Destination Tucson

Dec.31, 2009-Jan. 3, 2010 by Sonny

About three weeks ago, I posted a proposal to a four days adventure touring Tucson vicinity. The departure date quickly came and there was NO surprise. Not one soul stepped up to the plate, I'm going solo. Sigh! "Oh! well," I thought, as I secured my camping gear onto my metric motorcycle, Honda Goldwing. I have done my homework well and know exactly where to stop, camp, visit, and the weather forecast will be great for the first weekend of the New Year. Mainly sunny, high's upper 60s F, low's mid 40s F, and wind slight and variable. My only concern is how cold the campground may be at 4000 ft. I'm bringing an extra sleeping bag just in case. It was exactly 8am when I rolled on the throttle from Burbank, CA.

I head east on the southernmost transcontinental superslab in the US, Interstate 10. My first day on the desert road will be a long and boring 500 miles with the sun directly on my face. I had the cruise control set at 75 mph and was listening to my daugter Arianna's Ipod Touch which I borrowed without her knowing. I'm sure she'll have a fit when she searches and can't find it, however, my lovely wife Brenda knows I have it. Arianna has this device loaded with todays hits such as Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas, Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys, etc., get the idea? Honestly, they sound pretty good, and my favorite was "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, but as you probably know, I'm old school and nothing sounds better to me than the song hits in the 70's such as the sound of Motown, James Brown, Barry White, etc .

I have been on the road for three hours and finally the low fuel indicator light illuminated. The trip meter indicates 211 miles travelled and I'm starving. I'm about ten miles before Blythe, and this time, I'm going across the stateline for fuel. Circumstancialy, about three years ago, Glenn and I came this way and stopped over for breakfast at Mc Donald's in Blythe, CA. Afterwards, I filled my tank with Chevron unleaded at $4.30 per gallon and went on. As we crossed the stateline to Arizona, a sign caught my eye, unleaded gas for $3.25 per gallon. That broke my heart. I have never felt so much like an ASS and even worse when we passed by Flying J where unleaded was for $3.11 per gallon. DUH! I should have known that!

Anyway, my first stop was at Flying J and after filling up with 6.3 gallons at $2.42 per gallon, I entered the restaurant to get lunch. They offered buffet for $8.99 but it didn't look appetizing. There's a menu however, and after going over the prices from cover to cover, I decided to have breakfast for lunch to save a buck. You're probably thinking, "what a cheapie!" True! I am penny pinching due to the fact that people like me in the automotive industry were hard hit with hardship during this economic tough conditions. Besides, the "Big Three" combo I had for $7.99 consisted of three eggs cooked any style, three slices of bacon, three sausages, and three fluffy large pancakes were delicious, filling and long lasting. Aaah! Life is good. It was about 12:30pm and time to hit the road.

Speed limit in Arizona is 75 mph so I set the cruise control to 80 mph. Tonight is New Years eve and I was pondering what my resolutions should be. Every year I set out to lose weight, and do, but I gain it right back. However, I'll try again, also, begin with home improvement projects I have been wanting to do. That's more than enough to do for now then suddenly, vehicles in front abruptly slowed down. Uh! huh! It was an unmanned white Ford Explorer with two cameras on a pole on the roof parked on the roadside, and a warning sign on the backdoor that spelled Photo Enforcement. Damn, I was unaware of that. Then, about 30 miles or so later, another mobile enforcement appeared and was seriously convincing enough to me. Evenmore in Phoenix where photo enforcement cameras were on fixed platforms about every five miles or so. Its apparent, Arizona's finest have a new tool to catch speeders. Beware, if you're going there. I wonder how many tickets I have gotten? Damn'it...

Phoenix, AZ is gorgeous, especially their freeways with multiple lanes, really smooth and spacious. It seems like you're going slow, 70 feels like 40 mph and the pavement, gravel and rocks on the enbankments have distinctive matching colors. The walls has no graffiti, the buildings look spanking new and clean. Maybe because I'm not from around there?

