I've always wanted to take a long distance trip on a scooter and when Amerivespa announced the 2013 rally would take place in San Diego I thought maybe I could take the trip on my large scooter from the DFW area. When a friend of mines mentioned that he was up for the journey, the idea became more of a reality. During our conversation about the trip to Amerivespa 2013 rally, it turned into completing the the Iron Butt goal of 1000 miles in 24 hours on a motorcycle/scooter. Well, I thought I could do that, but my buddy Kitt recent knee problems have gotten worse but he still wants to make the trip, but on our smaller 250cc scooters.
After debating and contemplating, and balls investigating, I've decided,
what the hell. If I get tired, I'll get a hotel. If I do it on a 250cc
scooter, it would be a better accomplishment than on the larger
scooter. Since this is something I've never done before (as I've only
ridden about 500 miles in one day) I've decided to blog about the
experience.
The total trip is around 3000 miles, round trip but from DFW to Prescott, Arizona it is a little over 1k miles. My buddy is coming from Austin and we plan to meet in Brownfield, TX on Hwy 380. We hope to complete the Iron Butt a little after dark, if we both leave around 3AM. Rest a day, a ride down to San Diego for the rally. No interstate and taking 2012 Scooter Cannonball route.
First thing was to get the Morphous ready for her epic journey. Let's just call her Morphie. Before I knew I was taking Morphie to San Diego, I changed the rear tire, oil, air filters and cleaned transmission filter. When I knew I was taking her on the trip, I installed a backrest, taller windshield, electric ports, and Ram Mount phone holder. The take off speed was not what I expected and the v-belt light was on so I decided to go with Dr. Pulley sliders and a new belt. The below pictures show a CVT break down of Morphie. This is where I'm at now, as I'm waiting on a CVT belt.
I have a few other things to do before she is ready for the trip. If I mess something up I would have to take the Atlantic (April) as she is ready to go.
Trip to San Diego with Iron Butt Goal
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Friday, July 5, 2013
Transmission work complete
Today I've completed changing the rollers and belts on Morphie. I rode her around for about couple dozen miles and things are better. Now she takes off better but I'm losing a several miles per hour on the high end. I think I will get some higher weight sliders and mix them in with the lighter weights. I think I can do it in a day without screwing things up.
The next thing to do is to get the fuel pump harness recall complete. It is not major but sometimes water can get in the pump and shut it off. I'll take it in to the Yamaha dealer tomorrow to complete. I also need to add seat cushion and go ahead and change front tire. It looks OK but I have one in the garage and I might as well use it for the trip.
I've discussed my trip with other scooter enthusiast and I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Maybe it will give me more motivation. Any who, I'm in it to win it now. I hope I can do it but I will not force it. I just need 8 hours of sleep before and I think I will be OK. I've been doing some all night rides with some of those scooter enthusiast and I think I will be OK. Also doing calculations and once I have a total plan for the trip, I will post.
While researching Iron Butt scooter accomplishments, there are a few stories that have me motivated. One guy completed an Iron Butt on a Buddy scooter and many more on Vespa's. One person did it and mailed post cards from several stopping locations. With proper planning, strength, and prayers, I should be OK. Kitt has rode crossed country on a large scooter but have some reservations doing the iron butt on a 250cc scooter. I'm more concerned about his knee but if he stops we both stop and vice versa. I have no problem with that but he thinks the knee will be fine. My reservations are getting tired but I think I will be fine, too. I wouldn't mind using some freeways, as did some of the others on scooters who completed this task. I will prob do my leg on the interstate and try to catch Kitt before Brownfield. We'll see in the planning.
The next thing to do is to get the fuel pump harness recall complete. It is not major but sometimes water can get in the pump and shut it off. I'll take it in to the Yamaha dealer tomorrow to complete. I also need to add seat cushion and go ahead and change front tire. It looks OK but I have one in the garage and I might as well use it for the trip.
I've discussed my trip with other scooter enthusiast and I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Maybe it will give me more motivation. Any who, I'm in it to win it now. I hope I can do it but I will not force it. I just need 8 hours of sleep before and I think I will be OK. I've been doing some all night rides with some of those scooter enthusiast and I think I will be OK. Also doing calculations and once I have a total plan for the trip, I will post.
