Tuesday the 1st was a moving day. We stated with a morning walk, something we haven't done much of lately. Then a quick run to Safeway in the van, so that we didn't have to take the Beast and the toad into a small parking lot. Once we returned, it was time to close up the coach and hit the road. We took I-40 East to Holbrook, where we caught SR 77 through Snoflake and Show Low. Then it was SR 260 over to Springerville. From here we will ride into New Mexico. We stayed at the Casa Malpais RV Park. Not only are hook ups nice after dry camping, it also gives us a safe place to leave the beast and all the rest of our circus while we take a 2-day ride later in the week.
Wednesday started with another walk, out through the Game and Fish area behind camp
Ride 1: The first stop of our ride today was the Post Office. Yesterday we picked up a mail packet that included our ballots. Today we mailed them. Then it was south on SR 180 , up the winding hills and down into the forests around Alpine. The highway then heads a little east and into New Mexico. It is a scenic, twisty route, with some nice views.
Over look on SR 180 in New Mexico
We took a right on SR 78 and headed back west. The beginning is deceptive, with it's warning sign saying that it is not recommended for trucks and semi's. Deceptive because the first 10 miles are really flat and straight. However the next 20 miles...awesome!!!
We then headed north on SR 191, the Coronado Trail AKA the Devil's Highway. We rode from south to north which I have heard is the better route, riding wise. But the non-riders say that north to south is more scenic. We'll try that next time. Either way the 25 MPH speed limit indicates how tight the turns are on this 90 mile length of highway. If you ride, this is a 'must' on your bucket list!!
The mining complex at Clifton and Morenci is ginormous!! And the road goes right through it!! The ore runs on tracks overhead, you go under equipment, through tunnels and past huge trucks. It is amazing!
The Coronado Trail is a ninety mile ridge ride that we will definitely do again. But Wayne wants racing slicks!! ;-)
We spent Thursday hunkered down as rain and lightening storms come through most of the states of Arizona and New Mexico. By Friday we have a mild case of cabin fever, so we jumped in the van and drove through the rain to Pie Town, New Mexico. The town got it's name because in the 1920's Clyde Norman started making and selling dried apple pies. Folks would take the route through that "Pie Town" just to get a pie! The name stuck and now it is the location of the September Pie Festival
We got to Pie-O-Neer just in time for lunch, so we had pie! The Pecan Oatmeal was marvelous, but a whole Berry, Berry, Blueberry had to come home with us!
We took the long way home because US 60 was just too boring, SR 32 was a great replacement.
The weather was windy and the clouds were low
.I was hoping the weather would clear up enough to allow us to pack the bikes, but by the time we returned, the skies broke open again and rained the rest of the night.
Ride 2, Day 1: Although it was a little brisk, we managed to be up and get the bikes loaded for a 9am departure.
We headed out through Eager and caught SR 261 to Big Lake, which due to the drought and the time of year is not all that big right now. The road goes up to 9200' and winds through massive open meadows. The snowmobiling must be outrageous!
Wayne at Big Lake. We then continued south on NFS 249, through rolling hills in the woods. Once in Alpine we continued on the same route we took on Wednesday this time not turning off, but continuing on to Silver City.
I've heard of the Mogollon Rim, but it appears there is a town in New Mexico with the same name. Next time I'd like to go out and see it. BTW this is how it is pronounced--Mogollon (mug-ee-OWN).
After lunch in Silver, we decided to skip a section of road that we did in 2014 when we were in the area, deciding to save time. We lost an hour when we came into New Mexico and now it looks like we could be racing the sun, so a more direct route is chosen. But we still got to do Emory Pass, SR 152. Wow, another road for your bucket list!! Curves are calling!!!
When we got to the top of Emory Pass, the clouds were looking pretty low, but we never got rained on and in fact about 10 minutes after the pass we popped out from under the clouds and had sunshine the rest of the way.
We spent the night at the Caballo Lake State Park. $14 a night for a water/electric site with a covered table. What a deal. We managed to get camp set up and dinner made before sunset at 6:15. It's time change night, the sun will set at 5:15 local time tomorrow. Good thing we came today!
Sunset colored the clouds
Our site
Spectacular sunset. Later we would watch a lightening storm beyond those mountains. Mother nature's light show. Once the sun set, all the moisture that was still in the air from all the rain they had the last couple of days decided to condense on EVERYTHING. We moved everything under cover, but that didn't help.
Ride 2 Day 2: The tent looks like it rained, but it didn't! But we couldn't hang out long enough for it to dry, so once we got the drops off, we decided to take it home and dry it out tomorrow.
We decided to breakfast in Truth or Consequences, Denny's was calling. Afterward we had a couple of guys on motorcycles stop and ask our opinion. Chad and his Dad are thinking about opening a motorcycle campground in the area and wanted to know what we thought. Obviously we must have looked like campers... We told them we thought it was a great idea and told them about the MC/CG in Tok Alaska we stayed in this summer. I hope they go through with it, the roads in that area are a lot of fun.
Chad's Dad convinced me to alter our route to include SR 52 through Winston. He said there was only 8 miles of dirt. He lied, or we missed a turn because we did 48 miles of pretty good dirt road. With all the rain, there were lots of run off across the road, but the surface was in good shape. I think if we had tried to cross the Mogollon Mountains on dirt we would have had problems, but this was ok.
No, those are not lemons, or tennis balls. They are some kind of melon like thing. We have found it in dry washes in the Why area, but this was all over the hillsides along the road, and sometimes all over the road, where the rains had left them.
The dirt ended at the VLA . The Karl G. Jansk Very Large Array, one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin thirty-five miles east of Pie Town, New Mexico. Each antenna is 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 36km (22 miles) across, with the sensitivity of a dish 130 meters (422 feet) in diameter.
From US 60 we took SR 12 south to the Village of Reserve.
Then it was back to US 180. We headed north past Luna Lake.
LL is a pretty little lake
Our sturdy mounts
Once we past Alpine we decided to retrace our route by turning onto NFR 249 and then on SR 261.
We stopped at the look out to enjoy the view of Springerville and Eager, and the Little Colorado River valley.
Cinder Cones in the valley are reminders of the volcanic activity that was prevalent in this whole area.
Now it is only 15 minutes to camp, where we unload some of the gear, put the bikes in the trailer and then relax for the evening. Tomorrow we will do chores. Wayne needs to change his rear tire, I need to do laundry and we need to remember to put that wet tent up to dry. Tuesday will be move day. Check back to see where we go next!
