4-30-2010-American Gothic in 3D

4-30-2010-After consuming my two piece fish and chips and rootbeer with my Labs downing their monster burger from Pete's Fish and Chips I decided to view a controversial sculpture in downtown Mesa at Main St. and McDonald.
The downtown area has thirty six sculptures made of bronze, cement, steel with traditional themes, to out there in right field. The Downtown Mesa Association, DMA spent $18,000 to have J. Seward Johnson Jr's. sculpture God Bless America on display from March 5th- July15th. His sculpture is based on the iconic American Gothic painting by Grant Wood from 1930. It is said that during this time period as America had struggled through the great depression the painting had come to symbolize the country's,"Steadfast Pioneer Spirit".
The sculpture arrived from Chicago were it had been on display for a year. (click on any picture to enlarge).
As with the painting it seemed that the farming couples eyes were following you as you ventured around the sculpture, creepy!
God Bless America stands slightly over twenty five feet tall, Impressive.
I was safe from their stare from this position.
Seward Johnson's signature on the wife's left shoe. If you get the opportunity to come to Downtown Mesa be sure to check this out, it's worthwhile and its cool to observe others with their pointed and interpretive views of the sculpture.

Glad to share a little of the Downtown Mesa Art Scene.

God Bless, Sly

19th Annual Tour de Phoenix

April 10th,2010-El Tour de Phoenix. This was the 19th annual ride benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The ride is sponsered by the Perimeter Bicycling Association of America. I haven't ridden the ride in several years since my battle with Hairy Cell Leukemia and Non-Hodgekins B-Cell Lymphoma. By Gods grace I am in remission from both cancers and back on the bike and riding, but not up to riding the 72 mile distance of the tour. Sheri and her riding partner Terry were riding today. The Tour begins in Mesa at Red Mountain Park, through Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Fort McDowell Indian Reservation past Saguaro Lake, along the Salt River, up and over Usery Pass and back to Red Mountain Park. The desert portion of this ride is probably some of the most scenic and beautiful desert in Arizona. 1400+ Riders participated this year raising over $30,000 for the Desert Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Sheri was the 2nd. highest fundraiser with just over $2,000 in donations! Thats my girl!
The tour is well publicized so residents are aware of road closures, law enforcement was present at all intersections giving the bicyclist the right of way.
Motor Officers escorted the lead riders as well as following in the last rider.
End of the ride.

Tired and sore cyclists' took advantage of the many massage therapists offering their service.
Many vendors were present and doing well.
Sheri and Terry at the finish.
Showing off the hardware.
Sheri receiving the Conquistador Trophy for being the second highest fundraiser.
Mens first place was Clay Murfet of Youngtown, Tazmania a few thousand miles from home. Womens first place Erica Allar from Charlotte, North Carolina. Clay's time was 2:51:28 with Erica's time being 2:52:42, dang fast for both of them.
One of the many bike shops and vendor displays.
Beautiful weather, awesome scenery and a great course and gracious donors made for another successful Tour de Phoenix benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Desert Chapter.
Congratulations to Sheri with her fund raising efforts with donations coming from those who are near and dear to us, thank you,

May God Bless you in your journeys, Sly

Late Desert Bloom-4-20-2010

Our weather has been absolutely crazy! The Desert bloom usually takes place in mid March but cooler weather and an abundance of rain delayed the bloom until late April. As I hopped on the VTX I headed east to the Las Sendas area. Clouds, wind and temperature in the low sixties was putting a damper on the blooming plants. An occasional ray of sunshine tempted a few of blossoming flowers to open mildly.
The three following pictures are from the Usery Pass area as I continued east and north of Los Sendas.
The cacti were beginning to bloom but weren't in full bloom yet.

Looking east towards Pass Mountain. From Usery Pass I continued north to Bush Highway along the Salt River. Several times I came across very young Quail chicks with the male scout leading them across the highway with momma rounding up the stragglers. Two large Rattlers that apparently were trying to warm up on the highway became road kill courtesy of passing vehicles, much to the Buzzards delight!
Along the Salt River a lot of yellow blossoms could be found, the orange wild poppy's were absent, when present the orange adds to all of the yellow turning the desert into a sea of gold.


Nesting Eagles are generally found in this area of the Salt River as food is plentiful and the rugged mountains providing protection for young eaglets.

I continued on a few more miles just enjoying the ride and the desert beauty. The temperature was continuing to drop as a cold front was moving in from California with high winds and the possibility of more rain. I headed home finishing a short fifty mile loop but any time on the motorcycle is a good time!

God Bless, Until the next time, Sly

7th Annual UMFF Poker Run

7th. Annual UMFF Firefighters Poker Run. April 16th 2010- The United Mesa Fire Fighters Poker Run is done in conjunction with Arizona Bike Week. The ride is a 180 mile scenic route through east Mesa to Superior, Miami, and Globe. Roosevelt to Jakes Corner on down the Beeline into Fountain Hills ending in Scottsdale. The money raised goes to The East Valley Fire Fighters Charity Fund.

The ride began at Superstition Harley Davidson. After registration a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, ham and coffee was prepared by the Legend, Captain Dale Miller and his skilled team of many firefighters. Your first card for your poker hand was drawn here. ( Click on any picture to enlarge ).
Registration was quick and easy.
Roots new scoot, he rode it with just the seat pan, his tooled leather seat is about two days from completion.
Stop two was at the Drift Inn Saloon in old town Globe.
Our group, we were quit the mix.
Second card draw.
Old Globe fire unit.
The infamous Jakes Corner Bar,
Jakes again.
Jakes Corner Store. We had a nice cloud cover that keep the temperature down and an occasional light sprinkle. The ride on to Scottsdale to WestWorld was smooth and fast.
My friend John, a.k.a. The Panda at the family booth, Phoenix Trike Works.
Checking out the vendors.
I'd like to ride a jet bike just once, what a rush that would be as the power would just keep spooling on!
Hey Taylor, these pics are for you, Boss Hoss Motorcycles of Arizona had a nice 'Stang for sale, in your price range $29,000.
You'd like it!

