. Going over a mountain pass, that would be about three hours.

Somebody, finally, in Van Horn, TX, stopped and admired my farkles. He was a KLR rider and made his wife come over and look, also. Yea!

Today, we make a special visit to Uvalde and stay with Raymond (The Stick) and Anita. With Raymond's permission, I'll introduce you to this unique motorcyclist and reveal the source of his nickname.

All Hwy 90 today, about 270mi of it. Deb is still sleeping upstairs, so I'll try to download some pics. Thanks for all the supportive comments!

Oh, BTW, I passed a KLR in Arizona, south of Ganado, I think, that was leading what appeared to be a couple of fully-faired BMWs. That wasn't...could it have been...nah...too much coincidence.
 
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I'm behind on the uploads, so here we go:

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Leaving Marathon, we were on the road by 9 am, which was about the usual for this trip, making for relaxing mornings. This hotel is in Sanderson.

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It was a great morning for riding, as we had become accustomed to. The normal temperature was from high 50s to high 70s with a constant threat of rain, just like this day. I was reveling in the deserted West Texas highway, cruising in the cool temperatures, listening to Bob Dylan introduce drinking songs. XM definitely indulges my eclectic music taste. My music listening had been dormant for years due to boredom with my CD collection and FM radio being out of the question. MP3 doesn't appeal to me, so I'm very pleased with XM radio.

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Here's Deb fully geared up for rain again. I had long ago decided that brief and/or light showers weren't worth gearing up for because I would rather be wet than hot. Plus, I have a lot more fairing/windshield to duck behind.

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Hwy 90 High Bridge across the Pecos is special to me because I've paddled out of that canyon five times after completing the canoe trip from Pandale. The wind blowing against you, the perception of not making headway toward the bridge, and the shallow, silted channel (in past years) add up to make the finish very challenging.

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We got a free room, a great meal, and spent a wonderful evening with Gilagringo's parents in Uvalde. Raymond, pictured below, is an accomplished motorcyclist whose stable inculeds a GoldWing, a KLR, and an R-RT.

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He is known for being the handiest mechanic in Copper Canyon and for this device: The Stick.

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Got it figured out? Yep, that's a joystick steering control that Raymond has been using for years to chew up mileage in a more relaxed posture. He will no doubt use it to his advantage on our upcoming attempt at the Saddle Sore 1500.

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Here we are ready for departure Thursday morning prior to the obligatory huevos rancheros.

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We made it to Luling Thursday and picked up some beef and sausage at City Market. Good stuff. I would have to compare the beef side-by-side with Smitty's, but I like the sausage in Lockhart better. We took a detour from our planned route to Gonzalez to miss a rainshower (mostly miss, that is). We went a little further down 10 then went south to Shiner on 95. Strictly by chance, we got to the brewery right at the beginning of one of two daily tours.

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Debbie and I have toured numerous breweries and distilleries on our trips, but this one actually tops the big operations. They wouldn't allow pictures but you can see the entire process from one viewing spot. The empty bottles coming in one side, the filling, capping, pasteurizing, labeling....all right in front of you. Bottles moving in every direction. It was great. Almost as the good as the Hefewiezen and the Kolsch that I sampled in the hospitality room. Nothing like beer that hasn't been on the highway!

I'm sorry, Wayne, but I have to show this limited-editon, 98th anniversary Bavarian that isn't available anywhere but Shiner, yet. It's gooood.

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We got to Sugarland after a 300-mile day. I got somewhat perturbed when the Crabb River exit off 59 was closed and we had to doubleback with rush hour traffic for our second attempt. It wasn't too bad, but Saturday's escape on the Beltway wasn't much fun with rain and a toll booth that ask me for an extra $.50 when I had my quarters counted and separated in my tank bag. Also, the honking motorists while I put my gloves back on did nothing for my enjoyment level.

Here is a shot of my terrific niece, Alex, with my wonderful parents, Neal and Jean.

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In the future, I might be able to paste a track from the GPS, but for now, here's what our journey looked like on the map.

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The next reply will wrap this thread up.
 
There are no pictures from Saturday's 290-mile finish. That is no loss unless you have never seen a very wet I-45. I probably should have put on the rain gear beside the Beltway like Debbie did, because it rained almost the whole way. We stopped twice, and briefly.

