March 2008 Archives

Tooling Around Cochise County

I've never forgotten the beauty of the Sonora Desert and southern Arizona, particularly Cochise County. Having lived here for 6 years in what seems like a previous life, I had grown to a point where I took the mountains, the roads, and the impressive wildlife for granted.

This morning I enjoyed an incredible experience. My friends here live on property out in what many folks would consider the middle of nowhere. Every morning there are a large number of birds at their feeders and even more interestingly, a buck and his harem. Arizona mule deer walk through their property and because they share this enclave with humans they have become so familiar that you can feed some of them from your hand.

For the first time in my life I had a wild doe eating feed from my hand this morning. That was awesome.

She was such a gentle animal.

Needless to say, I got photos.

I don't have the ability to upload any photos at this time, but look forward to at least a few once I've returned to Richardson, TX.

Richardson, TX to Sierra Vista, AZ

Monday, 10 March, began my trip with a complication. I had a leaky rear tire from the moment I woke up to do a pre-trip inspection on the bike. Following a quick (and very helpful) trip to Harley-Davidson of North Texas, I was leaving Carrollton, TX with a fresh new tire, and lovely light rains. As any experienced rider knows, a new tire, and light rains are not a good way to start off a long trip, but the situation was completely unavoidable. My only choice would have been to cancel the trip, or ride things out.

I managed to leave Carrollton, TX at 1033 (Central Time) in the morning and the weather improved significantly by the time I had ridden as far as downtown Fort Worth. My trip was under way.

My first gas stop of the morning was near Ranger, TX and while the weather was quite chilly, the ride was going quite well. The miles ticked off quickly (and uneventfully) with more gas stops near Sweetwater, Monahans, and Van Horn.

My Van Horn stop was quite lucky. While making a call on my cell phone another rider pulled up for a fuel stop. We struck up a conversation and it turns out Doug was heading the same direction. We agreed to ride to Deming, NM together, and if the morning brought similar departure times we would ride together as far as Benson, AZ.

Everything turned out well for that ride as well. A quick gas stop in Las Cruces, NM put the two of us on track for finishing out our Deming leg, and the following morning a gas and go, followed by fueling in Willcox, AZ allowed me to finish out my trip and see Doug at least that far on his trip to San Diego, CA.

I arrived in Sierra Vista, AZ on 11 March 2008, at a reasonably early hour in the morning and had time to putter around town and make my way out to the home of some friends I have here in town. I'd probably be lynched by the Harley riding crowd at home for riding the last leg of my trip - 1/2 mile of primitive dirt road - but that's part of the fun of where they live.

As Jeff Foxworthy says, "If the instructions to your house include the words, 'turn off the paved road,' you might be a Redneck.

Problems and or Repairs: Rear tire flat at start of trip, required replacement. Right rear tail light failed for braking mode during trip. Replaced on arrival at Sierra Vista Harley-Davidson