The Unleaded / Diesel Sign

The Unleaded / Diesel Sign

We were on our way back to Tucson, Arizona, after putting on the Viva Bike Vegas cycling event in Las Vegas, aboard a very large, and a sluggishly slow Penske Truck.  A full tank had gotten us to Kingman, AZ and it was now time to feed the beast.

a slow mode of transportation

Marco and I were in the Penske and Richard was driving near us in a rental SUV.  Thankfully, Marco had taken on the duty of driving because that was the last thing I wanted to do.  My past experience driving one of these beasts was very shaky and involved two large California cities and driving aimlessly around trying to find overnight parking in the congestion of downtown San Francisco. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled about getting behind the wheel of a large truck again. 

Abandoned store/gas station in Kingman, AZ

Before filling the beast, Richard handed me the keys to the SUV and said I was free to take off if I wanted to.  So we switched vehicles, but I decided to wait and follow them to Phoenix where I would take a different road that would route me home north of Tucson. 

But we never got that far.  As they pulled out of the gas station and rolled about even with where I was parked near the highway entrance, the Penske sputtered to a stop in the middle of the road.  

Apparently, someone (and I am not naming any names here...) fed the beast with regular gasoline instead of diesel.  Science experiment #1 would tell us that they had just enough diesel gas in the line to make it to the highway entrance, not an inch closer.  

It was going to be a long night.

So we huddled up around how were going to handle our dilemma.  Eventually phone calls were made and we were told salvation would be parked behind us in 45 minutes.  Exactly 45 minutes our salvation stepped out of his wrecker and greeted us.  We knew that the evil gasoline would need to be sucked out of the tank and diesel put in its proper place.  We also knew that this was and going to be a costly mistake.  Little did we realize, that there is a safety mechanism that prevents gas to be siphoned from a Penske Truck.  The roughly 50? gallons would have to be extracted by a basic straw. 

As you can imagine this took awhile.  So I decided to use my free time to see what I could do with my camera.  I was surprised at the results.  With nothing better to do I found and conquered: 

1.  An abandoned store/gas station that was well hidden (and probably why it went out of business).  Interesting graffiti and the perfect Unleaded/Diesel sign that perfectly portrayed our journey's adventure.  The main building was accessible and led to an interesting exploration.

2.  Cool rustic fence line that caught the last rays of the sun.
3.  A dirt road that led to some beautiful sights.

4.  One last patch of sun as it moved into darkness

An unusual photo opportunity, but was kind of glad that it opened up.  

Photo of the Week - January 26 - February 1, 2015 - 'Rain in the Desert'

Photo of the Week - January 26-February 1, 2015
'Rain in the Desert'

Record rain fall pounded the Tucson area this week.  Much needed, but the search for stellar photos was horribly hampered.  Records fell as a Pacific storm unleashed 1.39 inches on Friday(January 30), and another 1.41 inches drenched the city on Saturday(as of 6pm). These 2 days would contribute about 1/4 of our yearly total. A drop in the bucket, for my previous residence in the rain forest of Sitka, Alaska.
U.S. Weather Data working overtime reveals Sitka with 87+ inches of rain a year with 33 inches of snow fall.  

Mt. Lemmon, rising above the city, would receive 5.4 inches of liquid sunshine (term borrowed from Washington).

This rare occurrence must be a sorry sight for those seeking the desert during Superbowl week, 2+ hours of pavement from Tucson.  

A unique, missed photo, of a coyote out my window, was my flash of nearly good fortune amongst dreary weather and a week of blood sugars that were not among my best, and were keeping me somewhat caged indoors.  I fired the camera 3 or 4 times as the coyote passed my point of view.  It would have been classic stuff since Canis latrans had some interesting behavior.  

Guess my camera settings had been 'nudged' as the photos were total black.   The setting might have worked had a lightening strike hit at the exact time as I had taken the photos. 

The rain began to fall on Friday and I watched it rain.  And rain.  And rain some more.  The water began to spill onto the deck and seep toward the house.  When water begins to create an H2O imprint in the desert then it is photo time.  I grabbed the camera and caught many photos including the one at the top of the page. 

Photo of the Week - Lion lookout over San Xavier del bac Mission, Grotto Hill, January 19-25

Photo of the Week -  Lion lookout over San Xavier del bac Mission, Grotto Hill,  January 19-25

This week I was on a requested photo shoot at the San Xavier del bac Mission (completed in 1797) in Tucson, Arizona.  The request was unique as I was asked to use a 35mm camera and take slide photos.  An artist in Kansas will use the slides to transpose onto a pot, so he can work on the intricate details of the mission's front facade, onto the pot.  