Phoenix is now behind me, I'm headed south about 100 miles to Tucson. The landscape in the area looks uninhabitably deserted. Tell-tale signs of extreme weather conditions are apparent. The mountains have no vegetation whatsoever. Small patches of green sometimes come into view, but really dull as if its begging for water. Other than that, the desert shrubs are lifeless, thats probably why its called the desert, it's suppose to be without vegetation. One thing puzzling was why their homes are painted to blend in with the landscape? You have to stare to really notice them.

At last, I arrived at around 4:45 pm PT (Pacific Time) in Saguaro National Park (West). Perfect timing! The sun is setting and I have these giant saguaros before me. It's going to be one hell of a Kodak moment, a giant saguaro with the sunset as a backdrop, and a ride through the park without a helmet to Gilbert Ray campground in Tucson Mountain Park which is about 10 miles from where I stand. WOO HOO! These saguaros, cacti, ocotillos and some other desert plants are amazing. The views with the sun setting, oooh! boy, breathtaking, and its getting chilly and dark.

Eventhough it was only 6:15 pm, the campground was dark. It is a good size campground, not that busy though. The bathroom has electricity, flushing toilets, water, but no showers. Setting up my tent in the dark was a breeze. The head wrap-around flashlight Arianna gave me for Christmas did the trick. Then I gave it a test-run, stretched my back a bit and unwind. I thought of the PR USA who would not make the trip. How we turned 1 year on September 9 and didn't even celebrate. At least we had a Christmas celebration, but I wasn't available due to Arianna's b'day celebration. My thought was interrupted by a kid yelling something about the moon. I crawled out to look. It was a full moon and it was huge. Then he said something about being a blue moon, but it didn't look blue to me. Mountain Time is an hour ahead, and its now 10 pm PT, so its 11 pm here. I'm tired and cold, I'm ringing in the new year now, HAPPY NEW YEAR! everyone and good night.

I woke up sweating around 3 am. I felt hot, so I unzipped the sleeping bag some, but a minute or so later, it got cold, so I zipped it back up. But then it started to get hot again. "Damn'it!" I thought, the twilight zone?" Anyway, I have to do #1 so I crawled out of the tent and walked 200 yards to the bathroom. Right, at 3 am? I took about 3 steps from the tent. Anyway, I took my thermals off and crawled back in. It was much better, but could not fall back to sleep. I just tossed and turned 'til around 5:30 am then I got up to make coffee in the tent. The portable stove actually kept the tent warm as it got the water hot. Sniff..Sniff... Yes, the hot coffee felt great as it slowly made its way down, hitting just the right spot! Life is good! I was packed and good to go by 6:30 am then rolled downhill about 12 miles to Tucson for breakfast.
 
They say, Tucson was the largest city in Arizona until it was surpassed by Phoenix in 1921. Interesting, but it didn't look that large to me. It didn't even take long to find a place to eat. Hmmm, I'm faced with a dilemma, either IHOP or Mc Donalds, but after counting the loose change from my pocket, Mc Donalds it was. University of Arizona is near and many of the customers are students with a hangover, from partying all night I'm sure. That explains the big "A" whitewashed on the mountainside. The big breakfast combo was terrific and after drinking 2 refills of coffee, off I went.
 
Magellan (GPS) took me around in circle before finally getting back on track on Interstate 10. I head southeast to Benson to visit Kartchner Caverns State Park. It's a living wet cave, the big room features a striking calcite formations and giant boulders. Unfortunately, reservation is required, no camera's allowed and cost $18 dollars for a 1.5 hours guided tour which I can cover but since I have no reservation, it would be in the afternoon. There's no time, and I want to visit Tombstone, Bisbee, Colossal Cave Mountain Park, and Saguaro National Park (East). I decided to skip this one and moved on to Tombstone.
 
