Sunday, May 20

• Riders: Scott, Paul, Eric & Don
• Distance:
  • Scott & Eric
  • Flagstaff, AZ to Van Nuys, CA
  • 495 miles
  • Paul & Don
  • Flagstaff, AZ to Tucson, AZ
  • 259 miles
• Highlights:
  • A hearty breakfast at Munds Park
  • Switching back and forth between the FJR and FZ-1 with Eric
  • Swimming in Eric’s backyard pool immediately upon arriving home

Well, it’s time to pack up and head for home. We scoot back to Munds Park for a hearty breakfast and lots of coffee before saying goodbye, splitting up and going our separate ways. Eric and I take I-40 West while Don and Paul take I-17 South. It’s nice riding while we are at high elevation among the pine trees of the Coconino National Forest. But, inevitably, we begin our descent into the Mojave Desert. As hot as it is, we don’t imagine that it’s hotter than the Sonoran Desert Paul and Don are traveling through.

When Eric and I reach the outskirts of the LA basin, the traffic is starting to stack up so Eric diverts us onto a back route behind a range of low mountains and we emerge just North of LA. Once again, I’m impressed with the LA freeway traffic. It’s fast, real fast, and with all the ramps and crisscrossing freeways, it sure helps to be riding with someone with local knowledge. Before I know it, we’re back in Eric’s Van Nuys neighborhood and within a 3 square mile area, we see more cops than we have on the entire trip. But no worries; we’re feeling mellow and laying off the throttle now that we are on surface streets. Anyway, a dip in Eric’s backyard pool with my 2 nieces immediately remedies sore muscles and feeling a bit cooked by the desert heat.

It’s been a truly amazing ride. Tomorrow, I’ll be on the plane back to Seattle with memories to savor until the next one.

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