Yep, a Friday at home. Last weekend I went riding, and this weekend I should probably stick around and be a dad, even though a good portion of the day at work today I was looking at google maps, figuring out rides to New Mexico and Texas.
Tomorrow morning, the wife and I will wake up early (at least I will), then I’ll talk her into going to the grocery store. I’m proud to say, I haven’t stood in line to buy toilet paper and we haven’t purchased any since before this whole stupid TP thing happened. We’re down to 4 rolls, and with 3 girls and me in the house…. well, you know.
Had a good day at work today. Sales are still good, even working from home. The people who are the movers and shakers? They still are. The ones who are scared to make a move, are even more scared now. To me, its nice it’s so pronounced. It makes it easier to find the movers and the shakers. I work better with those customers anyway.
Washed the bike after work. Maybe the most bugs I’ve ever washed off a bike after a single 2 day ride.
Bought a miter saw this week and actually made a coffee table. Historically, the only thing I’ve been able to do with wood is burn it or bury it, but I’m kinda proud of what I made. My wife seems happy with it, and she’s gonna sand it down and stain it this weekend. Apparently it was decent enough she asked me to make her a desk, some night stands for the bedroom, and some other stuff.
Not a whole lotta shit going on at the Zip Household this weekend. I’m restless and I find myself wanting to fire up a thing, and raise a ruckus somehow. Maybe I’ll get in a fist fight over a 36 pack in the toilet paper Isle. I doubt it, but who knows….
I have a week off next month, and I might head north to go ride a thing.
Having a gut full of this virus, lockdown and quite honestly peoples reaction to it, I did me some riding last weekend.
Man, its perfect riding weather this time of year. Good enough for a leather jacket in the morning some leathers to get over the mountains, and then long sleeves in the afternoon without sweating your ass off. Perfect. I loaded up the bike in the morning and headed east. My bike was purring and it just felt good to get out on the road.
Most of where I rode was through the Apache Indian reservation. Historically, the apaches weren’t your mud farmer, hunter gatherers of the indian nation. They’d keep the peace if it was warranted, but they fuck your day up if it wasn’t. I’ve been reading up on Cochise and Geronimo, and they demanded respect by any cultures measure. This part of the country was invaded by Spain, then Mexico, then the westward expansion. The Apaches were on the front lines of all of that. Part of this ride was that I wanted to get a sense of all that History.
Due to covid 19, much of the Tribe had all the side roads blocked off as I went through the reservation. They run things their own way, so I couldn’t get off and explore so I stayed on the state Highways.
Heading down through Fort Thomas, I found an interesting, almost old forgotten memorial. It was to a guy named Melvin Jones, who was born in Fort Thomas, and later went on to making the Lions club an international organization in 1917. When I was younger, the lions club was everywhere. Our family reunions were held for years on Fathers Day at a Lions Club Lodge in Utah (they still are). Membership has waned over the years, but clubs like the Lions were a woven into the community fabric all across America.
Anyway, I thought it was interesting. Out in the middle of nowhere.
I headed into Safford, and then up a new road into fort Grant. Lots of history up there as well. The old fort is situated on a prison now, and was the site of one of the largest massacres in the US in 1871.
The ride up through fort Grant and into Wilcox AZ was fairly killer. The roads were empty, and it was one of those roads where you just get lost in the moment; my music sounded good and my bike was purring. I was enjoying the hell out of it.
Just past Fort Grant I found this old Historic Store:
The Bonita store. She looks pretty well kept up.Built in 1882 and I think was still going strong until 1942.
If you live in Arizona, it’s pretty much required to see Tombstone. At least, it should be. You may have seen it. The very end of the movie ends with Johnny Ringo getting shot by Doc Holliday. I’ve been to tombstone several times, but I’ve never found Johnny Ringos grave. With a little encouragement from Mike F who’s been a long time follower of this blog, I took the dirt road out to see it.
