The Border, Part Two

(Note: I started writing this a week ago – I just never finished it)

I’m sitting in a KOA about 50 miles from my house. Normally, you don’t ever stay at a campground 50 miles from your house, but yet here I am. Been riding since Friday afternoon, and have enjoyed the living hell out of this one. I just didn’t feel like going home yet.

Rode down to the Border. Arizona has 5 major ones, with border crossing roads. Quite frankly, I just wanted to see the wall for myself and see what everyone gets all uptight about.

I rode down last weekend as well, to a different border crossing. I just haven’t blogged that one yet. I will. I’m gonna do part 2 first. Kinda like that Seinfeld episode where they played the end first, and worked up to the beginning.

I had the bright idea Thursday night for a ride, so I loaded the bike up and headed out after work. Slowly worked my way through the 30 miles of freeway quitting time traffic, and headed south toward some new roads.

Once I got out of the traffic, the riding got good. I got off the interstate west of Phoenix and headed south. It was Nascar weekend here, and I headed down toward the raceway. It wasn’t all that busy; everyone had settled in for the race, and I just rolled by and enjoyed the ride.

headed south toward Gila bend. Crossed my favorite bridge, over old highway 80, and down towards the KOA I’d booked for the night.

Woke up the next morning and twisted the throttle down toward the border. It was a little warmer of a morning than usual, and I knew the riding would be good. Any morning on a new road, is always good.

Headed down toward Ajo, and Why. I missed a lot of things in Ajo — some of my local Arizona friends described Ajo as an old shithole mining town, but I didn’t see that at all. I saw a small town with a killer old history, some great Spanish architecture and quite a lot of activity going on. I need to go back to Ajo — I think there’s some stories to tell there.

Heading due south, I rode through Organ Pipe National Monument. I’d came this way in the mid part of 2000. A fishing buddy of mine and a friend went down through here to Puerto Penasco on a week long adventure to go fly fish the Gulf of California. That was 20 years ago, and I’d forgotten how beautiful this part of Arizona was.

Then Lukeville, and the wall.

I doubled back toward Why.

Headed east toward Tucson. 120 miles of good music, feet up on the freeway pegs and 80 mile mph t-shirt weather. I enjoyed the hell out of that stretch. Listened to a little Alice Cooper and the Who, picked up the local radio stations when I could, and just enjoyed the ride. Noticed a lot of side roads I need to go back and explore another day. That, is a beautiful thing.

Headed into old Tucson studios and then found my KOA.

Life it seems, is pretty fucking good.