Coming to America... - Page 15

tod2 · 05-30-2004, 04:10 PM

Mike -

The aircraft graveyard is fantastic. Hope you enjoy it! Not sure if they still do this, but they used to bring the old B52s there and chop them into pieces so the Russian satellites could photograph that they were being destroyed under some treaty.

For something cool, try to book a tour of the observatory on Kitt Peak. The rule of thumb in AZ is that "higher is cooler." Mt Lemmon used to be a great ride. Not sure how it is now since most of the mountain burned up in a forest fire. There are some excellent dirt roads that go through the mountains south of Tucson. Plus there is a dirt road that goes up the back side of Mt Lemmon - I imagine that you can ride up that way and avoid the toll on the highway.

Tod.

MikeO · 05-30-2004, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMW Rider

Mike, what a fantastic picture!

Thanks, Rider - as I said earlier, the idea for the picture was put in my head by someone else - to my eternal shame, I wrote earlier that it was Ilmostro

- It was actually Wegger...

Of course, his truck driver had polished the rear door. Plus he didn't need to get as close (flat surface). Plus I HATE him for being able to take a sweet picture like that...

Rider · 05-30-2004, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeO

Of course, his truck driver had polished the rear door. Plus he didn't need to get as close (flat surface). Plus I HATE him for being able to take a sweet picture like that...

So do I.

sandgroper · 05-30-2004, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeO

Of course, his truck driver had polished the rear door. Plus he didn't need to get as close (flat surface). Plus I HATE him for being able to take a sweet picture like that...

I would say it would be a real to pain to be behind this guy in the dark
Cheers Ed

PhilSpace · 05-31-2004, 04:31 AM

Damn Mike, it's not HOT there yet - 93 is a cool spring day! When I lived out there I remember it hitting well above 100 in August, with warnings being posted about tire tempratures and reducing speeds.

Suggest you head north and hit the high ground where it is much cooler and the roads are at least a little twisty, if you are going to stay on the slab in the summer in southern AZ or NM, just ride at night and drink beer during the day.

PS - there is a night route from Tucson south down toward Nogales which has some nice twisties

.

Mulekick · 05-31-2004, 01:58 PM

I will have to say I was more than a little suprised to see you heading south after Vegas.Philspace is right about it being a nice cool spring day at 93 degrees!

But if I had my choice of areas to be riding in right now it would be somewhere a wee bit cooler,however the Sonoran landscape is something one should not miss.

JNRobert · 05-31-2004, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulekick

I will have to say I was more than a little suprised to see you heading south after Vegas.

True. Mike as you probably are aware, America is a hot country come summer. I would be heading to the Northwest if you want somewhat comfortable summer riding. Definitely get out of Arizona/Nevada/California it will start hitting the hundreds soon.

pierce · 05-31-2004, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JNRobert

True. Mike as you probably are aware, America is a hot country come summer. I would be heading to the Northwest if you want somewhat comfortable summer riding. Definitely get out of Arizona/Nevada/California it will start hitting the hundreds soon.

except for the immediate northern and central california coast, where it will stay mostly in the 60s/70s with occasional bouts of 80s all summer.

(just got back in from 5 days up in the sierras at a music festival, bikeless, but had a great time... pictures will be up on my website in a few days when they get processed, I used film).

Mercenary · 05-31-2004, 09:49 PM

(Ahem) WELL, if its the heat you are worried about, you could always come to northern Canada. We dont much worry about summer heat up here

Eurobiker · 06-01-2004, 08:49 AM

Mike,

If you're heading east to NM and Albuquerque, I can put you up for a night or two. Could probably even muster the local ADVrider Brethern for

MikeO · 06-01-2004, 06:59 PM

1st June

So the Memorial Day holiday is over - I’ve been holed up in my (very comfortable & frostily air conditioned) room in the Hampton Inn at Tucson, waiting for the mayhem which is an American public holiday to subside.