While researching Iron Butt scooter accomplishments, there are a few stories that have me motivated. One guy completed an Iron Butt on a Buddy scooter and many more on Vespa's. One person did it and mailed post cards from several stopping locations. With proper planning, strength, and prayers, I should be OK. Kitt has rode crossed country on a large scooter but have some reservations doing the iron butt on a 250cc scooter. I'm more concerned about his knee but if he stops we both stop and vice versa. I have no problem with that but he thinks the knee will be fine. My reservations are getting tired but I think I will be fine, too. I wouldn't mind using some freeways, as did some of the others on scooters who completed this task. I will prob do my leg on the interstate and try to catch Kitt before Brownfield. We'll see in the planning.
Scooter ready to???
This morming, took Morphie to have recall work done. The dealer had this part in for a week or two but they didn't scedule any service and when I got there they didnt want to do it right away. After talking to the head mechanic, it became a non issue. Took them about thirty mintues. I got a spare key made at the locksmith next door and rode around to see how belt change took. Ran like a champ. I'm not changing the sliders until after I return.
After I got home removed the front wheel in order to add new tire. I got it changed and returned home to install. All seems ok and I will take out for hundred mile trip Thursday morning.
After I got home removed the front wheel in order to add new tire. I got it changed and returned home to install. All seems ok and I will take out for hundred mile trip Thursday morning.
Today's the Day
I've been preparing for this ride. Took out the Dr. Pulley's sliders and installed the OEM rollers. It was giving me problems decelerating from high speeds but it topped out at 86 mph. Taken the Walmart trip for supplies and there' nothing much to do now but get some sleep.
I'm leaving at 2AM cst. Wish me luck or just leave a comment for motivation. Thanks all for reading.
I'm leaving at 2AM cst. Wish me luck or just leave a comment for motivation. Thanks all for reading.
I'm off on my personal epic journey!!!
She's geared down and ready to go. Here's a link to the map of the trip to San Deigo.
San Diego Amerivespa with an Iron Butt
I have an iron butt
I've successfully completed this epic journey and will submit paperwork when I return home. I'm tired now and need to rest for the remaining trip to San Diego tmrw. Details with a couple of pictures soon. Best scooter ride I've ever took. Did it just under 24 hours.... I didn't know how much of challenge it is on a 250cc scooter.
Riding 24 hours
The hotel had Internet problems and of course I was having the time of my life and did not have many opportunities to update the blog.... So here we go. The day of my trip I got to sleep around 4pm and woke up around 11pm. By twelve I was wide awake and ready to start preparing for the ride. I got to the gas station around 2:30 after calling Kitt (riding buddy) to confirm leaving time. I was leaving thirty minutes after him, so we could arrive in Brownfield, TX at the same time. The gas station manager signed my witness form, I got some gas, put away my receipt, and then I was off.
My first gas stop was in the town of Jacksboro. Very uneventful but the smell of doughnuts got me hungry for the first meal of the day. The doughnut shop was closed, so I kept riding until my next gas stop in Haskell, TX. The only breakfast restaurant was also the local gas station. As I was pulling into the gas station, I get news of our first incident. Kitt has run out of gas. What.. I can't believe it. We've just started this time critical mission and we have user fueling issues (this will never happen to me.....is this a sign for things to come). This is OK as unplanned stops were calculated into the timing of this trip. This slow down also allowed me to have a decent breakfast. While waiting for my bacon sandwich, the local folks that were eating an early breakfast asked a lot of questions about my journey and told me of a Cushman rally in Abilene. Very pleasant people as they shared their own stories of traveling adventures. They wished me luck and I was off to the meeting destination.
I finally made it to Brownfield, TX to meet Kitt and we rode up to the meeting spot at the same time. We got some gas and after taking this picture we kept it moving.
The roads in west Texas and New Mexico were very boring as they were straight as the eye can see. The ride through New Mexico were straight roads cut through mountains. The view of the mountains in the distance was a scene from a movie or a something similar to an oil on canvas painting. If the roads were not so straight, I may have veered off due to staring at the mountains. We stopped in Roswell for lunch as we were making good time (as we thought) We ate at McDonald's, took some pictures and started riding again.
