Just returned from a 7 day southern Arizona adventure. I enjoy towing my Dyna SG with my Kendon single trailer behind our 24' Class C motorhome which permits me to ride interesting new {and old} roads while still enjoying all of the proverbial comforts of home.

Last Wednesday we drove {300 miles} to Lake Havasu for the balloon festival {which runs Friday - Sunday}. Thursday morning they managed to launch a dozen balloons and sadly that was about it for the aerial show. High winds aloft and subsequently down lower canceled all balloon launches for the duration of the event.

Thursday morning we took off up 95 to I-40 and then west to the border at Topock {exit one}. From there we rode north to and through Bullhead City and across the river to Laughlin. After "visiting" 3 casinos and a nice lunch we headed back down through BC and out to Oatman. The Oatman burros were clogging the streets and sidewalks begging for food and putting on their usual, seriously cute show. Some of the baby burros had stickers affixed to their foreheads that read "Do not feed me". Apparently, their digestive systems are not as strong as their seniors.

Heading back we rode a spectacular 21 mile stretch of old Route 66 south out of Oatman all the way down to Golden Shores. The rest of the ride back to Havasu was a hoot as well. Friday morning after spending a couple of hours at the {flightless} festival we returned to camp, geared up and headed south to and over the Parker Dam. The road parallels the western shore of the Colorado all the way to Parker where we had a great lunch at the Cross Roads Cafe {on Highway 62 half a mile west of 95}. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area.

The ride down was so much fun we just reversed course for the ride back and other than dodging a few of the wild burros grazing on the shoulder we had a blast. With the balloons a no show we elected to drive down to Quartzsite for the big RV show {our 6th year in a row} and had two more days of fun before returning home to Tucson with an overnight at Alamo lake {33 miles north of Wenden off of 60}.

Tomorrow will be spent washing both bike and RV as they are both layered in road dust with just enough sprinkles to really make them look like crap. All total we drove the coach 665 miles and rode the Dyna 330 and had waaay too much fun.... not too bad for a couple of old folks {66/67}.

 

Sounds fun. My motorhome is parked as well as the bike; northeast winters suck that way

 

Thanks for sharing that; it sounds like you had a great time. I looked at a national drought map tonight, and things look pretty dry down there. Is it drier than usual?

 

You making me me drool!! Love riding out there. Especially the ride from Kingman to Oatman via Sitegreaves Pass, through Golden Shores to LHC. Nothing beats a desert ride! Sounds like your ride was great.

 

No pictures?
For some of us poor folks it's one of things that help us get through the riding drought.

Can't wait.

 

Sorry about the lack of pics... Photo fricking bucket is still holding them for ransom. Someday I will finally figure out how to post them again without PB. Yes, it is fairly dry this year. We live 25 miles north of Tucson at 3,300' at the foot of Mt Lemon {9,200'+} and we did not see a drop of rain from August 17 to early January... arrrg!

Hoping the second half of "winter", such as it is out here, will bring more precipitation. Mt Lemon got a dusting while we were away but it is all but gone this morning despite waking up to 32 degrees. No riding for me until 10 to give the black ice {if any} time to melt but after that... Get your motor running!

 

Going to be around 80 degrees this weekend in the valley.im about 90 miles north of you.

 

Just got back from 10 days at my place in LHC. The wife really wanted to see the balloons, but like you stated in the OP, the winds were bad all weekend. Sounds like you had a good ride though.

 

Try FLICKR. I refused to pay the new Photobucket rates. FLICKR allow posting picture. Example:

 

My two neighbors/riding buddies and I headed out this morning at 0930. The temp was 55 and rising as we headed for Superior, 80 miles up some quality two-lane {77 to Winkelman and then west on 177 - 3 ten percent and a couple of 12 - 16 mile 6 to 8% grades with lots of serious twisties}. Coming into Mamouth the 6 mile stretch of god-awful potholes and just plain ragged asphalt had been recently resurfaced as smooth as a babies backside making one of my favorite rides even better.

We passed through the mining towns of Hayden and Kearny running through the Ray mine {one of the largest copper mines in the country}. Porter's Cafe in Superior, serves what is, in my opinion, the finest burger in Arizona and we arrived at 1100 to beat the inevitable lunch crowd.

Departing stuffed, but ready for more fine riding we headed north on 60 up to Top of the World, down through Miami and on to Globe. Picked up 77 just east of Globe and the ride back to Winkelman is one of the finest in Arizona, perhaps in the nation. This ride takes you up over the 5,000" pass followed by a 16 mile 6 to 8% downhill which includes two runaway truck ramps {a scant 1.5 miles apart}.

The Gila River gorge twists and turns for miles dropping back down to Winkelman where we refueled {46 mpg on my Dyna SG ridden with a heavy right wrist}. From Winkelman taking 77 back through Mamouth and past Oracle brought us back to Catalina and home. Rode 200 miles and had a blast. From mid ride on the temps were low 70's and it is forecast to be 78 to 80 for the next 3 days.

Today must have bee the Official "Go ride your bike day" as I have never seen so many bikes on one ride. Maria's Mexican Restaurant in Winkeman must have had 40 - 50 bikes filling the parking lot. A gas station on the east side of Glode easily had 50 - 60+ bikes. You could not ride for more than a minute or two without encountering half a dozen seriously grinning bikers and everybody waved {Mostly Harley's but with a little bit of everything thrown in...Very nice!}

Hmmm, tomorrow I might just have to run this one through the proverbial Xerox.