Magellan took me back to Benson, a distibution center for copper and silver, mined in the valley during the wild west. I'm sure it was a kicking town back then, but at present there's not much of anything going. On the thoroughfare are a Safeway grocery store, a railroad museum, and some restaurants. Moving on I came across St. David. This blink of an eye town got me worried. Out the distance, I saw flashing police lights up ahead, which I thought was a traffic stop, but up close reveals the whole town have converged on a fenced up field on my left, as if they were up to no good. A lawman was standing by the gate with his arms crossed against his chest with a pair of dark sunglasses, wearing a three piece suit similar to a secret agent. That was really strange to me, so I tried to look inconspicuous and kept my head pointed straight directly on the road as to avoid eye contact just in case they're unfriendly. Phew! Man, I may be freaking out. This sort of things happen when you're travelling solo.

 
It was about 10:30 am PT when I entered Tombstone town limits. You first come across Boothill graveyard on the left, but I'll visit later after learning more about the town. My first order is to visit the Tombstone Courthouse now a State Historic Park, a museum. Built in 1882, the building contains displays pertaining to the history of the town using antiques and artifacts to present the lives of former citizens. I learned plenty going through this two story building, such as the renowned gunfight between Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holiday against the Clanton brothers fought at the rear entrance of the OK Corral. Bird Cage Theatre, a combination theater, saloon and dance hall. Boothill Cemetery, where the Clantons are buried, including an unfortunate citizen who was hung by mistake and Big Nose Kate who ran the local cathouse and saloon who was also Doc Holiday's gal. It was just like the movie, Tombstone. A gallow is maintained in the courthouse courtyard, a recreation though. The original was built to execute five men for taking part at the Bisbee Massacre in 1884 and was destroyed when Arizona became a state. It's time to walk the streets.

I walked in the center of the thoroughfare to experience first hand how it would have felt to call out someone to either get out of town, or slap leather, this town is not big enought for both of us. It was a fascinating experience especially when I ran into three cowboys with wild west getups where I pictured myself challenging them to a gunfight and dropping all three before they can clear their holsters. Heh heh heh! Yeah baby, I'm that fast, lightning fast!  I walked all around town and have seen enough. Then, I rode to the cemetery and after a quick walk through and picture taking, off I went.

 
It's now 1 pm, about 4.5 hours of daylight remain and obviously not enough time to what I set out to do. It's 28 miles to Bisbee, if I go I would use 1.5 hrs of daylight. Is it worth it? Hmm, not interested about touring the Queen's Mine, the town probably looks like Knotts Berry Farm, the road, eh!, the view a deep man-made hole in the ground. I'm heading back to Vail where the Colossal Cave Mountain Park is, then to Saguaro National Park (east).
 
I got hungry so I stopped to get a bite at Subway off Interstate 10 about a mile past Benson. After gassing up off I went to the quaint town of Vail, located west around the outskirt of Saguaro National Park, about 3225' above sea level, so it has a green landscape and the homes are up-scale. The 7 miles scenic ride to the Colossal Cave Mountain park was breathtaking for a change especially if you look back towards Vail but when I got to the park, it was no longer just breathtaking, it was also stunning, jaw dropping, WOW!
 
Colossal Cave Mountain Park is situated on a 2,200 acre park with what is considered by some to be the world's largest dry cavern. Only partially explored, the cave has chambers and lighted passageways. It also have a museum and a garden as well as a stagecoach rides. They offer a 45 minute guided tour at a cost of $11 dollars, reservation is recommended but not required, as compared to the wet cave in Benson, and cameras are allowed. Okay, I'm in. I learned that the Indians occupied it first a thousand years ago, outlaws used it as a hideout too and so on until Frank Schmidt, a native of Cologne, Germany came along and filed mining claims around the cave. In 1922, he and three others are reported by local newspapers to have made the first extensive survey of the Cave, traveling within it for six days before exhausting their supply of food and water. Then, in May 1934, Company 858 with the Civilian Conservation Corps, a program by the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt designed to aid relief to the unemployment resulting from the great depression, relocates from Tucson to Colossal Cave and begins work on trails, handrails, and lighting in Colossal Cave as well as the landcape and building around the entrance of the cave.  They did one hell of a job.  The cave is fascinating, sadly, mineral drips that are found inside caves such as stalactites, and stalagmites have been stolen way before the protection of the park. This is a classic example of what may happen if our national treasures are left unprotected. Nonetheless, my first cave adventure was fun and exciting.