The route we took to California, through New Mexico and northern Arizona, was much better than a southern route west through Phoenix, AZ. Being in the elevation decreases the heat substantially and makes riding very pleasant for summer weather. It did give me the opportunity to take a picture of this caution sign.
Once we made it to west New Mexico and into northern Arizona the highway turned into some of the best roads I've ever ridden. Swoops, drops, and turns were everywhere. Going through the mountains were outstanding. I'm glad I got a chance see where I was riding before it turned dark. At one of our stops, Kitt newly broken and welded fixed center stand, broke again and we found a two by four at the gas station to hold it up on stops. Luckily the new center stand he ordered is at his house now but does us no good on this trip.
We were making good time, even without purchasing an extra gas can and having to stop for fuel a lot..... At least I thought. Our stops were very long and by the time it became dark, we needed to do around 170 miles in around three hours. From Show Low, AZ to Prescott, AZ was the dash for cash in the dark. Since Kitt's starting location allowed him to achieve the goal of 1k miles sooner than and I, during our stop for gas in Camp Verde, AZ, he got the attendant to provide the needed information for his iron butt form. I had to ride on to Prescott, AZ, get a gas receipt, and witness signature within thirty minutes. Well I made it by the hair on my chinny chin chin. It was difficult to find a gas station open after midnight in the small town but I did and get the attendant to sign the witness form.
During the trip, I didn't really get tired or sore. At the end, the excitement of completing the task or the chance of not finishing on time, kicked in the adrenaline. We were blessed to complete this with no major issues. During stops, we meet so many nice people. Seeing scooters loaded down with gear lead to question and smiles. This is an experience I will never forget.
My first gas stop was in the town of Jacksboro. Very uneventful but the smell of doughnuts got me hungry for the first meal of the day. The doughnut shop was closed, so I kept riding until my next gas stop in Haskell, TX. The only breakfast restaurant was also the local gas station. As I was pulling into the gas station, I get news of our first incident. Kitt has run out of gas. What.. I can't believe it. We've just started this time critical mission and we have user fueling issues (this will never happen to me.....is this a sign for things to come). This is OK as unplanned stops were calculated into the timing of this trip. This slow down also allowed me to have a decent breakfast. While waiting for my bacon sandwich, the local folks that were eating an early breakfast asked a lot of questions about my journey and told me of a Cushman rally in Abilene. Very pleasant people as they shared their own stories of traveling adventures. They wished me luck and I was off to the meeting destination.
I finally made it to Brownfield, TX to meet Kitt and we rode up to the meeting spot at the same time. We got some gas and after taking this picture we kept it moving.
The roads in west Texas and New Mexico were very boring as they were straight as the eye can see. The ride through New Mexico were straight roads cut through mountains. The view of the mountains in the distance was a scene from a movie or a something similar to an oil on canvas painting. If the roads were not so straight, I may have veered off due to staring at the mountains. We stopped in Roswell for lunch as we were making good time (as we thought) We ate at McDonald's, took some pictures and started riding again.
The route we took to California, through New Mexico and northern Arizona, was much better than a southern route west through Phoenix, AZ. Being in the elevation decreases the heat substantially and makes riding very pleasant for summer weather. It did give me the opportunity to take a picture of this caution sign.
Once we made it to west New Mexico and into northern Arizona the highway turned into some of the best roads I've ever ridden. Swoops, drops, and turns were everywhere. Going through the mountains were outstanding. I'm glad I got a chance see where I was riding before it turned dark. At one of our stops, Kitt newly broken and welded fixed center stand, broke again and we found a two by four at the gas station to hold it up on stops. Luckily the new center stand he ordered is at his house now but does us no good on this trip.
We were making good time, even without purchasing an extra gas can and having to stop for fuel a lot..... At least I thought. Our stops were very long and by the time it became dark, we needed to do around 170 miles in around three hours. From Show Low, AZ to Prescott, AZ was the dash for cash in the dark. Since Kitt's starting location allowed him to achieve the goal of 1k miles sooner than and I, during our stop for gas in Camp Verde, AZ, he got the attendant to provide the needed information for his iron butt form. I had to ride on to Prescott, AZ, get a gas receipt, and witness signature within thirty minutes. Well I made it by the hair on my chinny chin chin. It was difficult to find a gas station open after midnight in the small town but I did and get the attendant to sign the witness form.
