Update

Hey, folks.

No hiking or camping the last few weeks; it's been pretty cold and I've been pretty sick (when not at work or school).

So I took the opportunity to drop off my 150cc scooter for service last weekend. It was leaking oil, and the front brake was leaking fluid. It took a couple of days and cost me $195 (3 hours' labor-- it was actually 5 hours but the owner only charged me for 3 hours because the scooter is so new; all parts were under warranty.)

So I now have it back and it's running better than ever. Around 650 miles. We'll see how it goes.

Camping and Hiking Trip - 11/11/2010 to 11/12/2010

Hi, everybody!

It's been a good weekend, but a busy one. I had Thursday and Friday off for Veteran's Day, so decided to go on a camping trip. The original plan was to stay at Usery Mountain Regional Park on Thursday night, then go on to Lost Dutchman State Park on Friday. As it happens, I headed home on Friday instead. I'll save the trip to Lost Dutchman for next time. For now, I had a lot of fun and took a lot of photos. The whole album is here.



I left at around 11:30 Thursday morning, and arrived at around 1 PM. So... about 90 minutes for a 30-mile trip. One minor blip on the way there... I stopped at an intersection in Mesa or Tempe, I forget which... took some photos of a pair of mountains on either side of the road. I was in a public place-- there was a bus stop about 20 feet away, and IMO you can't get much more public than that-- but little did I know, there is a small Army National Guard base there (Papago Park Military Reservation). A military police officer came out, questioned me, and ultimately asked me to delete the pics I'd taken (there were two.) At least the guy was really nice about it.

On Thursday, after arriving at Usery Mountain Park, I set up my campsite and went off to do a little hiking. I did the Merkle Trail, which is a pretty easy hike-- flat and very well-marked. But beautiful scenery. Then I did the Vista Trail, which intersects with the Merkle but heads up the mountain. Got some more really nice views.

After that I rode around the park for a while, and just before sunset headed back to the tent. It was pretty cold that night! Temps in southern AZ this time of year are mid-70s, during the day, mid-40s at night. The desert is really bad at retaining heat.



Next day, in the morning I hiked the Buckhorn Campground Nature Trail and the Wind Cave Trail, before stopping at the Nature Center (think "gift shop") and heading home. I think, with temps being what they currently are, I'll stick to camping out one night at a time. Besides, I have to save some things for future trips. I also picked up a book about cool day hikes in southern Arizona, so will be doing some of the stuff from that book.

Thanks; have fun!

First Weekend, Continued

I've already shown you what I did yesterday; today I did a little housework and went off to visit my parents. they live in one of the Phoenix suburbs, in the northwest corner of the metro area and about 25 miles from my apartment.

I should have had the folks at the scooter shop adjust the idle for me yesterday; I just noticed this morning that the Longbo (red) scooter's rear wheel turns slowly at idle, which it's not supposed to do. Fortunately, my mechanical abilities are up to this task... just barely, but still. I had to take out the under-seat storage bay to get to the idle adjustment screw, so here is a photo:

I turned the screw a quarter-turn counter-clockwise and started the engine... success! At least I am good for something. I started off towards Mom & Dad's, stopping on one of the back roads near their house to take a few more pics. Note the cool new cargo box! ;)

That's all for today; I'll probably post more mid-week.

First Weekend-- Lots of Photos

This weekend I decided that I need a cargo box for the back of my red scooter. The under-seat storage compartment barely fits my helmet, and I wanted to have a bit more space to put things in when I start traveling out of town. So Saturday morning (11/6/2010) I went back to the place where I got the scooter--Arizona Discount ATV and Scooters, here in Phoenix. They're good folks. While installing my cargo box, they also adjusted my front brake for me. Works great now! :)

I'd promised myself I'd get back to hiking this weekend, so while temporarily scooterless I took the bus over to Mountain View Park. There are a couple of pretty easy hiking trails there, so I figured it'd be a good place to get started again. Only one problem-- I screwed up my directions, and ended up getting off the bus at 7th Street, when I really ought to have gotten off at 7th Avenue. Not a big deal-- once I realized my mistake; I was only 2 miles east of where I wanted to be. So I set off, taking a hike in order to find the place where I was to take a hike. (LOL)

I got lost a little along the way, but it's all good. I got to explore a part of the city I hadn't really been to before, had some fun, and took some neat photos.

I happened to walk by a tattoo shop called "Phoenink"... silly, I know, but I love that kind of goofy stuff.

