Gophers and Cheese

I woke up just before 6am on Monday 3/11.  I took a shower, packed my things, and loaded up the bike for the last time.  I found yet another good place to eat and had breakfast at US Egg .  The sunrise was beautiful as I pulled into the parking lot. I had the half & half for breakfast, which is half protein pancakes and half potato skillet.  Protein pancakes are a signature item of theirs and contain blueberries, granola, cinnamon, and almonds.  Everything was great. From there, I rode back to Buddy Stubb's Arizona Harley-Davidson and got there just before they opened at 8am.  I unloaded the bike and snapped some photos. After riding 3 of the 5 days in the rain, the bike was absolutely filthy.  I felt bad for whoever had to clean it.  It probably required an entire tube of chrome polish. According to the Google maps I've been posting for each day of the trip, I covered a total of 1,433 miles which (according to Googl...

From Apache Junction, I headed up to Tortilla Flat, AZ located in Tonto National Forest .  The road was extremely scenic and curvy with low speed limits, switchback curves, and one-lane bridges.  However, the pavement was like a washboard and I felt every bump.  It didn't matter - this ride was really the icing on the cake, a really nice end to a 5-day adventure. When you get to Tortilla Flat, there's a restaurant, and bar, and a couple of shops.  I had some prickly pear cactus gelato - phenomenal on a warm day.  I realize pink ice cream is not very badass but it was tasty and I wish I had ordered 2 scoops.   The road continues onto Roosevelt, AZ but it switches from paved to gravel and I heard it was not very motorcycle-friendly.  I wasn't planning to ride it but as it turns out, the road out of Tortilla Flat was washed out.  Cars and trucks could pass and I even saw I guy on an Can-Am ride through it (I wish I took a photo) but no 2-...

Sunday was my last full day in Arizona and the sun was finally shining.  I packed up the bike and headed into downtown Tucson to the historic Hotel Congress for breakfast at Cup Cafe . It's a cool old hotel (that is allegedly haunted) and the cafe had a copper penny floor and interesting wine bottle chandeliers. I ate at the bar.  I had the cast iron baked eggs (two eggs, ham, leeks, and Gruyère cheese, baked in cream, with fine herbs, hotel potatoes, and toast), which was absolutely awesome.  I have never had anything like it. If you haven't noticed, I have been finding some awesome food on this trip.  Some is luck but the combination of Yelp and a GPS makes finding the best food in a new place almost too easy. After breakfast, I headed north along some scenic roads towards Globe, AZ.  The sun was finally smiling on me and the high was supposed to be in the 60s F. I had to stop along the way and check in for my flight 24 hours out ...