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A detailed Journey Report to come.... Three of these bikes were attacked by road gremlins while in the Durango, Co area... thankfully, Mo was guarding the Strom, which escaped mechanical issues: My friend Paul's BMW suffered the worst (pics in yesterday's report) but Dave's rear brake went AWOL, and so did the rubber on Ron's tire.  We're thinking a gremlin did burnouts while we slept: Webmaster Note: Gremlin Bells are cheap insurance! Because of the dreaded shape of the Yamaha Royal Star's rear tire, we had no choice but to seek a replacement before starting the 500 mile ride back to the “Valley of the Sun” (or “Valley of the Sunbird” for some of us!).  Thankfully, we were able to find a tire in stock at a dealership in nearby Farmington, NM: After pulling into the Service bay, Ron was issued a citation for “failure to frequently inspect tire wear while traveling”: Ok, so he didn't get a ticket, just a warning.  Mr. LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) coincidently was there to drop off his police model Harley for it's 5,000 mile service.  As I scanned over the bike I couldn't help but notice one of the high tech mounting systems being employed by the police force: Zip ties??!! Geez, that's what I use! WOO-HOO! While we waited for Ron's bike, Russ decided he would step inside the Harley-Yamaha-Suzuki dealership and get a cup of coffee.  He returned with a cup “Biker Brew”: No comment from me on that one... but I did wonder if the urinals were plastered with a black and orange “HD” since absolutely everything else in the darn place was tagged such. We decided to go eat while waiting for Ron's bike, and while entering the restaurant I saw a rather odd statement on the front door: Back to the stealership – I mean dealership - where soonthereafter Mr. LEO pulled in once again on his replacement Harley... his boots, bike, and uniform covered in oil and smoke pouring from the bike.  It appeared the tune-up on his replacement didn't go too well: With Ron's new tire mounted, we were back on the road and finally heading south towards Arizona.  Since I was elected to lead, we took every back road possible, of course, and completely avoided the interstate.  Most of the roads were “BIA” roads (Bureau of Indian Affairs) located within the Navajo Reservation where we saw more livestock and animals than people.  While on BIA-13 we passed a particular landmark that is quite interesting called “Shiprock”: Shiprock stands at 7,178 feet and does so in stark contrast to the surrounding desert.  The area is remote, isolated, and there are no signs or obvious promotions of the rare site, which is a result of the magma cores of volcanoes that erupted a while back.. as in 30 million years ago.  A close up of Shiprock: A view from nearly 7,000 feet: We stopped for lunch on the Hopi Reservation, which was the only place we could find within a 75 mile radius.  There were two older gentlemen at the cafe's entrance speaking in their native language while tumbleweed blew over the road and impoverished canines were ran loose... I felt like I was in a foreign country. Of course, a stop for another National Park Passport Stamp: When riding in a group, I don't stop and take as many photos as I'd prefer mainly because it's not easy (and sometimes safe) to pull several bikes off the road.  Since the unexpected tire change caused us to get a late start we were already challenging the sun's setting with our successful pass through higher elevations where large four legged critters (elk) are known to romp roadside.  All that said, the remainder of the ride is photo-less.  I slipped back into my garage under a dark star filled sky and what felt like 200 degrees (snowbirds don't belong in the desert heat!). A map of today's route, most of which was spent on “BIA” roads (Bureau of Indian Affairs): The combined GPS totals (current plus from when I accidentally erased the total) = 14,858 miles AGirl   If you wish to receive direct emails from me whenever a new Journey Report has been posted than simply click: This Link

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