I ride over to the Pima Air Museum – the whole reason I’ve ventured this far south into the Arizona desert…

A word of warning – if you don’t have at least a passing interest in aeroplanes – move on, there’s nothing to see here…

The entrance to the museum leads visitors through an arch, formed by the load bay of the huge Sikorsky Skycrane…

They have a vast collection of exhibits, some stored in climate controlled hangars, like this beautifully restored B24 Liberator…

…some stored under cover outside, like our old friend the SR71 Blackbird…

…which shares its open-ended hangar with a very fast pilotless drone…

Others are stored out in the full heat of the Arizona desert. It’s 107º F as I take these pictures…

…the Lockheed Constellation – surely one of the most elegant looking piston driven airliners ever designed…

…until the military got hold of it and converted it to an Electronic Warfare platform.

There’s all sorts of stuff here, from the B47 – Strategic Air Command’s first all jet bomber…

…to the Super Guppy, originally used to transport NASA rocket components and later to move parts of the Airbus…

But the main reason I’ve come here (and delayed my visit until today) is that I want to visit the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC).

This is basically an enormous storage facility for US Military aircraft. They have over 4400 aircraft here, from the old, like this F101 Voodoo…

…to the new, like this B1 bomber…

They store aircraft here (as you may remember airlines do with spare airliners) because the climate is ideal for the task. Each aircraft undergoes an incredibly thorough procedure before going into storage, and more than 20% of aircraft arriving here, fly out again one day…

…there are hundreds of F16s…

…and F4 Phantoms…

as well as dozens of helicopters of all types.

The facility also scraps aircraft. Some of the scrapping is to comply with the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) agreement. B52s are towed out into the open (in plain sight of Russian satellites) and literally chopped up – using a massive guillotine type crane…

Here is the effect it’s had on a C141 Starlifter…

Meanwhile, Russian Backfire bombers are being carved up in Russia, their destruction similarly verified by satellites and by monitoring and inspection teams.

As with all the museums I’ve visited in the USA, the tour guides give a well prepared guided tour and actively seek out and speak to visitors – you really get your money’s worth (entrance and the coach tour of the AMARC totalled under $15).

After returning from the AMARC tour, spend some more time walking around the Pima exhibits…

…before returning to the hotel and prepare to leave tomorrow. I intend to be on the road as close to dawn as possible, heading north east towards Springerville (where I‘ve been before). I was hoping to ride the 191 – my favourite road in the USA so far – but it’s closed by a forest fire :(… I’m told that the next road over is pretty good too, so I’ll be giving it a go…

rapiti · 06-01-2004, 07:24 PM

Reason enough to be there. Great photos! Stay hydrated as you work your way North.

ebbo · 06-02-2004, 05:31 AM

Hi Mike, what a great trip! This is the best travelogue I have ever read, top pictures too. Keep it coming Mike, but take care of yourselfâ€¦

Martin

PeeBee · 06-02-2004, 04:11 PM

I'm a humble traveller from Europe who stumbled upon this forum to exchange info on the recently acquired KTM 950. Tonight at 8 o' clock I decided to check out what else there is to be found here.

It's past 1 a.m. now, and I don't know where to start, so I won't. Thank you, Mike

I now know what to do one day: ship my bike to the US and drive off. That has been a vague sort of plan for a long time, ever since reading the 'Zen-and the purpose of motorcycle maintenance' book. Seeing and reading this thread has made me a very determined biker.