During the trip, I didn't really get tired or sore. At the end, the excitement of completing the task or the chance of not finishing on time, kicked in the adrenaline. We were blessed to complete this with no major issues. During stops, we meet so many nice people. Seeing scooters loaded down with gear lead to question and smiles. This is an experience I will never forget.
Fun Times in San Deigo
After we completed the Iron Butt, we got a hotel room in Prescott Arizona. We stayed there until check out and began our 500 mile trip to San Diego. Leaving Prescott was another trip through the mountains...downhill. This part of the trip had the best roads. The view coming down the mountain was unreal. Two lanes roads that you could see wrapping around the mountain. At one point, the roads turned into one lane one way roads. No cars were coming from the opposite directions as the turns were very tight. This allowed us to be very generous with the throttle. Not trying to scrape the side stand was hard to do. When we arrived at the bottom of the mountain, we had to take a layer of clothing off as the temperature increased dramatically. We could not stop talking about the last 50 miles of roads....AMAZING. Unfortunately, the next day, a lightning strike caused a fire and we could not go through this area on the way back.
We stopped in Aquila, Arizona for lunch. There is not much shade in Arizona but we were able to find some.
After our first meal of the day, we headed through the desert to Parker. We stopped to re-wet our cooling vest but did not get any gas. Big mistake. While crossing the California border, we had to stop at the fruit inspection stand. We waited and waited until someone waved us buy without asking any questions about transporting fruit into the state of California. I guessed they looked at our scooters loaded with gear and thought "we really don't want to go out in that hot sun to ask these idiots about transporting fruit on those things." We did not noticed the 24 hour pay at the pump only gas station next to the fruit inspection stop. Five miles from the town of 24 Palms, Kitt runs out of gas again. This time I buy a gas tank so this will not happen again. (Yeah right). I return to the scene to the crime with gas and we get to the town of 24 Palms. The temperature was 112 degrees and the sun was going down. We filled up with gas and decided we should head towards the freeway in order to get to San Diego. This was a detour from our original plans, as we were going to ride through Joshua Tree National Park. It was getting dark, we would not enjoy the ride like we should in those conditions and also needed to get to the hotel at a decent time.
We jumped on I-10 and took freeways all the way to San Diego. On the way, we got separated as Kitt needed to stop for gas. It was too late for me to exit so I kept riding and decided to pull over later down the road. I pulled over for gas in the town of Temecula but there were no gas station near my exit. I read Kitt's text message that we would just meet at the hotel. I text back "OK" and proceeded to the next town for gas. It was around midnight and I was on I-15. I passed an exit with a gas station but thought I could make it to the town of Escondido. I made it to the city, but all of the gas station near the exit were closed. I Google for a nearby gas station and headed away from the interstate to get some gas. DID NOT MAKE IT and ran out of gas. What a dumb move on my part. Kitt was already in San Diego with the extra gas tank and I'm a**ed out. As I was pushing my scooter up a hill, a lady came by and said she would go get me some gas. I text Kitt not to turn around as the lady came back with a gallon of gas and a funnel. As I was wrestling with filling my tank, she told me she has a son and if he needed help, she would want someone to do the same. She didn't ask but I gave her twenty bucks and if she wanted a hundred I prob would have gave it to her, too. I thanked her, rode my bike several more blocks to get gas. I stopped there for some rest as the day through the desert and pushing the bike really drained me. I finally got to hotel and crashed. What a day. Another day of God Blessed riding with no real safety or mechanical problems. User issues and the heat brought the day down but overall it still was a great day of riding.
Thursday morning I was up early for the first ride of Amerivespa, The Coastal Ride. The energy from being at my first Amerivespa really took away the soreness from riding 1500 miles in two days. Kitt went to take care of his center stand and eventually got it fixed later that day. When I got downstairs, it was a pleasure to see so many scooters and riders ready for the weekends events.
Here's a picture of Randy (Vespa Dallas owner) and his wife at one of the Coastal ride stops.
I meet some wonderful people riding and during lunch. After the ride I went back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Friday morning, I was up again for the King of the Mountain Ride. We rode up to the town of Julian. Great roads, great views, and great people. It was hot inland but cooled down a lot when we got back to town.
