Well, Roni and I had a great vacation in Tucson. Of course the main reason we went was to take part in the Tucson Climb to Conquer Cancer event held on March 12th.
We arrived in Phoenix late Thursday night and stayed over night. On Friday, we rented an Electra Glide Classic from Chosa's Harley-Davidson and rode to Tucson. The weather was great. While it was freezing cold in NYC, that day it got up to 88 degrees and was sunny. Riding from Phoenix to Tucson through the AZ desert was fantastic. It was great being on a motorcycle again.
Saturday we woke up early and was surprised to find that a bobcat had jumped the fence of the bed and breadfast where we were staying and decided to relax outside of our room. This was quite a treat and the owners of the B&B said that is only the third bobcat they have seen in 17 years. Of course because we had to take pictures of it, and show the digital pics to the owners, we left later than we wanted to for the climb. When we arrived, the event started and by the time we parked, got our t-shirts, we were some of the last to start the climb. Regardless, the climb was very successful and we had a good time. While it was good seeing the people with "Survivor" stickers on their t-shirts (yes, I had mine on), it was sad knowing that many were there climbing in honor of those who lost their lives to cancer.
After the climb, I took Roni back to the B&B to take a nap, and I rode further south to visit the Titan Missle Museum. 18 of the 54 Titan II missle sites in the USA, were located around the Tucson area. When the last one was decomisioned in 1986, it was turned into a museum. After the museum, I rode further south to see the "Longhorn Grill" and the "Cow Palace Restaurant".
On Sunday, Roni and I spent the day riding and exploring southern AZ. We headed to Bisbee, taking the back roads and just enjoying the desert, the quiet and the empty roads. On the way, we visited a winery and did some wine tasting. We only made it as far as Tombstone before we decided to head back to Tucson, as we were invited to the Allens for dinnner. We had a great time with Marisa and her family and once again, the few hours we spent with them seemed to just fly by. About 9:30PM we finally headed back to the B&B.
Monday was the day to take the bike back. We left in the late morning and took the long way back to Phoenix. We stopped a few times to take pictures and enjoy the desert. One place we stopped was about 20 miles south of Florence, AZ. It is a memorial to Tom Mix, who was killed in an accident there in the 1940s. Tom Mix was an old-time cowboy movie star, and was a pall-bearer for Wyatt Earp in 1929.
We arrived at the dealership to drop the bike off and my parents were there to meet us. They were in town, on their way to visit friends in New Mexico. We spent the day with them and went out to a good steak dinner. About 11 PM, they took Roni and me to the airport where we caught the redeye back to NY. We got home early Tues morning.
Almost everything about the trip was perfect, except the flights (Roni and I are just too tall for coach). We took pictures and some video. The pics are available now, and we plan to put a movie up sometime soon. You can see the pics here, here and here.
Thank you to all that contributed to our efforts. Together Roni and I raised over $1,200. Team Giant, the team we were a part of, raised $6, 578.86 and we were the top fund raising team. All together, the event is projected to raise about $123,944.55. That money will be used for cancer research and to help those who have been dianosed with cancer. All those who gave can be proud to be part of this effort. I know we are.
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