 
I have approximately an hour before nightfall, so I hit the road, 11 miles to Saguaro National Park. Another perfect timing, the sun is almost setting. But this time there's a booth, unattended though, I just rode in. My Goldwing is so quiet, nobody heard or noticed me ride through. It's a 9 mile winding one way loop that dips up and down and also climbs to a summit revealing a panoramic view of the park. Oooh boy! The scenery is awesome. I have a clear understanding as to why our government protect this area and these various species of cactuses. Man, these vegetations are amazing, life is very, very good. I have to exit the same way I came in, fortunately the park is closed, just the exit is open and no park ranger in sight to chew out my ass for not paying the 5 bucks. I'm out of here.

 
It's 6:30 pm and done touring Tucson vicinity. I have decided to shorten my adventure to three days instead of four. The night is young, I'm going home. I backtracked on Interstate 10 to Phoenix, approximately 120 miles. I plan to crash there in some cheap moytel, but had a change of heart when I reached Phoenix. I hate backtracking, and decided to go home on Interstate 40. I thought of riding 100 miles to Camp Verde and spend the night in Super 8 there, then ride through Sedona in the morning and Oak Creek Canyon scenic byway to Flagstaff then home on Interstate 40. I head north on Interstate 17. It wasn't cold in Phoenix, but got really cold about 40 miles before Camp Verde. My finger tips and face were numbing, snow is on the roadside and I began to shiver. I pulled over to make adjustments, added a layer of clothing, installed my jacket liner, changed gloves, and wore a baclava. Now, all is good . It's pretty high up here. I checked my thermometer, it reads 21 degrees F, and probably 0 deg F windchill. No sweat, in 30 minutes I should be in Camp Verde and minutes later it began to descend and got warmer. I parked by the entrance to Super 8 to check for vacancy. I have so much layers of clothes, I walked as if I had a space suit on. Luckily, a room is available, $45 plus tax for single. The hot shower felt really good and the vienna sausages were tasty. It was 10:30 pm PT when I popped the Tylenol PM and minutes later was totally out.
 
I got up at 6 am feeling refreshed, went downstairs to get free breakfast, biscuit with gravy, cereals, fruits, and waffles. Life is good. It was 8 am PT when I was good and ready. It was cold, 36 deg F, frost were on my bike and on cars. I was afraid my bike wont start. I always have doubts eversince the time it wont start in San Francisco. After making the sign of the cross, I turned the key. Bang, it fired right up. I thanked thee and took a deep breath. I went for gas and after gassing up, I head north on Interstate 17 and SR 179 to Sedona. I'm never tired of seeing this place. The red rocks fascinates me. I stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross for some photo ops. Viewing Sedona proper from up there was jaw-dropping. It was cold though. Specially on Oak Creek canyon scenic byway where the mountains and trees prevented the sunlight from reaching the roadway. SR 89 is very scenic but even more with the presence of snow. WOW! It's a winter wonderland. I also stopped at the overlook for some Kodak moments. The view is spectacular with the snow. There were snow all over Flagstaff, all the way past Williams. Interstate 40 looked like a black tie laid across a white satin shirt. I was home around 5 pm and my lovely wife Brenda sprinted out of the house to welcome me home, hug and kisses, and wish I had a happy New Year. Indeed, I sure did...Happy New Year, Ride Safe, and Continue smiling.