We ended with just over 3800 miles. One parking lot drop and one flat were the only misadventures, not counting the various items and bike parts that were lost along the way. It's hard to keep track of every zip, velcro, cinch, and buckle to secure the loads at every stop, so some losses are to be expected, for me , anyway. The tire plug is still holding after 1000 miles and some very prolonged, high-speed runs (I-10 and I-45).

That was our first two-week vacation and it was great. I wondered if we would tire of the packing and gear-on-off routine after 15 days. We were glad to be home yesterday, but I believe I could go for much longer with the motel breaks and unhurried schedule we employed. Seeing the USA from a bike is what I want to do. Parts of it can't be done in two weeks, but I plan to continue touring as much as possible. I love leaving the driveway knowing that I won't be turn back this direction for many days.

We have discussed at length what items we could leave behind next time, but there aren't many. We came very well-prepared for cold weather and when it turned out much warmer than expected, the top box holding all the cold gear was hard to lock. We still had nooks and crannies available. After all, I added five pounds of barbecue and a six-pack of Bavarian ale one day.


We met quite a few people and talked to some very nice Harley riders. I did not get a chance to compare notes with any of the sport-tourers we saw because we were always going in opposite directions!

Debbie did well on the Ninja, but it will be difficult for her to gain low-speed confidence when she has such little ground leverage. I'm sure she'll end up on a cruiser, eventually. That would give her low seat, shield, hiway pegs, and increased luggage. For her riding style, there's not too much down side, though she loves the performance of the 650R.

We both rode conservatively. My mantra was "calmy clipping apexes" on the mountain roads. I had numerous occasions to adjust my line on mountain curves and had enough in reserve to avoid unexpected road conditions or a problem with decreasing radius. I also chanted Scott's "slow in, fast out" when I felt the siren's call to push the envelope.

That was my first visit to AZ and I loved it; can't wait to go back. I had no idea the eastern part of the state had such elevations;6000 feet was the base on our route.

We hope to see you guys on the road soon!
 
I'm sorry, Wayne, but I have to show this limited-editon, 98th anniversary Bavarian that isn't available anywhere but Shiner, yet. It's gooood.

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Curse you Alan! :argh:

Any chance you stashed a few of those puppies away in one of your bags? If so, just name your price.;-)

It's really cool that you got to visit the brewery. I've been meaning to do that trip for a few years now. Guess I better get off my duff and do it if I want to try 98.


Great trip and great report! :thumb:
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Touche' Alan. I called around to a few stores and it looks like 98 is available around here! :rockon:
 
Looks like a great trip, with memories that will last forever!:clap:

I am envious of you guys doing a two week ride. The longest ride I have ever taken is 8 days and 3400 miles.

Reading your trip report has started to get me really pumped up for my big ride for the year.

My buddy John and I are headed to Washington State the first week of July. We will ride close to 4000 miles in 9 days. I'll be on my ST13 and John will be riding my old ZX11. When we get back I will have ridden in 47 of the lower 48 states.

The only new farkle for this years trip is an Audiovox Electronic Cruise control for the ZX11 that I just finished installing. It should make the long days getting out of Texas and back easier on John's right wrist.

Thanks for having us along on your trip!
 
Thanks for reminding me, Rich. I'm going to the Audiovox site right now and order. The NEP doesn't fit well on the Strom and my old wrist has to have a break. You guys knock down some miles! Debbie and I agreed that getting to the motel or campground is so much more rewarding when you are REALLY ready to stop for the day!
 
Rich, are you using the magnetic pickup? If so where'd you mount it?
 
I only use the tach pickup. It works great.

Both of mine are wired like the schematic in the link below:

http://www.murphskits.com/audiovox/1index.html

I have had one my ST1300 for almost 20K miles and it works great. I went for a short ride this afternoon between showers to test out the new install on my ZX11. It works great as well.
 
Well, I was too quick. I ordered from Amazon. A little cheaper, but I wasn't aware that the vacuum canister was an option. ??

Bikes don't make a lot vacuum, so the canister helps the cruise when pulling hills. Some people have had good luck with out them and some swear by them.
 
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