After the ride, I went by Vespa Motorsport of San Diego to schedule a oil change and get the front tire looked at. I brought an oil filter as I changed the oil before leaving but did not change the filter, which is only required every 10k miles. While going through the desert on day one, during very high speeds, the front would shake more than normal and there was a loud sound coming from the tire. I thought it was out of balance. They got me scheduled for the next day and said they have an online shop manual for the Morphous. Wow, what a scooter shop.
Later that night, Mike my fraternity brother from college, came by to take me around San Diego. He asked me what I wanted to do and I didn't care. I was just happy to be moving without having to wear a helmet and gloves. We took in some sites and dinner, back to the hotel for rest as I wanted to ride on the last full day of the rally.
Saturday morning, I was up and ready for the Poker Run. There was a lot of scooters that attended this event as this was the last day of riding. We stopped under a freeway bridge to pull poker cards and I took a couple of pictures.
My poker hand was terrible so I decided to head over to Vespa to start the maintenance for the trip back. Long story short, the tire I purchased from Ebay was eight years old and was beginning to rip due to its age. I had to buy a odd sized tire from Vespa to make it home. Not too odd but purchasing tires from eBay is a lesson learned. Going forward, Motorcycle Superstore tires all the way.
Later that night, we went to the closing ceremonies. The food was great and we waited to see if we won the longest riding distance award. That would be a NO! A couple from Pennsylvania traveled 3K miles to Amerivespa on Vespa 250's in 10 days. They double our 1500 miles!!!! What a great accomplishment.
What a wonderful weekend of meeting people and riding. I can't believe how much fun we had so far with no real major hiccups. Things will happen when you travel this far but the risk is very small for the huge rewards we received. The events, people, and places at Amerivespa was a treat for a scooter rider like me.
We stopped in Aquila, Arizona for lunch. There is not much shade in Arizona but we were able to find some.
After our first meal of the day, we headed through the desert to Parker. We stopped to re-wet our cooling vest but did not get any gas. Big mistake. While crossing the California border, we had to stop at the fruit inspection stand. We waited and waited until someone waved us buy without asking any questions about transporting fruit into the state of California. I guessed they looked at our scooters loaded with gear and thought "we really don't want to go out in that hot sun to ask these idiots about transporting fruit on those things." We did not noticed the 24 hour pay at the pump only gas station next to the fruit inspection stop. Five miles from the town of 24 Palms, Kitt runs out of gas again. This time I buy a gas tank so this will not happen again. (Yeah right). I return to the scene to the crime with gas and we get to the town of 24 Palms. The temperature was 112 degrees and the sun was going down. We filled up with gas and decided we should head towards the freeway in order to get to San Diego. This was a detour from our original plans, as we were going to ride through Joshua Tree National Park. It was getting dark, we would not enjoy the ride like we should in those conditions and also needed to get to the hotel at a decent time.
We jumped on I-10 and took freeways all the way to San Diego. On the way, we got separated as Kitt needed to stop for gas. It was too late for me to exit so I kept riding and decided to pull over later down the road. I pulled over for gas in the town of Temecula but there were no gas station near my exit. I read Kitt's text message that we would just meet at the hotel. I text back "OK" and proceeded to the next town for gas. It was around midnight and I was on I-15. I passed an exit with a gas station but thought I could make it to the town of Escondido. I made it to the city, but all of the gas station near the exit were closed. I Google for a nearby gas station and headed away from the interstate to get some gas. DID NOT MAKE IT and ran out of gas. What a dumb move on my part. Kitt was already in San Diego with the extra gas tank and I'm a**ed out. As I was pushing my scooter up a hill, a lady came by and said she would go get me some gas. I text Kitt not to turn around as the lady came back with a gallon of gas and a funnel. As I was wrestling with filling my tank, she told me she has a son and if he needed help, she would want someone to do the same. She didn't ask but I gave her twenty bucks and if she wanted a hundred I prob would have gave it to her, too. I thanked her, rode my bike several more blocks to get gas. I stopped there for some rest as the day through the desert and pushing the bike really drained me. I finally got to hotel and crashed. What a day. Another day of God Blessed riding with no real safety or mechanical problems. User issues and the heat brought the day down but overall it still was a great day of riding.
