All the way through Florida I kept seeing so many cars on the side of the road with flat tires.  I don’t know what it is about that state’s roads or drivers, but man there were a lot of flat tires!  So today, we start the day out with a tire issue!  Not a huge issue on the surface; the back tire on Terron’s motorcycle is low so we seek air.  Simple enough right?  Well, not so fast!  So apparently a motorcycle tire needs a different kind of inflator nozzle.  Terron figures this out at the first gas station, actually deflating his tire more than it was!  Yikes.  So we try two more gas stations.  No good.  Then we seek a tire store and we find a great little shop where Terron successfully adds air to his tires!

We hit the back roads, at first, cruising through the Cibola National Forest.  We’re on a spectacular, middle of the nowhere kind of little 2 lane .   The rock we’re surrounded by is very red and pink and full of trees.

After a few miles, Terron is slowing down and pulling over.  Oh no, is there something else wrong with his bike? Nope, he said he just wanted to stop and take pictures of the wild flowers for me! They are very pretty!

Every once in a while, we come across a small town.  The first one is called Magdalena.  It’s quaint, maybe 5-7 buildings. The next one is Datil, followed by Pie Town.  I scan left and right like I’m watching a tennis match as we drive through town, with the businesses, playing off the name, Pie Town!

We also cross the Continental Divide, again!  (We crossed it on our way east, up north!)

Before long we’re in Arizona.  For hours, through both states, the temperatures is awesome, anywhere from 75 to 84.

Springerville is next, the first town we spot in Arizona, followed an even larger little town, Show Low.

Down the road, we hit Heber-Overgaard.  This town is huge for what we think is the middle of the desert!  There are many resorts, golf courses and fancy cabins and homes here.  And this is all in the Tonto National Forest!

Then we hit Payson and the descent down to the desert!  The road is great; full of curves!  But it’s getting increasingly hot!  The temperature reading on my bike hits 110 degrees!

We make it into Phoenix, to our oasis for the night; Terron’s brother’s house!  Ahhh, nothing better than a cold one and pizza, delivered right to the door!