June 25th 2023 – Phoenix, AZ

Last Thursday the plates for the bikes arrived just as I was done servicing them and had mounted the harness for the luggage. Perfect timing!

We spend the next 2 days packing and checking everything. The last thing to do was to adjust the suspension and headlights with all the luggage onboard. Hopefully it will be the last wrenching I have to do on the bikes for a while. Besides working on the bikes, we also managed to do a bit of local sightseeing. One morning Katrine did a 2 hour hike on a nearby mountain. Another morning Paul and Lea showed us to Old Town Scottsdale.

This morning we did a final 200 miles test ride to make sure everything worked as it should and to try out how the bikes performed loaded with luggage. We did a loop north into the mountains and stopped for breakfast in Prescott. It was a beautiful ride with amazing roads and scenery. The temperatures were nice and pleasant at elevation – not so much when we returned to Phoenix around noon

Back in Phoenix we changed into more comfortable clothes and Paul showed us around downtown Phoenix in the FJ. Tonight Katrine and I will take Paul and Lea out for dinner at a place of their choosing, because tomorrow morning we’ll be leaving Phoenix.

Paul and Lea’s house in Moon Valley have been our home for the last 2 weeks. Paul has been a huge help with everything motorcycle and travel related. We appreciate what it means to have someone staying with you for that long and are very grateful for everything Paul and Lea have done to make us feel welcome.

An added benefit of staying here has been free access to  the private community’s charming and immaculate maintained pool. We rewarded ourselves with a swim almost every evening after the day’s work was done. Visiting the pool also allowed us to get to know the elderly and very chatty neighbors (The community doesn’t allow residents younger than 55).

Goodbye Phoenix. It has been a pleasure!