A house with lots of bikes lined up out front...

A fire station with a most excellent bench out front; I sat down and rested for a few minutes...

Sunnyslope Mountain, a famous Phoenix landmark...

A probation office... (I dunno, just seemed like an odd place for it)...

Hey, there's a house up on top of this hill/mountain... must be where the rich folks live :P ...

Completely by accident I found a used bookstore... Yay books!

Is it park yet? Why, yes it is...

Unfortunately, the rest rooms at the park were locked... see, folks, this is what happens when you a) have lots of people around who don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves (i.e., vandals) and b) your state runs out of money...

I hoped I didn't have to pee while up on the trail. Ah, well... time for lunch (it was around noon by this time)...

Woohoo, salad! And the book that I'd bought at the used bookstore. After which, I went to the trail...

I didn't go too far up the trail, since I'd already walked over 2 miles getting to the place (yeah, I know, way to cop out... well, next time) but I did get some nice pics:

(Can't have an authentic southern Arizona hike without cactus)

Very nice... while I like my job, the scenery isn't all that great. I stood on the trail for quite a while, enjoying the silence, then headed back to get my scooter. Along the way I passed a house that I kinda liked...

... and the Arizona Canal...

... before getting back on the bus to the scooter shop. The work was almost done by the time I got there, so I only had to wait about 15 minutes. I happily rode home to relax a bit. :)

Wan

In 2007, a guy named Wan came to the U.S. from South Korea. Once here, he decided to trek across the country on a Honda Ruckus-- a relatively slow, bare-bones, but reliable motor scooter. The guy is amazing, and the story of how he traveled 18,000 miles over 8 months, met hundreds of people and changed a lot of lives is quite inspirational.

(NOTE: this is not Wan's Ruckus, but I happen to like this one.)

Of course, a few other folks have taken similar trips... but no-one of whom I'm aware has ridden so far on a scooter.)

After reading all this, I did some soul-searching. I discovered that I am not the type to do this sort of thing: just leave everything behind and hit the road. Not in the long term. But I do need to get out more, as the saying goes. I love riding, I love hiking, and I love camping. And I live in one of the best states for that kind of stuff-- Arizona. Despite having lived here for 6 years, there is a hell of a lot I haven't seen. So I'm going to do it. I might not go 18,000 miles, but I'll do 200 in a weekend. And I'll post about it here.

Don't expect great things to happen too soon; I'll have to work up to them. But do stay tuned.

Introduction to the Monkey

OK, so there's this monkey... and he lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Not a real monkey, but a metaphorical one. (So, y'know, not to worry... there will be no flinging of feces in this story.) His name (again, it's a metaphor) is Hanuman. And he is me! :) Which means, I guess, that he can quite writing in the third person.

In July my car was totaled in an accident. Nobody was hurt, thank the FSM. Insurance paid off my car loan, with a little bit extra left over-- but not enough to buy another car... not without taking out another loan, which I don't really want to do right now. So I did something I've wanted to do for years: I bought a motor scooter. Then, two months later, I bought another one.

Cheaply, I might add; I paid an average of $1,000 for each. So these are now my primary mode of transportation, and I'm glad. They're fun to ride! (As it happens, most of the places I need to go, I can get to using public transportation... and I sometimes do. So I don't need the scooters.) And they both get an average of about 60 miles per gallon. To recap: no auto loan. 60 MPG. Muy cool!

The blue one I got in July; it's an E-ton Matrix 50. Made in Taiwan, 50cc 2-stroke engine, tops out at around 40 MPH. Great for short jaunts around the city. Around 1,000 miles on it so far, with absolutely no problems.

In mid-September I got the red one, a Longbo Adventure. Made in China, with a 150cc 4-stroke engine, which tops out at 60 MPH. For longer trips, this is the way to go. I've read a lot-- both positive and negative-- about Chinese-made scooters. We'll see if the haters have a point... but for now, at just over 400 miles with no problems at all, I'm happy with it. (Although I'll be honest... if one or both of my current scooters craps out, I am tempted to buy a Ruckus.)

More about me: I'm a clerk for a government agency (office drone YAY! except I really like my job), live and work in midtown Phoenix, am happily divorced, working on my Bachelor's degree, and have extremely varied interests. If I keep up this blog as I should, you'll learn more about them. If you don't like me or the things I write about, there is a simple solution-- don't read it! Otherwise, welcome!