MikeO · 06-03-2004, 10:03 PM

2nd June

I make an early start – it’s the only way to travel at this time of year in Arizona. I’m packed in the relative cool (it’s 67 º F even now) and on the road at sunrise – 0530 :eek

Interstate 10 (a road I keep running into as it crosses the entire USA ) is busy – I’m not the only one who wants to avoid the heat of the day. I make good progress, though, and I’m soon on the 191 heading north, climbing towards the Apache Sitgreaves Forest. My ideal plan would be to remain on the 191 as it heads north through the forest, but the road’s still closed due to a forest fire and a cleanup operation after a fuel spillage. I later find it’ll probably re-open tomorrow

:…

Still, I manage to retrace my steps through the very twisty and picturesque 78, into the New Mexico and the Gila Forest…

Real bikers do at least 200 miles before breakfast. After 207, I stop in the small town of Glenwood. The sign…

…advertising the best breakfast in town, seems paltry recommendation in a town this small

– but they do a great breakfast, with a killer chilli omelette. I meet up with 3 other riders at breakfast…

Dean, Les & Joe. Dean lives down in Mexico, whilst Les & Joe live in Oregon. They met up in Tucson and are heading north. We ride up to the filling station together and I say a brief hello to Trevor…

…who is riding a Vermont registered GS he bought 2 weeks ago – he loves it

I say my farewells and head off up the 180, which is a pleasant enough ride, passing something weird with a trailer on the way :eek

…before passing through Alpine again (I was here on 7th April) – I stop for a coffee at the Bear Wallow Café, but neither Jolynn nor Talic are serving today, so I move on. I continue north, riding through the town of Snowflake (the temperature is 97 º F :P), eventually entering the town of Holbrook at 1330. Holbrook is on the (now largely vanished) Route 66. It’s hot (but not as hot as yesterday in Tucson) and I’m tired. I stop in a little ‘mom & pop’ motel for $27 per night (including tax!).

Route 66 was at the height of its popularity in the fifties and sixties – the same goes for the Holbrook Inn…

I was considering staying at the Tepee Motel…

…which seems to be part motel, part museum, as each Tepee has a classic car of a different decade (although many are from the 50s, when the place was built) parked in front…

…but, alas, it was not to be – they didn’t open until 1500 and I needed to cool down now…

Nearby, other, less well preserved, examples of old Detroit metal rust away gently, awaiting a buyer…

No internet connection here, so I have a snooze, write up my journal and will go out in search of somewhere to eat after sundown. 375 good miles today

Oh, in case you were wondering, the best place to get chilled water in Tucson is in the fridge of Room 131 of the Hampton Inn. That’s where I left my CamelBack…

05-31-2004, 04:31 AM	#215
PhilSpace The Gov Joined: Feb 2002 Location: Springfield, VA Oddometer: 34,127	Damn Mike, it's not HOT there yet - 93 is a cool spring day! When I lived out there I remember it hitting well above 100 in August, with warnings being posted about tire tempratures and reducing speeds. Suggest you head north and hit the high ground where it is much cooler and the roads are at least a little twisty, if you are going to stay on the slab in the summer in southern AZ or NM, just ride at night and drink beer during the day. PS - there is a night route from Tucson south down toward Nogales which has some nice twisties . __________________

06-01-2004, 08:49 AM	#220
Eurobiker Vintage Cat Herder Joined: Apr 2002 Location: Albuquerque, NM Oddometer: 5,704	Mike, If you're heading east to NM and Albuquerque, I can put you up for a night or two. Could probably even muster the local ADVrider Brethern for __________________ Mark If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

