On the road: The trek to Tinfiny…

It was another broiler-hot day out of Ajo this morning, but it was an easy run…Arizona 85 south to Arizona 86, stay on 86 for about 100 miles, and a right turn on Arizona 386 for the twisty 14-mile climb up to Kitt Peak National Observatory.    The La Luz saga continues.  Gobi and me, we got some blogging to do.  Maybe a video or two.  We’ll see.  So will you.  And for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll find out soon enough.

The topic du jour:  Kitt Peak National Observatory, a gem of a destination and a seriously cool place.  And, it’s a great ride to get there.

Kitt Peak is up on a ridgeline at roughly 6700 feet, about 50 miles southwest of Tucson.   On our ride there today, the skies were clear and the visibility was amazing.   Once again, it’s best left to the photos to do the talking…

A glorious set of twisties, with Kitt Peak as the piece of cheese at the end.
Impressive credentials!
No tigers?
That’s Baboquivari Peak on the horizon, the holiest peak for the Tohono O’odham Native Americans.  Kitt Peak National Observatory is on their land.   The Tohono O’odham believe their creator resides on that peak.
The Case Western Reserve University telescope.  There are a lot of different telescopes on Kitt Peak.
This telescope dominates Kitt Peak. We could see it 30 miles away as we rolled across the desert floor.
We didn’t see a single one.  Seeing signs like this is a cool thing.
One of many cool and colorful explanations at various Kitt Peak observation points.  The views are impressive.

It’s Tucson tonight, and we should make Las Cruces by nightfall tomorrow.  I love these road trips.  The ride today was awesome, but hey, they all are.

I’m gathering my thoughts on the Zero electric motorcycle.   It was a fun day and a fun ride, that day last week at Art’s Douglas Motorcycles dealership.  It’s way different than any motorcycle I ever rode, and it’s also way different than CSC’s City Slicker.  They’re both good bikes, I loved riding both, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses.   The differences are driven by what each company designed their bike to do.  Different missions, like we used to say in the Army.

Watch for the Slick vs. Zero blog.   It’s coming.  I’ve been thinking deep thoughts about both bikes, and sometimes when I think really deep thoughts on any topic, I can’t think for days afterward. I’m in that mode now, so I’m simply enjoying the trek to Tinfiny.  La Luz, Gobi, Tinfiny…I know it’s confusing and I’ll explain what it all means soon enough.

Stay tuned!