imported post
The Mike Kramer Odyssey
8/10/2011
Well, I have had a great time the last 3 days. I sent Mike a plane ticket for Phoenix and asked him to "get out of Dodge" for a while to see something new out West.
Managed to calf rope him and force him ride my "new to me, ST1100" up the Goldfield Mine road which is called "Apache Trail". It leads up to a small ghost town, tourist Mecca call Tortilla Flat. We wandered around on foot taking pictures, buying stuff we "just can't leave there" :ROFL:
We stopped at the Goldfield Mine ghost town on the way up, 6:30 AM when we got there :shock:, so picture taking was about all we could do. Enjoyed that for a spell, and then we hit the road again headed north until we reached Tortilla Flat.
Still way too early for Tortilla Flat to wake up:sleepy:, so we sipped on a cold soda can's contents :blackstuff: and wiped the sweat from our brows. Jeez, don't it ever cool down in the Arizona Desert?? :cooldj: 8:15 AM and we are wet wet wet….
Look at the GPS and decide that we will just go on and bypass Tortilla Flat and take in Roosevelt Dam, then hook it on down to Globe, Az.
Well, about 5 miles out of Tortilla Flat the pavement ends, and a wash boarded out dirt/sandy road is all you have. Followed that for about 2 miles with an elapsed time of 15 minutes, came upon a tourist turnout with a very nice paved parking lot and bathroom facilities. We took a lot of pictures there, sat in the shade and did some hard thinking about "should we go on farther up this road?"
More GPS work (sure glad mine was battery operated), and took note that another 27 miles of wash boarded road lay in front of us. We looked at each other and agreed that "this is far enough", turn around and go back.
Back to Tortilla Flat and low and behold, there are people wandering around and the restaurant is open for business!!! We drank a full gallon pitcher full of ice water and ordered up a couple of "our specialty of the house" hamburgers. Those burgers came on a big platter layered with fries all over, condiments stacked on one end, and a 1 inch thick patty stuck between layers of cheese and BIG buns on the other end.
An hour later, after we managed to get all of that down, we wandered down to the Trading Post and came up with some more trinkets….. we both got a ball cap labeled with Tortilla Flat, AZ (of course).
Headed on back down south and now the Goldfield Mine Museum is open for business. We walk around for another hour and then wind our way back home. It was a wonderful day, full of surprises and lots of things neither of us had seen. Even though I have been up/down that road several times. It is always new and different because of the way the light rays strike the hill surfaces, or the clouds, or a fresh sunrise's reddish colors, or……………
Today, we messed around a bit, Mike picked out a route to go home, packed up his bags and made ready to wander north. I made him keep the key to the ST1100 in his pocket, gave him a copy of the title with my wording on it that he has permission to ride the bike anywhere, a copy of the insurance policy and then I booted him out of here :ROFL:
I had a wonderful time, and I just wish he could have stayed longer. But at least, I got almost 3 consecutive days of visiting down with him.
Mike,
You have a safe ride, make sure you keep your promise and update us every night as to where you went and what you saw.
The Mike Kramer Odyssey
8/10/2011
Well, I have had a great time the last 3 days. I sent Mike a plane ticket for Phoenix and asked him to "get out of Dodge" for a while to see something new out West.
Managed to calf rope him and force him ride my "new to me, ST1100" up the Goldfield Mine road which is called "Apache Trail". It leads up to a small ghost town, tourist Mecca call Tortilla Flat. We wandered around on foot taking pictures, buying stuff we "just can't leave there" :ROFL:
We stopped at the Goldfield Mine ghost town on the way up, 6:30 AM when we got there :shock:, so picture taking was about all we could do. Enjoyed that for a spell, and then we hit the road again headed north until we reached Tortilla Flat.
Still way too early for Tortilla Flat to wake up:sleepy:, so we sipped on a cold soda can's contents :blackstuff: and wiped the sweat from our brows. Jeez, don't it ever cool down in the Arizona Desert?? :cooldj: 8:15 AM and we are wet wet wet….
Look at the GPS and decide that we will just go on and bypass Tortilla Flat and take in Roosevelt Dam, then hook it on down to Globe, Az.
Well, about 5 miles out of Tortilla Flat the pavement ends, and a wash boarded out dirt/sandy road is all you have. Followed that for about 2 miles with an elapsed time of 15 minutes, came upon a tourist turnout with a very nice paved parking lot and bathroom facilities. We took a lot of pictures there, sat in the shade and did some hard thinking about "should we go on farther up this road?"
More GPS work (sure glad mine was battery operated), and took note that another 27 miles of wash boarded road lay in front of us. We looked at each other and agreed that "this is far enough", turn around and go back.
Back to Tortilla Flat and low and behold, there are people wandering around and the restaurant is open for business!!! We drank a full gallon pitcher full of ice water and ordered up a couple of "our specialty of the house" hamburgers. Those burgers came on a big platter layered with fries all over, condiments stacked on one end, and a 1 inch thick patty stuck between layers of cheese and BIG buns on the other end.
An hour later, after we managed to get all of that down, we wandered down to the Trading Post and came up with some more trinkets….. we both got a ball cap labeled with Tortilla Flat, AZ (of course).
Headed on back down south and now the Goldfield Mine Museum is open for business. We walk around for another hour and then wind our way back home. It was a wonderful day, full of surprises and lots of things neither of us had seen. Even though I have been up/down that road several times. It is always new and different because of the way the light rays strike the hill surfaces, or the clouds, or a fresh sunrise's reddish colors, or……………
Today, we messed around a bit, Mike picked out a route to go home, packed up his bags and made ready to wander north. I made him keep the key to the ST1100 in his pocket, gave him a copy of the title with my wording on it that he has permission to ride the bike anywhere, a copy of the insurance policy and then I booted him out of here :ROFL:
I had a wonderful time, and I just wish he could have stayed longer. But at least, I got almost 3 consecutive days of visiting down with him.
Mike,
You have a safe ride, make sure you keep your promise and update us every night as to where you went and what you saw.
I'm sorry guys, forgot the pictures.