There’s some speculation on whether doc Holliday really killed Johnny Ringo. He was found propped up at this spot a day later, with one bullet missing in his gun, and a bullet wound in his temple. It was officially ruled a suicide, but several people have claimed to have killed him. I like the Holliday story myself, but it probably was by his own hand. Either way, Here’s the place.
I landed in a placed called Double Adobe. This part of Arizona, people are pretty friendly. They love their guns, and their Independence. Exactly what you’d expect from Arizona — Ranches and farms everywhere, and you can see Mexico from here. There are Trump flags and stickers everywhere. I felt right at home.
I woke up, broke down my tent and watched the sun come up. It was pretty cold, but the temp climbed fast as the sun rose. I headed east toward the border town of Douglas, and then on to New Mexico and then north west to home.
I jacked up my camera phone dropping it off my bike on my last ride. I took a DSLR camera with me to get some pics, and I took a bunch: Some bitchen old buildings and signs in Douglas, Some old Adobe homes in New Mexico, and the spot where Geronimo surrendered to the US in 1886, ending the US and Indian Wars. Yeah, good pics, but I somehow managed to fuck them up on that DSLR. I think rattling around in my saddlebag changed a setting, or I fat-fingered something when I took my first picture of the day. Everything came out white. Oh well. Next time.
On my way home, I found a playlist on my phone: The 100 best classic country songs of all time. My dad woulda loved this shit, and I gotta admit I enjoyed it on this ride. Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, some George Jones…. That song about “momma socking it to the Harper Valley PTA… ” It seemed to fit the country I was in. Kicked a foot up on the freeway pegs, stopped and took some bad pictures, and enjoyed the wind.
This one was a particular favorite: Loretta Lynn, talking about beating up another chick. Catfight! So Hawt…. Wait, is that wrong? 🙂
A killer ride. That was the last major road in Arizona, checked off my list. I keep thinking I’m done, I always seem to find some new side road I get curious about, so I’m sure I’ll end up going back.
Just got back from a ride. I’d meant to sit down and blog about it —- I had great determination about 100 miles ago, but right now I just wanna hang out with the family. I’ll post about it later.
How about a little Levon Helm? The man was a badass. I’ll post that instead. Eat a bag of hell if you don’t like it.
Well, my hall pass cleared and gonna go do some exploring on the bike today and tomorrow. Heading down to Apache Country, See the border, a little new Mexico and some of the last major roads in AZ that I haven’t ridden.
I’m fired up about it. The bike is loaded up, just waiting for mah coffee to finish brewing then I’m heading out. Nothing huge — maybe 350 miles today and 350 miles tomorrow, and I’ll figure out where I’m going to crash tonight.
Not entirely sure about food; most places are closed so I’m taking a can opener and a spoon just in case. I’m pretty sure I’ll eat.
I wouldn’t say I’m a planner. I’d like to think I’m a think-fast, shoot-from-the-hip type guy. My old man used to say “take half the clothes and twice the money”. When you’re going on a trip, and I think I like that plan. Do I pre-plan? Not really. There’s some shit on a long ride that I just know I’m going to need. Here’s my short list:
The Bike. This one is obvious.
A wallet. You actually can go on a ride, get 100 miles away and forget you didn’t bring it. No, I don’t want to talk about it. I Like mine with a chain on it, so I can reach down and feel it 20 miles in to remember I have it.
A sleeping bag. I have several; a zero degree, tiny little stuffer I bought 30 years ago that has never failed me, and takes up half a saddle bag. If I’m going for comfort, I’ll strap something bigger to the backrest.
A tent. I’m not opposed to sleeping out under the stars, but sometimes it’s nice to have something around you to keep the heat in, and the cold out.
A gun. It can make a weird situation out on the road make you feel better. Also: America.
A leather Jacket. I’ve had a couple summer rides out in the desert where I haven’t packed one, and I wished I would have. In the desert, you can be below sea level, and then ride up to 10,000 feet with snow. Ya never know where the muse will take you. At the very least, they make a good pillow.
Sunblock – there’s always some in my bike stash, or the wife has some in her drawer. It’s kind of a must.
