My 24 hours are used up before the dealer opens, they have the tire I want and can get it on in the next couple of hours. $251 dollars later and about noon time I am loaded and headed south. I have time to burn and as it is really hot in Phoenix I had thoughts of staying at our place in Vernon (just outside of Show Low) and leaving really early and riding home Wed morning and beating the heat. So with that in mind I decide to ride I 25 south to Socorro and pick up 60 to Vernon. I haven't decided what was the prettiest place I saw on this trip but it took only a few minuets to figure out that Socorro was the ugliest, hands down. It has a perfect speed trap for people coming in to town. The speed limit stays 35 out side of the main part of town going west on 60 and the few businesses out there are well off the road. There is a little curve in the road and a sign there just the right size for the local fuzz to hide behind and he was. I was going out of town so had my speed in check but that made an ugly town even uglier. I saw two antelope in the god forsaken country west of Socorro. In fact that was the closest I got to any as one of them was in the road and I almost had to come to a complete stop for him. I expected him to jump the fence but he went under it like a dog. I wish I had a picture of them, one had a water bottle and the other a lunch box. Rough Country out there. With the rain clouds coming and going and looking really threating riding through the showers and little cloud bursts made the ride interesting, Even though the surrounding were ugly as I rode a little farther west the mountains with the changing light from the cluds and rain was very nice. It was warm even at 8000 feet so I just rode through the wet and enjoyed the cooling off. I got to Vernon and looked every thing over, no one has been there for over a month, all is well. It is still trying to rain and I don''t want to load up at dark thirty in the rain and ride out in the nasty clay that gets like glue when it is wet. It is about a mile to the asphalt so I locked up and headed home. Fueled up in Show Low and came home on 60 through the Salt River Canyon. That road is a lot more fun to ride on a motorcycle than it is in the Expedition pulling the horses. . Three hours and ten minuets after fueling up at the Maverick I am home, a little sweaty but home sweet home. I believe in ATGATT all the gear all the time. So I always wear my helmet, my jacket has armor in the elbows, shoulders and lower back for protection in case of a fall. I also have a knit shirt with the same armor in it but didn't take it due to lack of room and knew the only day I would need it was the last day coming home. The jacket has zippers at the wrist, upper arms and shoulders to let air through and zippers in the back to let the air out, it helps but it was still hot. I was wearing Levis but I wear Bon Armor under them, like a pair of tights with shin, knee, thigh and hip pads. A little warm but worth the extra warmth if a problem ever causes one to roll or bounce down the road.. I didn't race through the canyon but stayed within about 5 mph of the speed limit, just that I didn't have to slow down much for the corners and going up it is easy to keep up to the speed limit even in the curvy sections. . The bike shows a little over 9800 more miles on the odometer than when I left. Knowing what I do now would I do it again. YES
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