We took off on and adventure today January 10, 2019 with the high hopes of making it to the Sibley Mansion just east of Mammoth, AZ.  I got to meet Ian, a friend of my friend Garry. Ian is a better rider than I am on the dirt but could use a pointer or two of where to put his kickstand.  :)  :)

The first five pictures are from Garry's camera. That his yellow Tenere, and myself on the other side of the river.

Ian doesn't fall too often so Garry took a lot of pictures just to make it look like he did. This is still the kickstand in the sand thing.

I'm not sure if the video will run.

We are riding into Copper Creek canyon just east of Mammoth

Beautiful scenery, some snow up high, and nice bikes.

Garry enjoying the smooth road.......things are about to change!

The water has cut a narrow channel through that rock.

Copper Creek flows about 6 months per year.

Ian turned around and was coming back to check on the two slow guys.

A slightly different shot of the same canyon

So far the shelf road has been decent.

All three bikes together.

There are a multitude of mines in the area, some abandoned, some still in operation.

From this point on the road will be a lot more challenging!

I had just ridden through a rough area, dropped my bike and was completely exhausted!

I'm trying to decide if maybe I'm getting too old for this.

This wasn't even the deep part, but hey, I'm still smiling.

Time for a little break.

Yes, that's the road. It is also where we had to turn around. Ian was able to make it about another 1/4 mile but even he had to give up.

Another of the many mines.

Our attempt to find a different route back to town.

Sometimes they try to fool you with these signs.

This time they weren't fooling. :(

Garry caught a rut!

Always the Ham!  :) :) :)

They must have found at least a little copper.

Sometimes it's a rather small rock that will deflect you into a deep rut.

Aliens buying Alien Food. :)

Sherm and I have decided to take a few smaller trips and try to capture the details of the ride. We are on a three day ride and this is our first stop, the Desert Tower. How many times have I driven past this and never even noticed it?

Inside the tower is a gift shop/museum where they were offering this old Swiss Army Motorcycle for sale.

According to this it is a 1974 but in many ways doesn't look newer than 1934.

A lot of old but curious junk

If you pay $6.50 you can climb the stairs to the observation platform. There you can pay another $.25 to observe.

Maybe that $.25 saved me $500

In the 1930's a fellow carved a bunch of the rocks into animals.

The $6.50 ticket allowed you to climb around on the rocks to view them.

You can also fill your radiator while you are at it.

My impression is that this is a modern version of a hippy commune from the 60's

A very nice electrical system

Someone did a nice job of gluing the old newspaper to this carousel horse.

At one time, this guy was actually alive.

More junk

Junk with a message

Main entrance to tower

Historic site identifier

Visiting the rock zoo

This visitor appears afraid to get any closer

Much safer if I back up into here

Just up the road from the tower is this bit of art, reminiscent of Slab City.

One of the local aliens

Breakfast to last all day!

With Sherm, everything is Sticker Shock!

But, when you are about to run out, these remote fuel stops are very welcome!!

Weekend traffic in Julian on Monday!

Flesh horse, iron horse.

Mission Santa Ysabel

Just a mile or so north of Santa Ysabel

Six or eight of these beautiful stained glass windows, all different.

Adding a little life to the cemetery.

They want you to open your bible. Sherm just googled it.

At the intersection of Mesa Grande and Hwy 76 they are remodeling a biker bar. I see the new bathhouse comes with options.

I suspect it will be a weekend only bar since there isn't much weekday traffic.

On Tues. the 20th we rode to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Ron and I hit it off pretty good and he wanted a pic to remember my visit. Said he was getting a little forgetful........I said "Tell me about it"

Nice hologram presentation

An exact replica of the Oval Office

It's much smaller than I had imagined.

They had to raise the desk 3" so his knees would fit under it.

Marine One

Air Force One

Sure is a beauty!

Some of the motorcade vehicles

Old Glory! Obama had it removed because it was offensive.....what a ........

Christmas decorations thru the years

Cockpit of Air Force One? No, this is the onboard control center where the president can push the button if it ever became necessary.

The entire plane was more set up for work than it was for socializing.

No button pushing aboard Marine One

This little engine powers that big chopper

Sherm says loud pipes save lives

I think this wall came down on Reagan's watch

Ron wanted to show me the ranch. I ended up riding the legs off this old girl!

Overlooking the valley behind the library.

A replica of the south lawn of the Whitehouse

My dear sister Shari preparing breakfast for us.

Sherm waiting for us to say Grace so he can did in

My sister and her husband doing a pre-clean just before the maid shows up!

I'm blessed to be a part of this family!

Me, Ken, and Sherm. I'm the only one that has to hold his tummy in. 

On the way home I took Sherm to some of my boyhood landmarks.

Highway 94 southeast of San Diego

Ride it if you get the chance

Good food here!

A lot of possibilities behind this fence

Part of the Wall

A wall within the Wall. That large estate is in Mexico

These tracks appear to be recently abandoned

This has been a fun little trip

This will be a nice place as soon as the roofing company can schedule their crew.

This house caught my eye from the highway so we made a u-turn

I'm glad we did

That explains everything?

I think the hot spring might be located here.

Protecting the park

5 more miles of Historic Hwy 80, 75 miles of I-8 and this ride will be over for Sherm. I'll scoot another 180 miles and this trip will officially end.