Deseret, Cactus, & Texas: May 2016

On the....TOP of the World looking....DOWN on Creation

How did we get here?

Felicia and I boarded the dogs and went to see the natural beauty of the Arizona Rim Country and the nearby sites. We stayed overnight in Payson. A highlight was driving to the top of the Mogollon Rim in the truck. This is Milk Ranch Point where early Mormon settler, Rial Allen, ran a dairy ranch in the 1880's.

We also visited Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.

More pictures can be seen here

Adventure Story

I dragged Felicia to a movie that was billed as an Adventure Motorcycle story.

It turned out to be more about Christianity's story and our need for epic battle to overcome trials. Per the author, "It is the theme of every great story". Felicia seemed to enjoy the show well enough.

The thing that first caught my interest was that the riders were all using the same motorcycle I had. Then I thought, "I need an epic adventure to do before I get too old". I sent an email to some adventurous types in the stake. It turns out that Russ Pearson was also at the movie and saw Felicia and I walk in. The two of us are now planning a 6 day ride next year to cover the AZ Back Country Discovery Route.

I was also initiated into the local BMW riding club but they haven't figured out what my name is yet.

They Really Are in Texas

The first photographic evidence emerged that Krystal and Eric really are in Texas. We have been waiting 2 weeks for some kind of photo. We were happy to see this one at little brother Sam's concert.

We finally went to see Captain America last night. It was OK if not a little contrived. How did the villain know that Ironman would even show up in Siberia? His whole multi-year plan was predicated on him showing up to watch the video of his parents murder. Oh well. Don't overthink and just enjoy, right?

Randall and Julianne were married yesterday. Sorry we couldn't be there. Haley had to work and didn't make it either.

Apparently Alison and John went to Houston for few days and John learned to captain a floatation device..

I spent Friday replacing the steering stem bearings in my motorcycle. I test rode two BMW's when I was looking, a 650GS and this 800GS, and both had notchy steering. I thought it was a BMW design feature so you would know what angle you were pointing to. Now I know they just have poor initial bearings that get notched easily.

Here is what a notched bearing race like (picture is rotated wrong but you get the idea).

I had to jack up the front of the bike to remove the steering stem.

Then drive the old bearings off with a punch.

Getting the new ones on involved heating the new ones ( in an oven or with a heat gun (what I did) and putting them on with gloves to keep from burning hands. I was only able to get the lower bearing on part way and tried to beat it on the rest of the way. I could not get it seated the last 1/8" so I decided to put it together and try to seat it by riding.

About 5 miles into the rocks on the backside of Mt Lemmon, the steering started rattling like it was loose. I got out the tools to remove the handlebars and tighten the bearing adjustment to remove the play.

Selfie time....

Here is the first area I stopped at to tighten bearings.

I went another 10 miles and hat to stop again. This time I was in the shade.

It was then that I noticed my license plate was nearly falling off because one of the bolts had come out. I had heard rattling and had stopped to look but couldn't see the source. There was a piece of rubber hose laying in the dirt at this camping spot so I squeezed it and pushed it into the license holder hole. The steering and the plate held together the rest of the way home.

Rubber hose holding plate made it home

Mom's Day 2016

Here are the wonderful Mom's in my life

...and more recently at Eric and Krystal's wedding

The kids gave Felicia an Edible Arrangement

Thanks Kids

Last night we used the gift card Gordon gave us over a year ago to go out to Flemings restaurant to celebrate Mother's Day early. Even with the $50 gift card it cost $100 to eat there, but the food and service was great. We then went to Home Depot to find some Mother's Day plants. We were able to check out 5 minutes before closing with our cactus and geranium. Felicia is happy.

Earlier Saturday Felicia and I were at the church at 7AM to clean the building. There were enough others who showed up that we only had to clean the windows and then we were done by 8AM. I then went to help Jackson Bailey with his Eagle project at the Copper Creek Elementary. We gave the playground equipment a fresh coat of paint, including the US map.

Haley was able to attend Neal's Baptism Saturday. She reported it was a great spiritual experience and was very happy she went. She enjoyed meeting up with family.

Broken Window Theory

The broken window theory is that if you leave property objects broken, dirty, or un repaired, others will not respect that property and will be more likely to disrespect the area and cause further vandalism.

We were returning from Disneyland on I10 east of Quarzite when a Hyundai came zipping past us on the right at 90 mph. We were going the speed limit in the left lane. The right lane was awful - needed repair. As the car came along side of us we heard a loud bang on our rear passenger-side window. The window was shattered but remained in place and it looked like their was a hole in it.

We took down the license plate number and looked for Highway Patrol. We saw three patrol cars pulled over on the side of the road so we pulled over to talk to them. They were in the process of arresting a man in a truck that ran barricade. They sent one patrolman to deal with me. we examined the window nd determined it was a rock that was flung up at the side of the car. Luckily, our insurance covered the repair completely. It is now as good as new, including the tinting.

Here are more Disney photos. Even more can be found at my smugmug site.