After I shot the mission with both the 35mm and digital camera (for myself), Eric Peffer and I strolled over to Grotto Hill, next to the mission, to get a few photos from a different location.  It was an interesting find to come across 2 lion statues, situated 1/2 way up the hill.  These two cast iron lions, patented in 1875 and installed in 1908, sit atop pillars at an entrance path to a religious grotto.  

Our timing on Grotto Hill was more luck than planned, but it was perfect.  We had arrived at the mission to catch sunrise for best lighting, and the best situation to improve our possibility of photos of the mission, sans people.  We had, somewhat, succeeded.  
We watched the sunrise teasingly wrap around Grotto Hill and inch toward the iron cast lions.  Once the rays reached one of the lions, our cameras fired away.  The magic moment came and quickly dissipated and we were off to capture Tubac, Arizona and San Jose de Tumacocari.  

Let's Do It! (Part 1)

Let's Do It!  (Part 1)

Roger back in his home state, via spandex

I had met Roger Burke many years ago and the early days of friendship included cycling, learning about the fine art of coffee (our biggest sponsor on our bicycle tour was a coffee company!) and spilling stories of our lives and the goals and dreams for the future.  Being linked via the velocipede,  I had even shared my aspiration to pedal across the country.  

Ready to roll, Tucson, Arizona 

I only knew a couple of key facts about the energetic and good humored guy.  Mainly, that he was a bicycle racer, who was not showing any discernible interest in loading a touring bicycle with 30+ pounds of stuff and moving at speeds that would be terrifyingly slow for a racer.

3 days after the  cycle America conversation, I  crossed paths with Rog and all I remember him uttering was 'Let's Do It'.
Whaaaaa?????   Is it time to go get more coffee?  My observation and analysis of this bicycle racer was 100% wrong.  We were going on a little road trip.  

Our first night was spent with the Woodridges in Willcox, AZ.  Their daughter got on her bicycle the next morning to join us. 

The summer was square upon us and we would have to fly out the door asap. The calendar allowed us about 11/2 months  to prepare for this rather detailed adventure. With a departure date of August 31st, we were asking for rather cold weather and extremely short days by the time we grinded up the Appalachians, but we were game, and we had already turned in our escape to adventure slips at work. 

A rather difficult camping spot on the cement-hard soil in a pecan orchard in Garfield, NM

As I write out this story, I am aware of the fact that I really should not be writing about bicycle tales from the back roads of America.  2 weeks before the journey, I had seriously injured my back at work.  Somewhere lost in the stubborn zone and sketchy optimism that it would all work out, I continued to plan and pack.  Training had stopped, abruptly.  Come August 31st I was planning on mounting my trusty 2 wheeled steed.    

Albuquerque, NM

It was about a week before the trip, amidst daily visits to the chiropracter and/or physical therapy sessions from hell,  I spilled the news of my disintegrating health, mixed with my resolve to buck up to my calendar plans.  At this point, I had not even ridden my bicycle with any of my substantial piles of bicycle gear, clothing, food, diabetes supplies, toiletries.  I did lighten the load in one area.  My wallet would be shockingly empty.  

A great sign in Oklahoma

August 27, 28, 29, 30........no riding.  Still in pain.......

August 31st, I got on my bicycle.  81+ miles to Willcox, Arizona. 

Part 2, coming. 

We had approximately 10 miles of dirt road (in Kansas).  Appropriate time to have bicycle issues.   

Photo of the Week - January 12-18, 2015

Photo of the Week - January 12-18, 2015

I woke up this morning (last day of the week) with no good options for a photo of the week(that were not a sunset photo).  I had posted a sunset photo last sunday.  Since last week was the first time I had posted a photo of the week I did not want to roll into the 2nd week and have to take a selfie, so I would have something to post. Much like the Seattle Seahawks football game today, what started off miserably, somehow, ended well.  I now have at least 5 photos to post in 1 spot.  

I chose the photo above, taken on my run today.  A few hours later, yet another amazing sunset blitzed the skies of SE Arizona.  My challenge is to 'NOT' post a sunset every photo of the week.  

Ok, I might slide some sunset photos at the end of this post.  

I have a wonderful running loop that circles around some beautiful desert and includes the 2nd highest paved road(?) in the Tucson, Oro Valley area.  The views are stunning.  I try  to be on the road, running south, near sunset.  This points me in the direction of the setting sun and hopefully great photos.  

I have 4 fences that I have to crawl through, over, under or to manage to get tangled in.  As I reached the 3rd fence, with my lack of photos to post, I was doing my best to be creative, and think 'outside the box'. 

