trip advice...

Hey, I didn't listen to the naysayers and went for it.. all the way from Chapala, passing by Cocos Corner but he wasnt there... he's in Encenada hospital with gangreene in his good foot... kept going and camped at Beluga for a couple nights... continued today all the way through and up to San Felipe! What a RIDE!!! I would not say it was a cake walk, but it wasn't quite as bad as others had made out.

I will include details in my next trip report.. that is if I can find more politically sensitive crap to weave in so that I can annoy more folks!!!

My question is this... I was planning on riding over to Encenada from San Felipe... stopping off at these hot springs... spending a night or two in Encenada.. then riding up through San Diego to see if this guy in San Diego could help me out with the doohickey surgery, and perhaps pay him for a complete service including valves, oil etc... before I continue to Las Vegas and on toward Austin, Texas. I'm waiting to hear if he is even interested or available. But, if he is not... there's really no reason for me to go to San Diego. I can just give Encenada a miss, ride up to Mexicali and catch hiway 95 all the way up to Vegas. If this guy can't help me out or does't have the time, would I be missing much if I didn't ride over to Encenada?

Also, I don't have a U.S. map and hadnt originally planned on my current route... so I didnt do any research on what there might be to see on the way from Las Vegas to Austin, Texas. Sure, there's the Grand Canyon and all, but are there some other sites that shouldnt be missed and are on the way?

thanks in advance,

Skip Hunt

Zion National Park in the Southwest corner of Utah, then hop over to Bryce Canyon National Park, then run Hwy 12 across the Escalante National Monument to Hwy 24. Check out Capitol Reef National Park. Run Hwy 24 over to Hwy 95 and cut South to see the Natural Bridges National Monument. From there you can keep heading South on Hwy 261 to the Mokee Dugway where you can ride down a steep gravel road full of tight switchbacks down to the start of the Valley of Gods Rd, which will come out on US 163 North of Mexican Hat. Just South of Mexican Hat on US 163 is Monument Valley (lots of massive mesas). If you head Northeast on US 163 on Bluff, 163 cuts directly East and follows the San Juan River. Follow this until you hit Hwy 262 and keep heading East. About 7 miles from that intersection, you should see Ismay Trading Post Rd on your left. Run this Northeast to the state line where it becomes County Rd. G in Colorado and runs East into Cortez. From Cortez, you have several options depending on your time.

Option one, head North on Hwy 145 towards Telluride. Keep on 145 up to Hwy 62 and head East To Ridgeway. Then South on US 550 back to Durango. This is an INCREDIBLE loop. If you are motivated, there are LOTS of dirt areas to ride inside that loop but I would not recommend it alone unless you are prepared to spend the night a few nights waiting for help if something happens. I'd also want a GPS as it would be very easy to get lost.

Option two is to just head East on US 160 from Cortez to Pagosa Springs. While in Cortez, Mesa Verde National Park is well worth the visit. They have some spectacular cliff dwellings and the ride through the park is pretty cool as well (twisty!).

There are several other loops you can take, a mix of paved and unpaved, that take you up towards Silverton, Lake City, back down to Creede, to South Fork and then back down to Pagosa Springs. If you are interested, let me know and I'll give you more detailed info.

From Pagosa Springs, I would head South down US 84 to US 64 and head East to Taos, NM. Head South out of Taos on Hwy 68 to Hwy 518 (may also show as Hwy 3). Run this South all the way to Hwy 94 at Mora and head South. This will come back out on Hwy 518 at Sapello, keep heading South to Las Vegas. Run Hwy 104 East out of Las Vegas and that will pretty much be the end of the fun stuff (paved at least). There really isn't any fun way across West Texas, especially because so much of the land is private. The run through North NM is really nice. Good roads and scenery.

Scott,

Actually, I sort of through touring... but I obviously have to get back to Texas where I live... so I was really just looking for places along the way to see instead of Touring Northern California. I will likely take 3 or 4 days getting back to Texas from Vegas rather than trying to Iron butt it... but if there are stops I should shoot for, I'd like to hear about it. Otherwise I will just take I10 most of the way.

If you're going to be in NE AZ, I'd check out Canyon De Chelly Nat. Mon.

gotdurt said:

If you're going to be in NE AZ, I'd check out Canyon De Chelly Nat. Mon.

Click to expand...

+1
Also, Monument Valley where John Ford filmed several of the John Wayne movies.

