Bikes, sky, and happy

Our motorcycle club took a "Valentine's Day" ride to Florence, AZ on Saturday, Feb 15th.   Of course, since we were all on motorcycles, we took the lonnnnngggggg scenic way.

When we left home, I didn't really know where we were going or how long we would be gone.  Lesson learned there!!

The day started out chilly at 6.45 am and I was wearing 4 layers  The sun was warm but the wind was still cold.  By 10 am, I was down to just a shirt and leather jacket.  By lunchtime, it was bare arms, sun, wind, and AWESOME!!

In all honesty, the sky was beautiful, the weather perfect, and the views were spectacular over every hill and around every corner.

Every time we go on a trip, we come across new terrain, new sites, and meet new friends.  A girl can't ask for much more than that.

When we first moved to AZ, I didn't care for all the brown.  It seemed like the landscape was 3 colors, brown, light brown, and dark brown.  I have always loved Colorado for the mountains, the colors, and the weather. 

And I am a color kind of girl and it was a tough transfer from Iowa to Arizona for me.  But once I got off my high horse, I discovered the beauty that is Arizona.  (but a girl can still like color :)  The weather is more suited to my health and well-being more so than Colorado.  And Arizona is where DH wanted to be. 

Can you imagine waking up every morning and being within driving distance to snow skiing, boating, hiking, forests, mountains, desert, and sun....  beautiful sunshiny days all year long. 


And just like any place I have ever lived, visited, or even passed through, when you don't like the weather, stay in the house.

The group stopped for layer removal and sustenance at a little park.  Several of the riders and passengers took a walk into the woods to "check things out".


We had left in 3 groups and the photo shows most of the 2nd group, to which we belonged. 

The club, Black Mountain Motorcycle Club, is really safety oriented, which I appreciate.  They are active too, with monthly breakfasts, monthly dinner socials, monthly rides, and annual trips.
     

As we are riding along (cue dramatic music), we happen upon a strip mine.  I am ashamed to admit that the colors were beautiful in the leftovers, the mining left a huge ugly scar on the landscape. 

                     :(


Ok.  Back to happy.   We FINALLY stopped for lunch in Florence.  Florence wasn't really much of a town and its main claim to fame is probably the detention center there.  There is some type of honor to railroad, but didn't check it out.   Cute little caboose though!!!  I tend to like cute little cabooses :).

Rumor in the adorable little restaurant where we ate has it that the weekend before we were there, someone had escaped from the prison, stole a car, and met his girlfriend in a bar in the next town over.   Perhaps not the sharpest tool in that shed!

The lunch was seriously very good...  and they surprised us with little Valentine treats for dessert.  

But to settle my curiosity,  is "Stuff" Avocado a brand?  And I STILL want to know what "Homemade Chicken" is...  or better yet, "Homemade Tuna".   I maintain that everyone needs a proofreader.  Even me!
 

It was time to go home.  Don't tell anyone but I may have catnapped part of the way home.

 

 

 

Enjoy the blessings God has given us...  and help protect them for future generations.