The ride into Flagstaff…

Good times, good riding, and good photos today, folks.  After a night in glamorous Salome, Paul, Duane, and yours truly had a great breakfast at Don’s Cactus Restaurant and Bar this morning.   We ran east to Aguila, and then turned north to head into the mountains.   The ride was glorious…and cold.   Real cold.   But hey, I had my heavy duty Tourmaster jacket and my motorcycle pants, and I was snug as a bug in a rug.   The RX3s were running strong and the riding was great.

We rolled into Prescott (those in the know pronounce it “presskit,” not “press cot”).   There’s a cool gun store on the way into town, and we stopped there to admire the inventory.   Fun times.

We had an awesome lunch in Prescott, and our server (Haley) gave us some good advice when she told us to order the Reuben.   The name made me think of my new good buddy Reuben from the Philippines who rode with us in Baja (that was a great ride, too).   The sandwiches were incredible.

Your probably wondering why I don’t have photos of any of this, and, well, truth be told, I was enjoying the day and the riding too much.   To quote Gus McCrae, we were alive and out in the world this morning.   It was glorious.   If you’re reading this and you have an RX3, you get it.  If you’re reading this and you don’t have an RX3…we can fix that!

After lunch we, grabbed AZ Hwy 89 and then 89A for a grand ride into the mountains, through Jerome, then through Sedona, and then on to Flagstaff.

My first photo of the day…a lookout above Jerome, looking north toward Cottonwood.

Here’s a photo of my good buddy Duane at that same spot.

Duane has the CSC tank bag, and it has a clear pocket on top for holding a map.  I think I need one of these…

Here are a few shots making the descent into Jerome.   Ah, the day was sharp.   The riding was what folks dream about.   The photos only capture a hint of just how incredible it was…

We stopped for gas in Cottonwood.  $2.69 a gallon.   I could get used to that.

While the guys were getting some water in the gas station store, I took this photo of my rear wheel and tire.   Some of Mexico is still clinging to that rim.   My bike has a little over 2500 miles on it now.   I think I am going to get a good 5000 miles out of that CST tire.   I’m liking this bike more every day.

The ride into Sedona…you can’t begin to imagine just how vibrant the colors out here are.

Here’s another shot while we were rolling through Sedona.   It was as if God took this area and said “turn up the saturation all the way.”  There’s no Photoshop magic here, boys and girls…this is what it really looks like.

And one more…the area is breathtakingly beautiful.

We stopped at Oak Creek before finishing the day in Flagstaff, and Duane grabbed this photo of Paul and yours truly.

Here’s a shot of my HJC carbon fiber helmet and Joe Rocket gloves.   I picked up one of the new HJC helmets Ryan brought in (it matches my Tourmaster jacket), and I’ll probably start wearing the new lid on my next ride.   I need a new pair of gloves, too.   Ryan’s on top of it.

I thought I’d share one last “goofing around” photo…a view of Oak Creek Canyon through the carbon fiber helmet…

And that’s about it for today.   The Overland Expo show starts tomorrow.  My presentation is at 10:00 a.m.   It’s going to be fun, and I’ll have a lot more photos for you tomorrow.   I hear this show is great, and the photo ops are super.   Tomorrow, folks…tune in at the same time and same place…