FINALLY! The Day Has Come.

Day 1, Sunday, April 30, 2017

The day has finally come and I am filled with excitement to go on the Ride.  I am sure that the other Riders are just as excited to go.  Yesterday, my Motor was washed, gassed and packed.  I got dressed and packed the last minute items into my Motor.  Laura, my Wife, my Daughters, Lori and Jennifer, and their children and Mike, Lori’s Husband, all went to the place where we gathered together before we left.  As we were waiting, one Rider rode in a couple minutes late because of a small mechanical problem.  He arrived, gassed up and was ready to go.  A couple of Friends also showed up to see us off.  We took a few pictures together before we left.  As by tradition, Chuck led the way to start.  We left at 7:43 AM. 

The Riders are:  Chuck Roseberry, C.E. Fuller, Ken Shriner, Jake Jacobson and Me.  We left northbound on I-17 and headed to Cordes Junction to meet Jan Marshall.  We arrived at 8:20 AM after riding 56 miles and stopped at the McDonald's.  We waited for Jan to arrive.  He arrived and we all greeted him.  We talked about having breakfast and decided to stop in Payson.  We all left at 8:47 AM.

Chuck was still leading and we rode northbound on I-17.  We rode to the General Crook Trail, US 260, and headed east. US 260 is a good roadwith great scenery.  We arrived in Payson and Chuck turned to go to the Airport for breakfast.  As we neared the Airport, we could see the small airplanes and helicopters.  I was second in line and started to downshift, brake and prepare to turn into the Airport Restaurant.  Chuck didn't tell us where he was going.  We had been to the Airport restaurant before and this is where I was expecting him to turn.  Instead of turning, Chuck continued westbound. I accelerated and followed Chuck, as did the rest.  I just thought that maybe he knew of another place to have breakfast that was close by.  About a mile up the street, Chuck stopped in the middle of the street.  I rode up next to him.  Chuck said, "Did I miss the airport?'  I answered, "Big Time!"  Chuck looked at me and told me that he didn't know how he missed it.  Chuck told me to go on.  I made a u-turn and the rest followed.  As we arrived at 10:15 AM after riding 88 miles, the parking lot was packed.  Chuck walked in and put his name in and was told that it would be a 20 minute wait.  We waited and finally, we were called.  We had a good breakfast and watched the planes land and take off.  There was also a helicopter that took off.  We finished our breakfast, saddled up and left at 11:51 AM.

We were starting to get low on gas but knew that we could make it to Heber, AZ.  Chuck led and after riding 57 miles, we arrived at the Shell Gas Station at 12:48 PM.  The Shell station had eight pumps and 3 were not working.  It took us a little longer to gas up.  While the guys were gassing up, some of us took advantage and used the outside port-a-jons.  The two J Jons had, "Cheap Seats" painted on the doors.  They were.   We left 1:03 PM.

Again, as per tradition, after we gas up, we change leaders.  It was my turn to lead.  I led the Group east on US 260.  As I led, Jan was behind me, then Ken, C.E., Jake and Chuck.  Another tradition is that the one who leads, when he is done leading, he has the pick at to what position he will ride.  Most of us choose to ride as trail Motor.  We rode for 85 miles and at 2:21 PM, we stopped at Bell Gas & Chuck Wagon in Springerville.  It was a good place for a "pit stop" and to stretch.  We left at 2:40 PM.

As we continued east on US260, we crossed over into New Mexico at 2:54 PM.  Just as we crossed over, we lost an hour because of the Time Zone change.  It was now 3:54 PM.  We continued for another 74 miles and then stopped at 4:44 PM in Pie Town, NM.  We stopped in front of "The Gathering Place" so that we could stretch.  I had thought that I heard Chuck talk about stopping in Pie Town.  Silly me!  I thought that he wanted to stop for Pie.  He had just talked about driving THROUGH Pie Town.  The owner of The Gathering Place came out to ask us if we were going inside to eat.  She told us that they were about to close but that they would stay open for us.  We apologized and told her that we were merely stopping to stretch.  We left at 4:54 PM.

We continued east on US 260.  Without lunch or a snack, I was starting to get HANGRY!  We rode towards Socorro, NM and passed by the "Very Large Array."  They are a group of radio satellites out in the middle of nowhere.  They have been shown in several movies and TV shows.  We rode for 87 miles and arrived in Socorro, NM at 6:12 PM.  We stopped at a Holiday Inn Express that we have stayed before.  Jan and I went in to "make the deal."  They would not deal on the price.  On the same property is a Best Western.  Jan and I went there and MADE A DEAL.  We checked into the Best Western.  The partners for tonight and tomorrow are:  Chuck and Jake, Ken and C.E., and Jan and Me.  We got all of our rooms on the ground floor and all together.  We parked our Motors next to our doors and unloaded our stuff.  After unloading, we rode to a nearby restaurant, which we have gone to before, El Camino Restaurant.  We had a good dinner and good conversation recapping today's ride.  We returned to the hotel and went to our rooms after tucking our Motors in for the night.  NO hot tub tonight.  A hot shower sounds good enough.  Tomorrow, we will head towards Dodge City, Kansas to meet up with J.B. Henderson.  J.B. is riding from just outside of Branson, MO.  J.B. is in Wichita, KS, where he rode mostly in the driving rain at 38 degrees.  J.B. is NOT a happy camper.  Hopefully he will have better weather tomorrow.

At the end of every day, I write down the amount of mileage we rode.  Today, as every first day, will be different for everyone.  We each came from a different location and have different mileage.  I rode 447 miles today and the others were pretty close to what I rode. 

I hope you all enjoy reading my Blog and tell your Family and Friends to follow us.  Thanks for reading.  So, until tomorrow...