Days 150 - 152 Flagstaff - Tucson - El Paso - Terlingua Ghost Town

I had planned to leave Flagstaff early in the morning. I woke up at around 6:30 and looked out of the window. No chance for early take off. It was dark and according to my phone way too cold. Around -4°C. So I ate my breakfast (couple of slices of pizza leftovers from previous evening) and packed my gear without any rush. So at around 8 it was light and only -2°C. After a while I was riding in the middle of snow. That reminded me of Finnish summer.

The road through state park was lovely. Beautiful sceneries, pine trees, sunshine and snow. Fortunately not on the road. That would have been a bit too difficult for me.

I managed to stay off the highways almost all the way to Tucson where I had a tent space place settled. Actually I was staying in Raven's home but she was somewhere working. Her friend, another traveler, Carmel was there to take care of Harry the Gingercat - absolutely adorable kitten who even has his own Facebook-page. Carmel gave me good tips concerning my route to El Paso.

I had put points to maps.me to stay on my planned route. But again I either missed a turn or the app was thinking I would love to take gravel road. So I turned back. I looked at a paper map Jacob (my host in Las Vegas) had given to me. There seemed to be a paved road my navigator for some reason didn't want me to take. I took it anyway and soon found out a reason. I ended up to a huge gate with a sign:"Military area. Trespassers will be shot". Okay, I made up that shooting part. Main thing was that I couldn't continue that road.

I had to turn back again. I got a  little concerned about the fuel - as typical. I tried to ride as light as possible as I honestly don't know how long range I've got. I tend to fuel every 100 miles just to be sure. That time I rode 129 miles. 

In the evening I ended up in El Paso. My hosts for the night were Richard and Mary Beth. Rich is a retired "drug smuggler huhter" i.e. he has been working as a helicopter pilot for DEA and Border Control etc. Mary Beth is a teacher and she'll retire next summer. They both ride motorcycles and their plan is to ride together to Alaska in the summer. As I was very tired after a long day on the bike I got to bed at around 10pm and slept all the way until 6:30. I think I really needed that.

In the morning Richard took me to Texas Visitor Center to get some maps. He even draw me a good route in one. And that route was really good. He said the last leg of my day is the prettiest motorcycle road in whole Texas. I wouldn't say it pretty but definitely it was the most breathtaking so far. And partly it felt like Rollercoaster ride. The hills and dells were so "sharp" and steep. Too bad Rosie isn't exactly the best bike to those roads. Anyway I enjoyed it a lot. The road followed Rio Grande. I cannot understand what so "grande" is in that. It's amazingly small to be so famous river.

Before dark I got to a Terlingua ghost town. Carmel had told me about a free camping ground there. I pitched my tent, walked to nearby restaurant to eat some Mexican food and got to my sleeping bag.

Before falling asleep I admired the sky. As the nearest city is about 100 miles away there's practically no disturbing lights around. You can't even imagine how different the sky looks like. All those little stars...