What a great day, weather, food, friends, and the ride were perfect although I didn't win either the high or low poker hand. Demo rode some bikes, I'll keep mine though. Didn't stay for the Dierks Bentley concert that started at nine had to get home to see the end of the Coyotes Red wings Game, Go 'Yotes. Started at 8am got home at 8pm, totaled 236 miles, perfect!

God Bless, Ride Safe, Sly

3-20-2010- The 360 Mile Day Ride

3-20-2010- The 360 Mile Day Ride.- Myself and five of my close riding friends decided to take a day trip traveling through the center portion of Arizona. En route to meet them at Ellsworth and University in Mesa I took a 26 mile detour to view the last of the snow on Four Peaks. We then met at 8 am fueled up and headed to Payson. As we arrived in Payson we decided to do an early lunch at El Ranchero, Good choice! from there we headed north up the Mogollon Rim through Pine and Strawberry. On top of the Rim we had clear roads but there was huge amounts of snow, three to four foot drifts still existed.
We continued on up Highway 87 to the junction of highway 260 that would take us on into Camp Verde. Along the way we encountered several Bull Elk with their Cows. There were also many Brown and Redtail Hawks and a couple of Eagles in flight near the Highway, Awesome! Soon we arrived in Camp Verde and decided to continue on to the hillside community of Jerome.
On our way up we passed large groups of motorcyclist, I guess they thought it was a great day to ride also. In Jerome the hillside streets were jam packed with tourist and no place to park, they were having an artisans fair so we continued up Mingus mountain and stopped at a viewpoint to take a break.
Our group, Ray, Rick, Ironhead,Tracey and John.
Ironhead took this picture, thats me in the middle.
Decision making, we decided to go up and over Mingus Mountain and continue on to Prescott.
Yes this was a good day to ride the Vstrom versus the VTX, and Ironhead even left the Bobber at home and rode his Road Couch, the Goldwing!
As we got into Prescott we fueled the bikes and our bodies. We ate at PBR-Prescott Brewing & Restaurant, the pork sliders were yummy! Once rested we brainstormed to decide our next destination. Decision made, we would head south on Highway 89, lots of twisties into Wilhoit, Kirkland Junction, Peeples Valley, Yarnell and Congress. These are very small towns so if you blink you'll miss them.
From Congress we determined we would continue to Highway 60 and stop in Wickenburg for a short break. A warm cup of coffee was necessary as the sun was setting and the temperature was dropping. Back on the road we continued to the Highway 74 Lake pleasant road that would take us to Interstate 17 just south of Anthem and north of Peoria.
As we made our way down the 17 we encountered many other motorcyclist giving us the low hand salute, that's cool. Soon we came to the junction of the 101 Highway and we would take that east through north Phoenix, Scottsdale to the 202 Highway. Traffic was quit a bit heavier now so more concentration was neccessary to deal with the four wheeled cages.
The 202 highway was in sight that would take us back to Mesa and the end of an almost 12 hour adventure. When I pulled into the driveway the dogs were barking and the Vstrom and myself were giving thanks for a great day! and God Blessing us with a safe ride.

God Bless, Sly

3-19-2010 Pass Mountain Trail

3-19-2010- Friday 8a.m. Sheri and I decided to head to Usery Mountain Regional Park to hike the Pass Mountain Trail. The park is due east of our home and is approx. a 15 minute drive. The trail is a 7.5 mile loop around Pass Mountain, aka Scarface to the locals. Driving east the weather looked sketchy, a mix of sun and clouds and what appeared to be verga, and cool as well, temperature was in the 50's.
You take the Wind Cave Loop road to the junction of the trail-heads. The park has 30 miles of established hiking trails. The Wind Cave Trail is a 1.5 mile out and back trail that is very popular as it is high up on the west side of the mountain and offers great views of the Valley. But we opted for the longer distance but still offering awesome views.
The dreaded Cholla Cactus, my least favorite cacti as it always seems to have an attraction to me!
Myself stopping to take in the view on the north east side of the trail.
A Grand Daddy Saguaro Cactus. It was massive! I couldn't believe how many arms it had, it seemed all the cacti were swollen with water from all the rain we have had.
And yet this Saguaro was at the end if its life.
Sheri on the east side of the trail. She keep saying," I think its going to rain on us", and I kept saying," Not today"!
I ate my words as this small storm came in from the north and gave us a light rain for about 15 minutes. It was nice not unbearable and as we continued our hike we dried.
On the east side there our various rock ridges and outcroppings that just catch your eye and you have to stop and take it in.
At the half way point on the east side you can take a short side trip to the Hole in the Wall. Its a nice area to stop for a snack or to seek refuge from the rain. It can be seen in the left upper portion of the picture.
Sly hanging out in the Hole in the Wall.

Blooming Ocotillo. We were hoping for the wildflowers but since the temperature was low and cloudy skies, the flowering buds were shut tight.
I love the Saguaros and the rock formations.
We're so blessed to live this close to Gods creation, Awesome!
Thanks for letting me share with all of you.
God Bless, Sly