If you're staying on I-10 there are several things to see in and around Tucson:
Pima County Air Museum - one of the biggest and best in the country.
Titan Missle Silo tour - part of the PCAM
Graveyard tour - part of the PCAM
Details here: http://www.pimaair.org/

If you like "living" caves, one of the best is just southeast of Tucson near Benson. Call ahead because depending upon the time of year and number of tourists reservations are sometimes needed for a tour.
Details here: http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/kartchner.html

I missed your 2nd post... If SE AZ, see Chiricahua Nat. Mon. (just south of I10 before NM).

Once in TX, I'd hit 118 (east of Van Horn) down to the Observatory (need to check it out) then on to Ft Davis, then up 17 back to I-10. This is a great ride, and will spice up your west TX ride nicely.

gotdurt said:

I missed your 2nd post... If SE AZ, see Chiricahua Nat. Mon. (just south of I10 before NM).

Once in TX, I'd hit 118 (east of Van Horn) down to the Observatory (need to check it out) then on to Ft Davis, then up 17 back to I-10. This is a great ride, and will spice up your west TX ride nicely.

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Yes, I rode that route when I went to Big Bend a couple months ago. And yes it was an OUTSTANDING ride. But I didn't stop by the Observatory since I was trying to beat a storm, so maybe I will hit it this time.

Who said anything about California? :scratch If you are in Vegas, Nv., then cutting across Southern Utah, Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico is a fairly direct route while staying up in the mountains where it is much cooler. From Vegas it would be an easy four day ride. But, if time is of the essence, then I-10 is definitely the way to go

I've always wanted to check out the Aircraft graveyards outside of Tucson. That's the stuff in Texas T's post.

Tourmeister said:

Who said anything about California? :scratch If you are in Vegas, Nv., then cutting across Southern Utah, Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico is a fairly direct route while staying up in the mountains where it is much cooler. From Vegas it would be an easy four day ride. But, if time is of the essence, then I-10 is definitely the way to go

I've always wanted to check out the Aircraft graveyards outside of Tucson. That's the stuff in Texas T's post.

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I will just have to pick up a road map once I get to Vegas so I can get my bearing straight. So, I wonder if Moab is on the way? 4 days wouldn't be too long especially if I could camp along the way instead of paying for hotel rooms... that is, unless I get lucky in Vegas! Then it's 5'Star all the way BABY!!!

Moab would be a bit out of the way, but not too far and there is a LOT of cool stuff in that area!

Were you ever allowed off the bus to walk around the aircraft up close? Or is the entire tour done via the bus? (which would suck!) Kind of amazing that we can afford to build so many aircraft like those and then just turn around and chop them up and melt them down to make coke cans... Kind of sad too for some reason

Information

TexasT,

That Electronic Warfare Navy Bird with the ?? is a TC-4C. That big raydome was to house an A6E Tram's gear to train B/N's. Here is a link. http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/grumman/tc-4c.htm

I plan on making that ride as well, very sad to see so many modern birds laid to rest...not to jack this thread too badly!

Tourmeister said:

Were you ever allowed off the bus to walk around the aircraft up close? Or is the entire tour done via the bus? (which would suck!) Kind of amazing that we can afford to build so many aircraft like those and then just turn around and chop them up and melt them down to make coke cans... Kind of sad too for some reason

Click to expand...

You're restricted to the bus for the entire tour, but the Air Museum does have a LOT of different birds that you can walk around. I'm not sure if you can actually go in them or not. A guy that was in my car club in Tucson worked in the restoration shop so I did get to climb inside many of them when I would visit back in the 70's.
There are a lot of types on display that my dad flew in at one point or another during his AF career so it was interesting to see what he would have seen back in the day.

Re: Information

02Silver said:

TexasT,

That Electronic Warfare Navy Bird with the ?? is a TC-4C. That big raydome was to house an A6E Tram's gear to train B/N's. Here is a link. http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/grumman/tc-4c.htm

I plan on making that ride as well, very sad to see so many modern birds laid to rest...not to jack this thread too badly!

Click to expand...

Thanks Silver; an old Navy friend has identified most of the ?? for me, but I've just been too lazy to update that old web page.

Having grown up around B-47's, B-52's, getting a tour of the first C5-A to hit Guam, etc, it is very sad to see them getting cut up for scrap. I've always considered the Phantom to be one of the most beautiful planes ever built and if I ever got the $100 million in Scott's other thread this would be something I'd buy as a surplus warbird.