Thursday morning I was up early for the first ride of Amerivespa, The Coastal Ride. The energy from being at my first Amerivespa really took away the soreness from riding 1500 miles in two days. Kitt went to take care of his center stand and eventually got it fixed later that day. When I got downstairs, it was a pleasure to see so many scooters and riders ready for the weekends events.
Here's a picture of Randy (Vespa Dallas owner) and his wife at one of the Coastal ride stops.
I meet some wonderful people riding and during lunch. After the ride I went back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Friday morning, I was up again for the King of the Mountain Ride. We rode up to the town of Julian. Great roads, great views, and great people. It was hot inland but cooled down a lot when we got back to town.
After the ride, I went by Vespa Motorsport of San Diego to schedule a oil change and get the front tire looked at. I brought an oil filter as I changed the oil before leaving but did not change the filter, which is only required every 10k miles. While going through the desert on day one, during very high speeds, the front would shake more than normal and there was a loud sound coming from the tire. I thought it was out of balance. They got me scheduled for the next day and said they have an online shop manual for the Morphous. Wow, what a scooter shop.
Later that night, Mike my fraternity brother from college, came by to take me around San Diego. He asked me what I wanted to do and I didn't care. I was just happy to be moving without having to wear a helmet and gloves. We took in some sites and dinner, back to the hotel for rest as I wanted to ride on the last full day of the rally.
Saturday morning, I was up and ready for the Poker Run. There was a lot of scooters that attended this event as this was the last day of riding. We stopped under a freeway bridge to pull poker cards and I took a couple of pictures.
My poker hand was terrible so I decided to head over to Vespa to start the maintenance for the trip back. Long story short, the tire I purchased from Ebay was eight years old and was beginning to rip due to its age. I had to buy a odd sized tire from Vespa to make it home. Not too odd but purchasing tires from eBay is a lesson learned. Going forward, Motorcycle Superstore tires all the way.
Later that night, we went to the closing ceremonies. The food was great and we waited to see if we won the longest riding distance award. That would be a NO! A couple from Pennsylvania traveled 3K miles to Amerivespa on Vespa 250's in 10 days. They double our 1500 miles!!!! What a great accomplishment.
What a wonderful weekend of meeting people and riding. I can't believe how much fun we had so far with no real major hiccups. Things will happen when you travel this far but the risk is very small for the huge rewards we received. The events, people, and places at Amerivespa was a treat for a scooter rider like me.
The Trip Home
Sunday morning we packed up to leave the beautiful San Diego area. Amerivespa planned a
beach party but the cops busted that up before it really got
started due to no permit. They moved the festivities to Vespa Motorsport of San Diego.
Someone told us about the changes before we left the hotel parking lot
and we loaded up the scooters and headed towards the scooter shop.
Mike came by the Vespa shop and was amazed with all the scooters. We took this picture right before we hit the road. We headed towards 29 Palms for a night of rest before riding across the desert.
Monday morning we got up earlier than normal to beat the heat through the desert and get to higher elevation and cooler weather. I was looking forward to the one lane mountain roads that were on the way to Prescott, AZ but we were stopped by a road block. The area had been on fire for several days and it was 0% contained when we arrived. This also was the part of Arizona where the 19 firemen died along with some of the town's citizens. I took these picture around the road block. The white vehicles were coroners vans removing the bodies from the scene.
After speaking with the local residents, we took a detour on the freeway to Camp Verde, AZ. It was still very hot so we stopped for lunch at this bar-b-Que restaurant. Again, shade is very dense in parts Arizona.
Twenty minutes from Camp Verde, the temperature dropped 20 degrees as elevation increased. The next part of the ride was through an area that was dark during our first trip through on the day of our iron butt. At night it was obvious to notice the swoops, climbs, and descents of the roads but during the day the view was remarkable.
We arrived in Show Low, AZ to get a hotel for the night. At that time we decided the next day to head towards Amarillo to see a friend of Kitt's. We planned to ride up to Roswell, taking the scenic route through the mountains and head towards Amarillo from there. Tuesday morning we packed up to leave Show Low, AZ but before we could make it to Socorro, NM we had to pull over due to our first rain stop. While there, other bikers stopped and left as we waited the rain out.
While waiting, we noticed barn swallows nest under the gas station cover. Very small birds made these birds nest.
