29 Sept 2016, Flagstaff, NM. It was a clear and sunny day when I climbed aboard Trafalgar to head North. I wasn’t sure the direction or route to my final destination: Oatman, AZ to see the wild donkeys. I sat up last night playing with Tom, coming up with about five different navigation plans. I finally decided on the Globe route for no better reasoning than it avoided Phoenix. I hate big cities, and wanted to stay as far away as possible. Unfortunately for me, my planned adventure took me up route 77 that turned out to be about a dozen miles of redlights along a roadway where strip malls lined the thoroughfare like maple trees in a Vermont village. I pressed on, the beautiful mountain vista diverted my aggravation long enough to get out of town. I went through Mammoth, Dudleyville, and turned off 77 onto state route 188 at Globe. This is where it gets exciting for a motorcyclist, like tennis ball for a golden retriever, I couldn’t get enough. The road twisted and turned through the mountain pass and Lake Roosevelt in the Tonto National Mountains (This is the second national park I’ve seen named after a fictional character, Hiawatha the other). The temperature was a comfortable 70-75 F and the traffic an occasional senior citizen begging to be passed. Surprisingly, Arizona has been very comfortable probably because I bought a an unneeded cooling vest that I had delivered to Danny’s house in preparations for the heat of the Southwest.
I thought about stopping along the way, spending the night in some campground along the lake maybe, but there wasn’t much inviting. I pressed on to Flagstaff, despite the big fat butt screaming, “Hey, you’ve been sitting on me all frickin’ day!”
trafalgar adventures 