Mike and Linda Ashcraft came out from Ohio over the Thanksgiving holiday for a motorcycle tour of Arizona. I joined them and another couple (the Murrays of Phoenix, previously from Ohio also) for the five day ride through the state.

Day 1 - Rode up the Carefree Highway to Wickenberg, up Yarnell Hill and in the back way, stopping for lunch in Prescott. After lunch we rode up over Mingus Mountain for a stop in Jerome, and then on to Sedona.

Day 2 - Had breakfast at the Sedona Airport, Mike and Jodell took an air tour of Sedona in a Waco Bi-Plane. We the rode up past Slide Rock to the top of the mountain in Oak Creek Canyon for a photo op. Ran into more family there by accident (Theresa, Alex, Nichole, and Theresa's boyfriend Dennis). We encountered snow and ice on the roadway, it was somewhat chilly. We cut across through Camp Verde, up across the Mogollon Rim (brutally cold for about an hour) and down to Payson for a hot chocolate break. Then we rode down past Lake Roosevelt and into Globe for the night.

Day 3 - Rode out of Globe towards Tucson, stopped at Bioshpere 2 for a tour, ended up eating lunch with a movie crew on location in the cafe. William Shatner (yep, Captain Kirk) stopped by our table to say "Hi Folks". He was very busy, yet cordial.....a nice guy taking time from his busy schedule to give some fans a thrill. Saddled back up, rode through Tucson and down to Sierra Vista.

Day 4 - Rode over to Bisbee to see the old copper mine, and the town. Made a side trip over to the Chiricahua National Monument (more cold and snow). Up near Wilcox we met up with a cow running down the road in the same direction we were travelling, damn thing cut across my lane and tried to broadside me (I was doing about 3 MPH by then), I goosed the throttle and the cow passed within inches of the back of my bike. We stopped for the night in Benson, and had a steak dinner.

Day 5 - Back home to Phoenix from Benson, through Tucson, and Florence Junction. During the five day trip, Mike estimated that we had ridden around 1100 miles. We saw plenty of great scenery, javelinas, coyotes, antelopes, Border Patrol agents, COWS........also had a lot of time (while riding) to reflect, while spending mornings and evenings socializing with the group and whomever we ran into. People across the state were friendly and helpful. It was an awsome trip through the state.

Great day, Great Start	Raring to go....
On the way	First stop Prescott
The Red Baron??
Moving to the high country.
	Starting to get cold....
REALLY getting COLD!!!!
	Biosphere 2
	Yo...Chuck.....
	Running through Tucson


I swear....nothing up my sleeve.	Banditos
	Latte.....
Three old dudes loitering	What?? No Latte in Florence??
Snow, again...