Crossing Mexico again were straight roads but I did get to see those satellites dishes that's trying to contact ET.
We did not make it to Roswell and decided to ride up to Albuquerque and bunk down for the night before heading to Amarillo. The next day, Wednesday, we made it to Amarillo that afternoon and took a trip out to Palo Duro Canyons (The Grand Canyons of Texas). I've never been to the real Grand Canyons (maybe next adventure on scooter) but Palo Duro Canyons seems to be no slouch. A wonderful place to visit and camp.
The next day we got up and after breakfast Kitt and I went our separate ways back to normal life. It was sort of a sad feeling because I knew the chances of doing something like this again would be slim. It is hard to find someone to ride around in town, being that most of us scooterist can be loners, but to have a friend like Kitt that actually wanted to try an adventure like this and have the time to do it, is hard to find. I made it to Arlington Thursday evening and the reality of coming home in the same physical condition I left was nothing but a blessing. 3,400 miles in nine day, not very sore at all, and stories my friends will have to listen to for a long time to come.
The experience of Amerivespa in beautiful San Diego, the feeling of riding for days and with more days to go, the people I meet, the smiles, the waves, car horn blowers saying high, the many times I stuck out my hand with two fingers at other riders, the look of the eyes from the people in the small Arizona town that lost friends and family in a fire, all those memories are something that I can't take for granted.
Mike came by the Vespa shop and was amazed with all the scooters. We took this picture right before we hit the road. We headed towards 29 Palms for a night of rest before riding across the desert.
Monday morning we got up earlier than normal to beat the heat through the desert and get to higher elevation and cooler weather. I was looking forward to the one lane mountain roads that were on the way to Prescott, AZ but we were stopped by a road block. The area had been on fire for several days and it was 0% contained when we arrived. This also was the part of Arizona where the 19 firemen died along with some of the town's citizens. I took these picture around the road block. The white vehicles were coroners vans removing the bodies from the scene.
After speaking with the local residents, we took a detour on the freeway to Camp Verde, AZ. It was still very hot so we stopped for lunch at this bar-b-Que restaurant. Again, shade is very dense in parts Arizona.
Twenty minutes from Camp Verde, the temperature dropped 20 degrees as elevation increased. The next part of the ride was through an area that was dark during our first trip through on the day of our iron butt. At night it was obvious to notice the swoops, climbs, and descents of the roads but during the day the view was remarkable.
We arrived in Show Low, AZ to get a hotel for the night. At that time we decided the next day to head towards Amarillo to see a friend of Kitt's. We planned to ride up to Roswell, taking the scenic route through the mountains and head towards Amarillo from there. Tuesday morning we packed up to leave Show Low, AZ but before we could make it to Socorro, NM we had to pull over due to our first rain stop. While there, other bikers stopped and left as we waited the rain out.
While waiting, we noticed barn swallows nest under the gas station cover. Very small birds made these birds nest.
Crossing Mexico again were straight roads but I did get to see those satellites dishes that's trying to contact ET.
We did not make it to Roswell and decided to ride up to Albuquerque and bunk down for the night before heading to Amarillo. The next day, Wednesday, we made it to Amarillo that afternoon and took a trip out to Palo Duro Canyons (The Grand Canyons of Texas). I've never been to the real Grand Canyons (maybe next adventure on scooter) but Palo Duro Canyons seems to be no slouch. A wonderful place to visit and camp.
The next day we got up and after breakfast Kitt and I went our separate ways back to normal life. It was sort of a sad feeling because I knew the chances of doing something like this again would be slim. It is hard to find someone to ride around in town, being that most of us scooterist can be loners, but to have a friend like Kitt that actually wanted to try an adventure like this and have the time to do it, is hard to find. I made it to Arlington Thursday evening and the reality of coming home in the same physical condition I left was nothing but a blessing. 3,400 miles in nine day, not very sore at all, and stories my friends will have to listen to for a long time to come.
The experience of Amerivespa in beautiful San Diego, the feeling of riding for days and with more days to go, the people I meet, the smiles, the waves, car horn blowers saying high, the many times I stuck out my hand with two fingers at other riders, the look of the eyes from the people in the small Arizona town that lost friends and family in a fire, all those memories are something that I can't take for granted.
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