Part Three
13-17 October, 2022
Thursday, 13Oct, Larry and I spent the morning taking care of my front wheel issues described earlier. The stacked weights in particular bothered Larry and just had to be taken care of. That finished up the bike work. Although Larry doesn't specialize in FJRs, we got a lot done. The immediate result was a dramatic reduction (near disappearance) of vibration while riding! Three ST1300s and I'm on my 2nd FJR and I thought all bikes were supposed to vibrate and shake the side-view mirrors. Not anymore. Thank you Larry!
Larry sent me this pic that best sums up why he does it . . .
All-in-all, Larry is just a great guy . . . warm hearted and giving, eager to give of his time to improve the world around him. Here's some examples, not bike related. While at the Tom Mix memorial, he noted someone had spray painted graffiti on the back side of one of the columns and said he might just have to come back out and clean that off. Larry also goes riding (think trail bike) out into the wilds to police up ammunition brass that people leave at various locations, just because it's bad for the environment. He also carries buckets and snake wrangling equipment to relocate snakes he finds in public areas (well, that's not completely altruistic as his security force does need replenishment from time to time
).
I finished out Thursday having lunch with a cousin who lives in Tucson and finished the day with a tasty farewell dinner at a great Mexican place with Larry and his wonderful wife Christy. She is just as nice as he is. I now call them both . . . friends!
Friday, 14 Oct, so long Oro Valley and heading east at a leisurely pace back to Niceville.
First stop was in Tombstone, AZ, for breakfast. Lots of history here and, yes . . . it's a tourist oriented town, but so what. I like it.
If you happen to visit Tombstone in the future, they were installing a new statue at the town square. I'll be interested in what it is when I visit again.
During my discussions with Larry, I let him know I found the sagas of the old west fascinating which led to our ride out to the Tom Mix Memorial. He also mentioned that east of Tucson was the grave of Johnny Ringo "Johnny Ringo, was an American Old West outlaw loosely associated with the Cochise County Cowboys in frontier boomtown Tombstone, Arizona Territory. He took part in the Mason County War in Texas during which he committed his first murder." (Wikipedia) For those who have watched the movie "Tombstone", Ringo intends to meet and kill Wyatt Earp outside of town, but Doc Holliday gets there early and bests him instead. Ahhh, not so (maybe). His death was ruled a suicide, but some claimed he was murdered. The facts support suicide. His grave is a state historical site on private land about 8 miles down a dirt/gravel road.
Surrounded by fencing marked "Private Property" there is this fenced access back to the gravesite.
If you want to know more . . .
https://www.oldwest.org/johnny-ringo/
If you want to visit . . .
On my way out, heading up to I-10, I took a turn that dead ended at this National Monument. There are many HooDoos here also, but sorry, no new pics.
Nice ride back up to I-10 then eastward bound. First night was spent in Van Horn, TX. Van Horn figured prominently in my first IBA ride as it was 1,519 miles from Jacksonville Beach, FL, and my first stop as I head coast-to-coast back in 2008. I made it in less (just barely) than 24 hours. The town has grown a lot since then. The next day was a pleasant ride along I-10, enjoying the scenery and . . . still in Texas . . . I pulled in for the night in Columbus, TX.
Another easy day on Sunday riding I-10 with a stop in Beaumont, TX, to get a picture of the World's Largest
Working Fireplug. It used to be the World's Largest Fireplug until a bigger one was built in Columbia, SC, but . . . it's not functional.
Beaumont was deserted on Sunday morning and I didn't see a single moving vehicle between getting off and back on I-10. Really nice!
I texted a copy of the picture to Larry and his reply was that "I'd run like hell before the world's largest dog . . . "
Then it was back on I-10, through Louisiana and although I could easily make it home, I stopped early for the night in Gulfport, MS, as I wanted to visit "an old friend" the next morning.
So, I had a nice breakfast then made the short ride to Ocean Springs, MS, to visit my old friend "Crooked Feather."
Peter Wolf Toth, a Hungarian born American artist realized his calling at age 24 to celebrate the American Indian and set a goal to carve, for free, giant indian statues in all 50 states as well as one in Canada. He achieved his goal and some states have more than one. Collectively, they are known as "The Trail of the Whispering Giants." Unfortunately the one for MS, located in Ocean Springs, was destroyed by termites and weather. The town replaced it with one produced by a local artist in 1999, in Peter's style, as they thought he had died. He's very much alive and working in Ocean City, FL, and thinks the replacement is a nice one that fits in well with the rest of his creations. There are over 70 "Giants" and I visited them all except the one in Hawaii, winning the Team Strange 2015 Grand Tour. My favorite is the one in Colquitt, GA. More info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_the_Whispering_Giants
Well, that's the end of this adventure. It's been awhile since I produced a trip report. As you've probably noticed, the "Verbose" key on my computer is stuck in the open position. I keep meaning to get it fixed . . . maybe one of these days.
Trip total: 4,743 miles of smiles
For those that patiently read through this . . . thank you for sharing my adventure!
Shuey
So . . . you have photos? Oh wait . . . coming out of San Antonio, oh yeah, I remember that now. Thanks so much for reminding me! 
