We stayed on IH-10 for about 2/3rds of todays ride since we had a long mileage day ahead, for us on a motorcycle anyway ;-). We are heading back home and planned to get to El Paso, TX today. Hence the three states: AZ, NM, TX. As previously mentioned, freeway riding is tiring and we had enough by the time we got to Deming so we took SR-11 south to SR-9. SR-9 runs about parallel to IH-10 in New Mexico.
Author: Oliver
A freeway day
Western Arizona doesn’t offer too many alternatives to make your way across the state to Tucson. After a stretch of about 50 miles of back country roads from Parker we hit IH-10 to SR-85, a connector road that goes to IH-8 to bypass Phoenix.
Once we got to Gila Bend on IH-8 we decided to keep going on the freeway since the long way around on SR-85 via Ajo would have been another 200 miles – after we had already gone about 190 miles. Probably a good call since we saw the towering thunderstorms forming to the south of us – right where we would have been riding. Not to mention that we would have been completely exhausted. Another day when I emptied my 3L water reservoir.
We are going to spend two days in Tucson just looking around, exploring the city and housing.
Todays route.
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson
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- along the way from Parker to Tucson – rest area on IH-10
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- Hotel in Tucson – rain clouds and cool colors in the evening. No rain though.
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- Hotel in Tucson – rain clouds and cool colors in the evening. No rain though.
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- Hotel in Tucson – rain clouds and cool colors in the evening. No rain though.
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- Hotel in Tucson – rain clouds and cool colors in the evening. No rain though.
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- Hotel in Tucson – rain clouds and cool colors in the evening. No rain though.
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- Hotel in Tucson – rain clouds and cool colors in the evening. No rain though.
Travel fatigue
I don’t think there’s a single factor that’s making us tired but rather multiple causes. Staying in hotels, living out of bags and unpredictable hotel wall thickness and neighbors certainly plays a role. Unable to make our own breakfast you are stuck with the hotel’s ‘continental’ breakfast which offer foods that we rarely eat at home – pastries, waffles, toast, scrambled eggs with cheese and cereal. Not to mention the subpar (yes I’m a coffee snob) coffee. Continue reading Travel fatigue
Heading towards Arizona
Another late start for us. For some reason we both slept in late. We had decided on a route last night but we made a small change when we stopped for gas in Boulder City. Instead of taking US 93 over the Hoover Dam towards Kingman, AZ. we take US 95 to avoid all the traffic and windy roads. Continue reading Heading towards Arizona
Hoover Dam
Per the weather forecast we were greeted with overcast skies this morning. The plan was to ride out to Hoover Dam and then the scenic route around Lake Mead since yesterday was way too hot. There was a 30-40% chance of rain and we were OK with that. What we didn’t factor in was the wind 🙁 Continue reading Hoover Dam
Las Vegas, NV
Early this morning we heard a series of sirens going by the hotel, making us wonder what was going on. Later in the morning, just outside of Caliente we came across the remainder of a bad accident. There was debris everywhere and police was diverting traffic to the shoulder.
The real ‘lonely’ highway – U.S. 93
For some reason we were on the road early – the earliest so far: 8:10 – maybe because we were up by 5:45 and didn’t have internet to distract us ;-). The remainder of U.S. 50 went through more forests and valleys. We reached Ely by about 11:00. After heading east for two days we started on our way south on U.S. 93…
The loneliest highway – U.S. 50
After checking out of the happening Atlantis Casino, we went to Starbucks to wait for a call from the dealer to let us know that the part arrived. Once we were all coffee’d out we headed to the dealer around 11:30 since Mike had said that UPS usually delivers between 11:00 and 12:00. When we got there, he already had the part. Dropping the current lock keyed to the ignition key was a snap and the new gas cap installed in less than 10 minutes. Continue reading The loneliest highway – U.S. 50
Reno, NV
Sierra BMW in Sparks, NV didn’t have the gas cap – which as it turns out cannot be replaced by itself but requires a new aluminum ring that it is attached to in the first place. However, he checked the BMW warehouses in the west and said he could place an order with overnight delivery for only 10% more of the order total. The cap assembly is $106 which added $10 to the cost with the grand total, after tax, coming to $126 :-(. Continue reading Reno, NV
Rolling again
The four days of down time at Diane’s parents felt good. It gave us a chance to regroup, work on and clean the motorcycles as well as give our bodies a rest. Plus, we got to hook-up with friends and family. We are heading east, over the Sierras and into Nevada.