At the fence line there are 6 pipes sitting on the desert floor.  I took a few photos, since I liked how the row of pipes lined up with a distant dirt road on another hill side.  In this setting, they were an unusual sight.   

I decided to check out the pipes, close-up, and continue the thought process.  A photo shot into the pipe, with the sun beaming through the cut slots and a conversion to black & white, and I had my photo of the week.  I like to have a creative angle.

So I have managed to attach 5 photos to my 'photo of the week'.  Beats a selfie.

Sunset today

Sunset today.  helicopter in the middle.  I caught the same(?) helicopter in a photo below

Kitt Peak National Observatory - Quinlan Mountains (from Today)

same(?) helicopter taken a few days ago 

Photo of the Week and the Story behind the Shot

Photo of the Week

And the Story behind the Shot

From the back yard - Catalina, Arizona

Ok, so I didn't have to work very hard for this shot, but yes, there was a bit of history tied in with this photo.  Since I seem to take a very healthy amount of  photos each week (instead of sleepwalking, I think I actually sleepphoto) and the fact that I need to become much more consistent with blog posts, I decided to share a photo a week and the background behind the photo.  If the photo tales are on the boring end then maybe I can develop better fiction writing.  :)

For the shot above I was totally in the wrong place at the wrong time.  My daily run usually puts me on a road that rises above the stunning area that I live in Catalina, Arizona.  Breathtaking views and incredible sunsets.  Absolutely, amazing colors splashed across the sky.  I stack the odds in my favor and try and run near sunset time and do the loop with feet plodding toward the setting orb.  

I decided to break my usual route and run the loop in the opposite direction.  Mistake #1.  I had also meandered out of the casa later than normal.  Mistake #2.  I had done some 180's on the run and noticed a reasonable sunset developing behind me, but it did not appear that it was going to be worth pulling out a camera.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), my trusty monster Canon SLR does not accompany me on runs so I am winging 'photography on the run' with a point and shoot, a crappy cell phone cam or if the heavens line up, a GoPro.  

My loop spills me onto a rarely used dirt road/trail for the last half of the run.  As I took the final turn home, the sky quickly darkening, I now headed toward the fading sunset.  Still weak, as sunsets go.

Heading down the home stretch and Mistake #1 and #2 began to scream my name.  The colors before me, were now unbelievable, although I did not have a clear view of the southern sky.  I was now kicking up dust as fast as I could.  I made it home, just in time, to fire off a few shots with the Canon and darkness swept over the desert.

Lights, Camera.......and a Gravesite

Lights, Camera.....and a Gravesite

Camels have played such an important role in Arabian culture that there are over 160 words for 'camel' in the Arabic language.  In my part of the world, I am only aware of 1 word to describe an even toed ungulate bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps: on its back.  As we rounded the first turn up Redington Pass Road, heading away from the lights and sounds of Tucson, Arizona Eric made reference to a possible camel sighting amid the cactus studded territory.  Sure enough, there stood a camel, in someone's yard.  

A great and a truly unique start to our little photo back road adventure.  I could have used a little movement from our humped friend, but will have to settle for a photo featuring his or her back quarters.  

Within the next couple of turns we encountered a gigantic rattle snake, a riveting golden sunset and a stunning backdrop opposite the fiery sky.  A panorama featuring our dirt road, weaving its way across the rolling landscape, set against a beautiful sky, lay before us.  The photographer side of us was in high gear.  Fortunately or unfortunately, the jeep was not in a higher gear as darkness settled in.

We had a late start so we knew that the lengthy journey from Tucson to San Manual and then to our home in Catalina would roll us into the late evening and a switch to photo's in the darkness.

Now shrouded in thick darkness, we pulled over to ‘experiment’ with our arsenal of camera’s, tripods, lenses, and a dose of creativity to blend it all together.  As Eric was setting up a tripod I explored our patch of Arizona back road.  Not much to explore, with a tiny headlight in hand, shooting a beam that was illuminating almost nothing, other than rocks and dirt within a few strides off of the dirt track.  I was rather surprised as my paltry beam resonated off of something that was not a rock or plant.   

About 30 feet down the hillside was a small cross, paying honor to Steven 1986-2010.  The chance of randomly finding a miniature cross, 30 feet down a hillside, in the dark, along a lengthy dirt road, is a little more than my mind can comprehend, so I won't kill any brain cells trying to wrap my mind around those odds.

A google session would lead me to a site called 'find a grave'.  Steven Everett Burrows was born in Fort Collins, Colorado and moved to Tucson when he was two.  He died in a rollover accident in Redington Pass.  It was noted that he was doing one of the things he loved best.

Steven Everett Burrows shrine/gravesite

Steven Everett Burrows - 1986-2010

A little light play near the gravesite