We knew New Year’s Day would be a busy one for us. We left the nice hotel with the television winter scene and headed with the truck to Alamo, Nevada. We picked Alamo because it was only a short way north of Las Vegas with it’s associated madness as they get ready for the new year partygoers. I selected one of the few hotel options online because of the good reviews. Ha. We arrived at the Sunset View Inn at, um, well, sunset. Which was funny because although the hotel faces west the sun had long ago set behind the nearby mountain range which I’m pretty sure would ensure that it would be impossible to ever see a sunset from that location. We found out we weren’t very far from the famous Area 51 military site. I suppose that explained the decor of room number 15, our home for the night.

Deby was not really too sure about spending the night there….

This guy was staring at us all night

I thought it was a clever coat rack but the sign indicated otherwise. One of the first order of business when checking into a hotel is to locate an outlet to plug in our phones and other electronic gizmos. I was glad to see the Sunset View Inn provided an outlet just under the bed for us to use.

I assumed the shag carpeting and bedding were not really that flammable so I plugged in my charging station and made a mental note to pay attention to evidence of smoke.

We thought there would be a restaurant nearby but we found out it was closed. The closest place to buy something was the gas station a mile back on the highway. Ok, only a couple of days into the trip and dinner would consist of gas station food and pork chops. (inside joke for long time followers).

Deby didn’t seem to mind too much.

I was sort of hoping the stars painted on the ceiling would glow at night, Deby hoped they wouldn’t. They didn’t. Dang.

The night was actually uneventful and we survived without being abducted, well, as far as we know. We got a reasonably early start on New Year’s Eve with the first stop at a truck stop along the highway with a greasy food restaurant. The colorful tabooed and pierced server recommended the corn beef hash and eggs. Usually our favorite, preferably not directly from the can. These were from the can but it wasn’t bad at all.

I took one last picture of the truck before we drove it the last few miles to Chuck’s house. We arrived at Chuck’s house in Henderson, NV shortly after 10:00 in the morning. I backed into his driveway and we immediately started unloading the motorcycles and gear.  I was amazed at the pile of luggage that would be strapped onto the two motorcycles. As usual, it felt like we brought too much stuff. We probably did.

I managed to remember to take one picture of Chuck with Deby. Thanks buddy!

I met Chuck through the Northwest Norton Owners club. We both like motorcycles, he has a R1250GSA almost exactly like mine in his garage. He also has a Norton Commando that is currently undergoing restoration. We both hail from the Midwest, Minnesota for Chuck and Wisconsin for me. Oh, he also plays guitar and bass, and we both worked at the Boeing company where he is set to retire in a few months.

It took awhile to get the bikes loaded and sorted out. It was a breeze to return the rental truck at a huge U-Haul center near Chuck’s house. His neighborhood is packed with new houses and there is new construction all around the area so I assume a lot of moving trucks end up there.

The next stop was to visit an old friend Jesse James. Jesse is one of those bigger than life guys who I met when I was playing a lot of music around Seattle. Jesse was a music promoter of sorts who just seemed to know every blues musician in town and helped many of them get gigs. Jesse is a snowbird spending the winters in Needles, NV in his huge RV. Since we were going to be in the area it seemed like we couldn’t just ride our motorcycles past without stopping.

Jesse was a long time motorcycle rider and mechanic and is an expert on all things motorcycle related. We hug out for a while and caught up. He showed off one of his two e-bikes that he uses to get around nowadays. We invited him to join us and some other friends for a New Years Eve dinner but he wasn’t feeling well and asked for a rain check. Great to see you Jesse!

Being a holiday, we decided to have a hotel booked ahead of time in Lake Havasu, AZ. We checked into the swanky London Bridge Resort hotel right next to the London bridge. The story of the bridge is really interesting and you can read about it here: https://www.golakehavasu.com/london-bridge

The bridge was imported by Robert P. McCulloch, Sr. of McCulloch chainsaw fame and re-construction was completed in 1971. He had a vision of turning the area into the tourist mecca it is today. This bridge holds some personal significance for me because in 1976 only a few years after the bridge was completed, the band I was playing in was booked to play at the only live music bar in town for 6 nights. This was our first “road” gig and required all the band mates to quit our jobs and commit to being professional musicians. It was a huge leap of faith that lasted about 4 years. Some time ago I made a photo montage of my time with that band if you are interested in wasting some time click HERE. 

These hotel carts really come in handy for moving our stuff around. Why do we have so much?

Here is a good picture I took of the bridge all lit up for the holidays. In 1977 there was nothing here now it’s filled with hotels and restaurants.

I said it was a busy day right? Well, it wasn’t over. I really really wanted to get a picture of our friends we met for dinner in Lake Havasu City. We spent the evening with our friends Kim and Kerry. Deby and I met them over a decade ago on a group motorcycle ride in the Northwest. We more or less teamed up together on the ride looking out for each other and helping where needed. We’ve kept in touch on and off over the years and I recently found out they are now digital nomads living out of their large camper trailer. They were camped only a few miles away so we arranged the visit. We had a fantastic time laughing and telling stories over dinner and a few beers. Kim is an IT worker and Kerry remotely runs a retail business in California. We geeked out on technology, investing and business topics and the details of their huge solar array they use for power. They are two amazing women who I hope we cross paths with again soon. Why didn’t I get a picture????

Whew, this post is getting longer than expected….. hang in there.

Deby and I managed to stay up until 11:00 local time and watched the ball drop in Austin, TX on TV before calling it a night. On new years day we rode to Tucson to stay at our favorite hotel that I was able to book for free with some Marriott reward points. Deby woke up not feeling well (no, we didn’t drink that much). This was a cough, headache, stuffy nose…. oh oh.

We checked into the beautiful hotel and Deby went right to bed. I brought her a little food but she slept into the night. The next day she was worse. I checked at the front desk and they said we could stay another night but this time I would have to pay for it. Ouch, but worth it. She basically stayed in bed all of the next day trying to shake the cold or whatever it was. Oddly enough, I still felt ok and spent the day walking around and reading books. I took advantage of the extra day to do some bathtub laundry and hung it to dry by the window.

Deby joined me at our favorite spot for some wine and a bowl of soup. She didn’t last long and we didn’t finish the wine.

Finally on Wednesday January 3rd we decided to make the run into Mexico. Our plan was for a relatively short ride from Tucson to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico where we had a reservation at a modern downtown hotel.

That night was the worst. She was up often in the night coughing and hacking. I went to the nearby farmacia and bought a bag full of cold remedies recommended by the pharmacist. Our friend Don, who we hope to visit in Puerto Vallarta recommended something called Antiflu-Des that is available in Mexico. I bought that and some cough syrup that still has codine in it, that seemed to help.

The city of Hermosillo is the capital of Sonora and it seems like a nice city our downtown hotel was more of a business center type of place. Deby thought she had enough energy to make the 1.5 hour ride to a place called Can Carlos Nuevo Guayamas. We had stayed there a few times before so we booked a room for two nights at the Marinaterra Hotel and Spa. I took this picture off the patio on our 6th floor room.

Thanks to relatively good weather Deby was able to spend time in the sun at the pool soaking up the warmth and letting the Antiflu do it’s job. She’s getting a lot of rest and starting to feel a little better so we decided we could make the 5 hour ride tomorrow to the next major city. Or at least that is the plan for now.

Lots more to come, I’m sure.

Donn and Deby