VLA, smoke, and wind

 VLA

Yesterday started out quite nice.  I woke up to cool temps, sunny skies, and nice conversation over coffee with the motel owner and a guy from Iowa who bought some land in the Magdalena, NM area.  After coffee, I took off down highway 60 west.  About 19 miles into the drive I came upon this site in the distance.

I was thinking, wow, cool. What the heck is this.  As it turns out, it is the Very Large Array, one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consisting of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration. I stopped by the visitor center and spent an hour and a half there. I found it to be fascinating.  They claim its for learning more about our universe but I have another theory.  I think its an Alien Invasion Early Warning system.

Smoke

After the visit to the VLA, I continued west on highway 60. I soon came to some small town with not much more than 2 or 3 buildings. I stopped at the gas station/convenience store and went in to buy a bottle of water. Inside was a small display case with Native American jewelery made by a Native American woman in town.  I liked a couple of bracelets and a necklace and so I purchased them and was again on my way.

I had heard that there was a pretty big fire burning across the border in Arizona and that earlier, highway 60 had been closed.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would be open by now. As I continued west, I started seeing a haze in the sky and soon began to smell smoke. Soon the smoke was thick enough that it was causing my eyes to burn. Luckily the smoke didn't last for too long, 45 minutes or so and then I arrived in Springerville, AZ where I stopped for a light lunch.

Smokey conditions

I stopped at a little cafe and bakery where I was the only customer. I ordered the Tuscan Chicken sandwich which was awesome and it came with a homemade chocolate chip cookie that was delicious. While I was there, I talked with the owner and her daughter. They were very nice and we discussed the fire that was burning not to far from their town.  They were under an evacuation watch, meaning that they needed to be prepared to evacuate if conditions forced the fire closer to town.  

Wind

As I left Springerville, I was in wide open country and there was a sign that stated, High Cross Winds possible, next 7 miles.  This sign popped up every 7 miles for a total of around 35 miles and the sign wasnt lying. There were high crosswinds blowing like nothing I have ever ridden in, on a motorcycle, before. I was only able to drive about 50 to 55 MPH and it took everything I had to keep the bike from getting blown off the road.  Then there were the big trucks going the opposite direction. When they would blow by, it caused what can only be described as a mini cyclone of wind. It swirled around me knocking me first one direction and then the other. It scared the crap out of me as I tried to keep from getting blown into the opposite lane followed by almost getting blown into the ditch.

the long windy road with smoke haze in the distance

Rugged Arizona Beauty

Finally I got out of the wind and into some extremely beautiful and rugged scenery in Arizona, as I passed through the Salt River Canyon. It started by a long, steep, winding drive down into the canyon and then long, steep, winding drive up and out the other side. Not only nice scenery but fun to drive on a motorcycle.

Copper mine in Miami, AZ

Cactus and the Arizona desert

 I am now at my sister and brother in law's second house in Gilbert, AZ. They are currently at their primary residence in Bismarck ND so I have the place all to myself. I will spend a week and a half here and work remotely.  I will also spend some time visiting my Dad and my son Cole, is flying in on Friday and will stay with me until Tuesday. I probably won't post many updates while I am stationary here in Gilbert but will start up again when I take off for California sometime in the middle of next week. Until then, I leave you with these quotes that my friends are kind enough to forward to me.

"the core of a mans' spirit comes from new experiences" ~Christopher McCandless~

And thanks to Drei for providing this from my favorite US President and person from history. ;)

"There are two things that I want you to make up our minds to: first, that you are going to have a good time as long as you live. I  have no use for the sour-faced-man. Next, that you are going to do something worthwhile, that you are going to work hard and do the things you set out to do." Theodore Roosevelt - 1898