Goin’ South–A female tale from the desert of the Southwest USA Pt.6

Adventure took shape from my childhood dreams about aliens and space monsters, space ships and space travel. I discovered only a few miles from TorC lay VLA or Very Large Array, a radio astronomy observatory located on the Plains of San Augustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, The movie Contact, with Jody Foster was filmed here and I was enamored by the towers then and here suddenly was the opportunity for me to see the array in real time. I had to go and was NOT disappointed. It’s really crazy sitting out here in the middle of nowhere, but after viewing a short educational film I was able to walk among the arrey and shoot a few shots. Not only was it good for my curiosity, but for my health too as I walked off the delicious lemon pie I had just eaten the town of Magdelena.

Magdelena–awesome Lemon pie with fresh whipped cream!!

Old building in Magdelena that looks to have had some remodeling.

On to visit VLS…very large space

They look like comical aliens.

But close up they truly look HUGE.

Me and the VLA

And the VSA…or very small array as I dubbed it, right down the highway in Pietown.

Anyplace called Pietown, can’t be bad!! I had eaten my pie a bit earlier and a good think since the Pie-o-neer was closed.

The next few hours were spent making my way north to Chinle though patch after patch or road construction. I ended up at one for several minutes chatting with a Native American who told me all about his Indian motorcycle, which made me chuckle…an Indian with an Indian. Anyway, I was feeling pretty cocky on my big ol’ 1250 and when they finally let us go ahead, I blasted off only to be passed by my native friend in a beater pickup going at least 90mph. Suddenly, I no longer so HOT…now I was only luke warm.

Indian country…my imagine soared!

Chinle is at the entrance of Canyon De Chelly NM. I didn’t go and see the park only because finding a room there was hassle enough. It was major slammed with tourists and I decided to just get some rest and dinner and get out early to ride the Mokee Dugway, a fun little road one encounters as you ride 261 to Natural Bridges National Park. The Mokee Dugway is an odd road that is all dirt except for the paved hairpin corners. I was told that a mining company asked for state help with the road and the state said they would pave the corners if the mining company would do the rest. They of course promised and then promptly went bankrupt leaving only the state paid corners paved. Don’t know if it’s true, but it makes for a good tale and an even better road! The vistas were awesome!

The view went on for miles!

I was determined to go to all the way to Torrey and had reservations that I had made the day prior. I stayed at the Capitol Reef Inn before and was quite content, so was looking forward to the quiet starlit night and the hot tub! It became my mantra as I rode. While riding I saw several other motorbikes along the way, but one in particular found its way ahead and behind me as we played road tag. We stopped at the bridge crossing over the Colorado River and chatted. He was riding a nice 650 Vstrom that had seen some mud! As the story went, Ben was doing some solo adventure riding when he buried it to the swing arm in mud, breaking off one of his hard bags in the process. He spend the better part of the day, freeing the bike, repairing the bag and getting back on to the road. He remained in good humor although he was spent, covered in mud but still smiling. We talked and then leap-frogged each other to Torrey only to discover that he couldn’t get a room anywhere due to a big BMW Sporttouring group taking up most of the rooms. We parted ways, exchanged info and I headed to my motel. Upon arrival, I discovered that they had overbooked and I had lost the bed having arrived after whoever was now in my room! I decided to keep riding although it was nearly 5ish and I was really looking forward to riding over the Grand Staircase. Hwy 12 is probably another in my top 10 of roads, in beauty, curves and flat out fun. I checked for rooms along the way but alas there were none. I arrived in Escalante at dark, tired and road weary from fighting cows grazing near the roadside in all the open range country. NO ROOMS…nooooo say it isn’t so!!!

Near Natural Bridges NP

My friend Ben

Look at that gorgeous roadway!

Riding through Capitol Reef, I met a group of Beemer riders heading to the Sporttouring meet. I had a fun ride with these guys!

The awesome Hwy 12…one of my top 10 motorcycle roads between Torrey and Escalante!!

Sunset on the top o’ the world…unbelievable!!

Coming into sunset…lovely!

Not really in focus, but fun nevertheless.

There was an art festival in Escalante, so I was out of luck. I begged one proprietor to allow me to sit in the lobby all night as I just couldn’t go any farther and knew that the closer I got to Bryce or Zion, the less chance there would be to find a room. The elderly women in the Prospector Motel, called a friend who happened to have a converted chicken coop that was vacant. I grabbed it!!

It ended up totally fortuitous, as the place was cute and comfortable, but this was discovered after I convinced myself that it wasn’t the Bates Motel. Found down a gravel drive, the owner, in a bold cowboy hat, stood along the road side to guide me in. I parked and realized it was nearly 9pm and I had not eaten. He quickly provided me with left-over pizza, a fresh-from-the-garden tomato and peach. I was quite content. The only downside to my coop was no bathroom, but there was one across the orchard complete with a shower. I was in for the night.