06-01-2004, 06:59 PM	#221
MikeO ^OP Wage slave... Joined: Jul 2002 Location: Scarning, Norfolk, today... Oddometer: 6,321	1st June So the Memorial Day holiday is over - I’ve been holed up in my (very comfortable & frostily air conditioned) room in the Hampton Inn at Tucson, waiting for the mayhem which is an American public holiday to subside. I ride over to the Pima Air Museum – the whole reason I’ve ventured this far south into the Arizona desert… A word of warning – if you don’t have at least a passing interest in aeroplanes – move on, there’s nothing to see here… The entrance to the museum leads visitors through an arch, formed by the load bay of the huge Sikorsky Skycrane… They have a vast collection of exhibits, some stored in climate controlled hangars, like this beautifully restored B24 Liberator… …some stored under cover outside, like our old friend the SR71 Blackbird… …which shares its open-ended hangar with a very fast pilotless drone… Others are stored out in the full heat of the Arizona desert. It’s 107º F as I take these pictures… …the Lockheed Constellation – surely one of the most elegant looking piston driven airliners ever designed… …until the military got hold of it and converted it to an Electronic Warfare platform. There’s all sorts of stuff here, from the B47 – Strategic Air Command’s first all jet bomber… …to the Super Guppy, originally used to transport NASA rocket components and later to move parts of the Airbus… But the main reason I’ve come here (and delayed my visit until today) is that I want to visit the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC). This is basically an enormous storage facility for US Military aircraft. They have over 4400 aircraft here, from the old, like this F101 Voodoo… …to the new, like this B1 bomber… They store aircraft here (as you may remember airlines do with spare airliners) because the climate is ideal for the task. Each aircraft undergoes an incredibly thorough procedure before going into storage, and more than 20% of aircraft arriving here, fly out again one day… …there are hundreds of F16s… …and F4 Phantoms… as well as dozens of helicopters of all types. The facility also scraps aircraft. Some of the scrapping is to comply with the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) agreement. B52s are towed out into the open (in plain sight of Russian satellites) and literally chopped up – using a massive guillotine type crane… Here is the effect it’s had on a C141 Starlifter… Meanwhile, Russian Backfire bombers are being carved up in Russia, their destruction similarly verified by satellites and by monitoring and inspection teams. As with all the museums I’ve visited in the USA, the tour guides give a well prepared guided tour and actively seek out and speak to visitors – you really get your money’s worth (entrance and the coach tour of the AMARC totalled under $15). After returning from the AMARC tour, spend some more time walking around the Pima exhibits… …before returning to the hotel and prepare to leave tomorrow. I intend to be on the road as close to dawn as possible, heading north east towards Springerville (where I‘ve been before). I was hoping to ride the 191 – my favourite road in the USA so far – but it’s closed by a forest fire :(… I’m told that the next road over is pretty good too, so I’ll be giving it a go… __________________ All text & original photos © Mike Oughton 2004 - 2013 MikeO screwed with this post 07-31-2011 at 08:09 AM

06-01-2004, 07:24 PM	#222
rapiti IOR Veteran Joined: Mar 2003 Location: On the island Oddometer: 1,892	Reason enough to be there. Great photos! Stay hydrated as you work your way North. __________________ ...its the best paint scheme that has ever been or ever will be on an Adv...-AussieRob

06-02-2004, 05:31 AM	#223
ebbo Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2003 Location: England Oddometer: 147	Hi Mike, what a great trip! This is the best travelogue I have ever read, top pictures too. Keep it coming Mike, but take care of yourselfâ€¦ Martin __________________ Martin Ebdon, England, R1200RT Orkney 2009 trip report

05-30-2004, 04:10 PM	#211
tod2 Appalachian Adventurer Joined: May 2003 Location: Coshocton, USA Oddometer: 108	Mike - The aircraft graveyard is fantastic. Hope you enjoy it! Not sure if they still do this, but they used to bring the old B52s there and chop them into pieces so the Russian satellites could photograph that they were being destroyed under some treaty. For something cool, try to book a tour of the observatory on Kitt Peak. The rule of thumb in AZ is that "higher is cooler." Mt Lemmon used to be a great ride. Not sure how it is now since most of the mountain burned up in a forest fire. There are some excellent dirt roads that go through the mountains south of Tucson. Plus there is a dirt road that goes up the back side of Mt Lemmon - I imagine that you can ride up that way and avoid the toll on the highway. Tod.

05-31-2004, 01:58 PM	#216
Mulekick 2.7 on Fu Man Chu Joined: Apr 2004 Location: Tradin' Nachtflug Rookie Cards Oddometer: 25,733	I will have to say I was more than a little suprised to see you heading south after Vegas.Philspace is right about it being a nice cool spring day at 93 degrees! But if I had my choice of areas to be riding in right now it would be somewhere a wee bit cooler,however the Sonoran landscape is something one should not miss.

