The DRZ Chronicles

 I made it! Wild weather made for a pretty exhilarating ride, particularly east of Salem, MO on MO72. Wow,wow, wow! Wild ride and a fantastic road. A ride like that reminds you that you are alive! Here for 14 days. Clearwater lake is full and all the rivers are running pretty fast.

 Well, I made it through Humansville, with the intention of camping on Pomme de Terre Lake. Instead, I ended up at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. And just in time for some interesting weather. Leaving here in the morning, if possible, for Piedmont Park, near Piedmont, MO, and Clearwater Lake.

 Good stay in Harrison, but time to move. I seem to do that a great deal. So, in the morning I am off to Humansville, MO, between Pomme de Terre Lake and Stockton Reservoir.

 Good ride today. I arrived at Harrison for a couple of days and will plan from here.

 Another night in a hotel, near Tulsa. Intended to camp at Keystone Park, but wind would have made that very difficult. The ride here was pretty rough, with the wind knocking my mileage down to 45 mpg, about a 9 mpg drop from normal. Anyway, time to get out of Oklahoma and head to Harrison, Arkansas. Looking forward to Arkansas and some proper trees!

 I am at Black Kettle Recreation near... pretty much nothing, in western Oklahoma. The ride from Tucumcari, NM was pretty decent. Still lots of wind, but full sun. This is a USFS camp area on a little lake. Drinking water spigot, vault toilets, and its free. 

 Beautiful day today, very unusual. I think it is a fine time to leave Tucumcari.... after coffee, of course.

 Weather not good in New Mexico with more storms expected. Decided to leave Elephant Butte and head east. Now in Santa Rosa after a pretty rough ride. Coffee and some planning to do. Have a package to pick up in Tucumcari in the morning, after that...?

 It has been 9 months and 30,000 miles since I left buddy Al's place and headed into Arkansas. I have been in 34ish states for the trip, not sure of the exact count, but I am certain I have 3 to go in order to have ridden a motorcycle through all of the lower 48. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Not sure about a timeline. As always, weather will be a determining factor, but I doubt I will be riding that far north before the middle of May, at the earliest. I still intend to ride along the northern borders of New Mexico and Arizona, Four Corners, Grand Canyon and up into Utah. Weather, again, is the primary consideration. And, right now, the weather is not so hot. Rather cold, in fact. So, my expectation was the trip would last about a year and that may be close to correct.

 Fresh layer of snow in the mountains. Pretty cold day, about 38 degrees and steady wind. I am putting the Schampa to good use Skip! It is serving as outstanding campwear. 😉 An update, for anyone that might be interested. The REI Trail Hut 2 tent is serving very well. Initially, I had some concerns about it's sturdiness but, properly anchored, it is fine. Still not quite as easy to put up as the Kelty, but not a problem, either.

 I had a request for a picture of the lake. I got one from my tent site. Not venturing out too much. Weather is kinda nasty. 36 when I got up this morning, windy, overcast and a few flakes of snow. Looks like we won't see good weather again for another week. Oh well, spring is approaching.

 Primitive camping the New Mexico way. I like it.   73 degrees and partly sunny. Here for 14 days. Will have to explore Truth Or Consequences for tacos.

 Arrived at Percha Dam State Park yesterday. Will be leaving in the morning. Decent little park, about 20 miles northwest of Hatch, NM. Weather here has been quite a break, today was 77 degrees and sunny. I managed to accomplish nothing, and did it quite well, I might add. Tomorrow, I will be heading about 30 miles north to Elephant Butte State Park for 14 days of primitive camping, if the weather allows. Wind is starting to pick up and forecast to be 20-30 mph tomorrow with gusts to 50. That is the scourge of New Mexico. Can make the place plain hostile.

 

 Back in New Mexico at City of Rocks State Park. Partly sunny and 67 degrees. Moderate breeze. Very different from my last time here. Border Patrol is very active in this area. On the ride here, I passed their surveillance balloon tethering facility.  The 10 watt solar panel is working out very well. Easy to pack and can charge all my devices, although my obsolete battery bank charges slowly, even in full sun. But overall, quite happy with the setup. It looks like, in full sun, my phone will recharge from 10 percent to full in about 3 hours.

 I bid farewell to Skip, Kelly and the "Tres Amigos" Burt, Dakota and Wally, this morning. Thanks for the hospitality again! Two wheels down on the way to Key West! I arrived at Empire Ranch, near Soniota, AZ and am camping here for a couple days, before heading toward New Mexico.

DR, napping during the snowfall in Tucson.