Old underwear – The best place to chuck old underwear, is in a KOA, out on the road somewhere. You’ll make room for a T-shirt you just have to have, in the text town.
Socks. The last thing you want, is a disease called Gungus Coyote. I have no idea what this disease is, because I bring extra socks.
A phone. Music, nav, a camera, a phone….. There maybe should be a chain for this too.
A Map. A phone is nice, but it’s hard to get perspective on where you want to ride on a phone. A phone map is meant to get you from point A to point B. Sometimes, you need to spread out a map and see if you want to go to point C, D, E and F. Phones suck at that.
Another T-shirt. (or two).
Some sort of Bandana: They’re just handy.
Sunglasses.
If you have room at this point, there are some extras you can pack, that just make for a nicer ride:
An Extra pair of Levis. An extra pair of Levis is the difference between a 3 day trip, and a 5 day trip. Coin-op laundromats are a pain in the ass, and there is only so much of your own stench you can take.
A swimming suit – It’s nice to find a motel with a pool that has a laundromat. Then you can jump in the pool while your 2 pairs of levis, extra shirt, old underwear and that t-shirt you bought are all getting washed. Plus, a swimming suit doesn’t take up all that much room.
A towel.
The rest, you can figger out. Or buy on the road. It’s the beauty of a long ride.
The rest, is cake: you go see a place you’ve never seen, explore the world, watch a sunset (or sunrise) in a town you barely learned the name of. Twist a throttle, and go see a thing. You’ve got a saddle bag full of shit at this point to make life all the better.
From an anonymous UPS delivery driver… 5 types of customers since the “rona”:
1) Steve: He has been waiting for this moment his whole life. He has been drinking boilermakers since 10:00 am in his recliner and his AR is within arms reach. He has 6 months provisions in the basement and a bug out bag due west buried in the woods. Steve demands a handshake as I give him his package. He’s sizing me up as I deliver his ammo.
Steve will survive this, and he will kill you if he needs to.
2) Brad: He is standing at his window wearing skinny jeans and a Patagonia t-shirt. He is mad because there were no organic tomatoes at Whole Foods today. He points at the ground where he has taped a 6 ft no go zone line from his porch. I leave his case of Fuji water, organic granola bites, and his new “Bernie Bro” hat at the tape.
Brad will not survive. Steve will probably eat him.
3) Nancy: She has sprayed everything with Thieves oil. Bought all the Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, meat, and bread from the local grocery chain. She has quarantined her kids and sprays them with a mixture of thieves, lavender, & mint essential oils daily. She has posted every link known to man about “The Rona” on her social media. She will spray you if you break the 6 ft rule. I will leave her yet another case of toilet paper.
She will last longer than Brad, but not Steve.
4) Karen: She has called everybody and read them the latest news on “The Rona”. She asked for the manager at Food Lion, Walmart, Publix, McDonalds, Chi-Fil-A, and Vons all before noon demanding more toilet paper. Karen’s kids are currently faking “The Rona” to avoid her. I’m delivering “Hello kitchen” to her.
Karen will not survive longer than Brad.
5) Mary: Is sitting in the swing watching her kids have a water balloon fight in the front yard as she is on her fourth glass of wine. She went to the store and bought 2 cases of pop tarts, 6 boxes of cereal, 8 bags of pizza rolls, And a 6 roll pack of toilet paper. There is a playlist of Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, and Post Malone playing in the background. I’m bringing her second shipment of 15 bottles of wine in 3 days.
Mary will survive and marry Steve. Together they will repopulate the earth. May God have mercy on us all.”
This song has been in my head all day. A great song, methinks. Originally, a German poem dating back to the 1920s, but if found it’s way into the doors repertoire, via Ray Manzarek.
Charlie Daniels first met Bob Dylan back in the 60s, and between 1969 to 1970 Charlie played on 3 of his albums. He had a huge influence on him. Dylan singled him out as a young session guitarist back then. CD made a tribute album for him in 2014, citing the impressions the young songwriter had on the young guitar player had on him at the time.