05-31-2004, 09:49 PM	#219
Mercenary Mindless Savage Joined: Jan 2004 Location: Ft St John, BC Canada Oddometer: 869	(Ahem) WELL, if its the heat you are worried about, you could always come to northern Canada. We dont much worry about summer heat up here

06-02-2004, 04:11 PM	#224
PeeBee Giant leap for me! Joined: Jan 2004 Location: Amsterdam, Holland Oddometer: 559	I'm a humble traveller from Europe who stumbled upon this forum to exchange info on the recently acquired KTM 950. Tonight at 8 o' clock I decided to check out what else there is to be found here. It's past 1 a.m. now, and I don't know where to start, so I won't. Thank you, Mike I now know what to do one day: ship my bike to the US and drive off. That has been a vague sort of plan for a long time, ever since reading the 'Zen-and the purpose of motorcycle maintenance' book. Seeing and reading this thread has made me a very determined biker. __________________ After 8 KTM's hell froze over: BMW C600 Sport

06-03-2004, 10:03 PM	#225
MikeO ^OP Wage slave... Joined: Jul 2002 Location: Scarning, Norfolk, today... Oddometer: 6,321	The Best Place to get Chilled Water in Tucson... 2nd June I make an early start – it’s the only way to travel at this time of year in Arizona. I’m packed in the relative cool (it’s 67 º F even now) and on the road at sunrise – 0530 :eek Interstate 10 (a road I keep running into as it crosses the entire USA ) is busy – I’m not the only one who wants to avoid the heat of the day. I make good progress, though, and I’m soon on the 191 heading north, climbing towards the Apache Sitgreaves Forest. My ideal plan would be to remain on the 191 as it heads north through the forest, but the road’s still closed due to a forest fire and a cleanup operation after a fuel spillage. I later find it’ll probably re-open tomorrow :… Still, I manage to retrace my steps through the very twisty and picturesque 78, into the New Mexico and the Gila Forest… Real bikers do at least 200 miles before breakfast. After 207, I stop in the small town of Glenwood. The sign… …advertising the best breakfast in town, seems paltry recommendation in a town this small – but they do a great breakfast, with a killer chilli omelette. I meet up with 3 other riders at breakfast… Dean, Les & Joe. Dean lives down in Mexico, whilst Les & Joe live in Oregon. They met up in Tucson and are heading north. We ride up to the filling station together and I say a brief hello to Trevor… …who is riding a Vermont registered GS he bought 2 weeks ago – he loves it I say my farewells and head off up the 180, which is a pleasant enough ride, passing something weird with a trailer on the way :eek …before passing through Alpine again (I was here on 7th April) – I stop for a coffee at the Bear Wallow Café, but neither Jolynn nor Talic are serving today, so I move on. I continue north, riding through the town of Snowflake (the temperature is 97 º F :P), eventually entering the town of Holbrook at 1330. Holbrook is on the (now largely vanished) Route 66. It’s hot (but not as hot as yesterday in Tucson) and I’m tired. I stop in a little ‘mom & pop’ motel for $27 per night (including tax!). Route 66 was at the height of its popularity in the fifties and sixties – the same goes for the Holbrook Inn… I was considering staying at the Tepee Motel… …which seems to be part motel, part museum, as each Tepee has a classic car of a different decade (although many are from the 50s, when the place was built) parked in front… …but, alas, it was not to be – they didn’t open until 1500 and I needed to cool down now… Nearby, other, less well preserved, examples of old Detroit metal rust away gently, awaiting a buyer… No internet connection here, so I have a snooze, write up my journal and will go out in search of somewhere to eat after sundown. 375 good miles today Oh, in case you were wondering, the best place to get chilled water in Tucson is in the fridge of Room 131 of the Hampton Inn. That’s where I left my CamelBack… __________________ All text & original photos © Mike Oughton 2004 - 2013 MikeO screwed with this post 07-31-2011 at 08:10 AM

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