I pull out at 3 in the afternoon and head west on I10 thru Junction towards El Paso. 20 miles west of Junction, I exit for the small town of Roosevelt. There is a convenience store with gas and a restaurant. I wait here for the arrival of my other riding partners. We will call them, Roadrunner and Easy G. to protect the guilty. After their arrival, we quench our thirst.
We depart and head west on I10 to Ozona, Exit Ozona, and proceed northwest. We head to Easy G’s deer camp, You just can’t happen on to this place. It’s in the middle of nowhere, and the phone service is a little shaky. Nice accommodations, bed, and shower, all good.
Next morning, roll out about sunrise. We hit Hwy 190, and ride into Iraan, Not the country, just West Texas! We grab a taco at a local eatery. We continue on 190 till we intersect with I10. We gas at Ft Stockton and proceed west about 20 miles, to the first rest stop. You can see the Barrilla Mts from here. We continue on I10 to Van Horn, the next gas stop. The town has been kind of dying since I10 bypassed it years back.
We forged ahead thru Sierra Blanca and El Paso. We get caught in a dust devil in downtown El Paso, with trash and dust everywhere. Hard to control the bikes in this, Lucky only lasted a little while. We continue to Las Cruces, bear north up I25 to Hatch. Hatch, the birthplace of the famous Hatch Chillies. We made a stop for photos and ice cream.
We ride west to Hwy #27, From this point on the scenery is incredible. Roadrunner is in the lead, I’m a short distance back. We top a hill, the road makes a sharp bend to the right, all I see is dust Roadrunner overshot the curve, in the left ditch. Stop the bike quickly to assist. He is upright in the ditch, a good sign! We quickly assist him out of the ditch. We assess the damage, bent engine guard, fairing, bags, and fender. We straighten the engine guard, start the engine, and check the wheels for damage, all seems good except for scratches and bruises, Roadrunner was alright. Could have been a lot worse, Guardian Angels working overtime!
We continue north through Hillsboro, We hit Hwy 152. We stop at Percha Creek. We had stopped at this spot the year before. Plenty of water last time, this time, Bone dry. We continue west, what beauty, 10 miles per hour curves, put this on your bucket list. We arrive in Silver City, a very old mining town with, tremendous history. We check into an old hotel downtown, probably built in the 1880s. Hit a brewery down the street for a burger, then called it a night.
Next morning, continue on Hwy 180 to Mule Creek. We hit Hwy 78, we cross into Arizona, and We travel into the south side of Clifton, this is the site of one of the largest mines in the state. This stretch of hwy is called Coronado Trail, also Route 666, Devils Hwy. Funny my stereo was playing AC/DC Hwy to Hell! Coincidence! Maybe. What a beautiful ride, lots of twists and turns, Beautiful pull-outs. When I got to the top of the mountain I was playing “What a wonderful world” by Louie Armstrong. We continue north to Alpine, the only gas in the area. Proceed north, plenty of wildlife, deer, and elk abound.
At Springerville, we take a detour on Hwy 261. Nice mountain, quite a view. Proceed to Pinetop. Find a log cabin motel, that fits the bill, a restaurant/bar conveniently located within walking distance. We indulged.
Next morning, headed to Show Low, we hit Hwy 60, Traveled west towards Globe. We proceeded to the Salt River Canyon, what an awesome river. We make a pit stop and continue. We made it to Globe, found an outdoor cafe, and relax a bit, that’s what a trip is all about! It’s amazing how many good people you meet along the way, It’s a true blessing to see this great country on two wheels.
We depart Globe traveling south toward Tucson. We travel past the Mescal Mts, continue to Tucson, we intersect I10, and head east. We exit I10 at Benson, on Hwy 80 towards Tombstone. In Tombstone, we stop at the first waterhole. The bouncer was about 6’5, retired 1 percenter. Interesting guy who talked for quite some time. We swapped stories for a while, and finally made a walk around town, Doc Holliday’s, OK Corral, among others. Check every motel in town, no room at the inn, the bouncer even tried his connections, no avail, Plan B. We ended up going back to Benson for a room, they were very scarce.
Next morning head east toward home. Make it back to El Paso, for some good Texas BBQ, Hit the spot with a cold Shiner. We traveled back to Ft Stockton for the evening. Check-in the room, go to the bar to talk about what a great trip. The next morning depart for the final leg of the trip. About 200 miles from Home Sweet Home. Always nice to leave but great to get back! Not many people get the opportunity to do what we do! We were gone for 5 days and traveled 2500 miles.
Ride Free……Ride Often
“DAD”
