Day 19 – Deserted.

Total Miles – 3,242

First up sorry for the lack of photos today you will understand the reason for this later.It may also be a bit of a rubbish post because I am frazzled.

Today started well, I had a new found positivity and I was looking forward to finally seeing the grand canyon. FF was also in a good mood for some reason so we headed out on our 300 mile trip to Flagstaff Arizona.

After the last bit of mountain climbing we finally waved goodbye to those beautiful bastards and entered Cortez. I stopped at Walmart to buy myself some pain killers and nail clippers. The last time I was in Walmart was after the crash and I was hobbling around like a weirdo. This time was much less painful.

Back out on the road and we eventually crossed the border into Arizona. Its amazing how much the weather and scenery changes from state to state. One seconded we were surrounded by snow capped mountains and the next this –

Which very,very quickly turned to this –

The scooter was running fine,it was hot,very hot and made a lovely hissing noise every time I pulled over to let it cool down a bit but for the first time in ages I was just about able to keep up with traffic.

A couple of hours down the road I pulled over for fuel (I say fuel because I dont know if I should call it gas or petrol,I dont want to confuse anyone. Maybe I could call it something random like ‘go juice’) and I met my first American Indian. He was off his face on something and begging from people as they were filling up. I couldnt give him anything as I had just locked all my stuff away in my top box so he touched me on the shoulder and said ‘God bless you’. I wondered if he had cursed me for not giving him any money and about 45 minuets later I found out.

Scooter fuel gauges are not known for their accuracy but when my engine started spluttering like it had run out of fuel when I still had 3/4 of a tank left I knew something was up. FF told me to stop mucking around and that he didnt want to die in the dessert,I told him to shut up or I would use his fluffy skin to filter my urine when I had to drink it to survive.

I did a few checks,oil,plug,topped the fuel up and then headed back out onto the road. Everything was fine until the little needle pointed at 3/4 full and then the engine would splutter and die again. Now I started to get worried,it was boiling hot out there and I only had about a litre of water left. I knew it had to be fuel related as it was happening when I had the same amount of fuel left every time. I had two options,pull into the next city,book another room and try and fix it or keep going,pulling over to top the fuel up every 20 miles or so.I opted for the later.

Flagstaff was about 70 miles away at this point so I motored on pulling over to top up when ever needed until there was only a dribble left in my jerry can and 18 miles to go. I wasnt sure I was going to make it so I did everything I could to conserve fuel such as coasting down hills in neutral and trying to use the brakes as little as possible.

I eventually entered the outskirts of Flagstaff and the needle was just above the danger zone. Of course every traffic light I came to turned red but eventually I made it through the traffic to my hotel.

For a while I was genuinely concerned that I was going to be stuck out in the middle of the desert on my own with no mobile reception but we made it and I am really looking forward to going back out there tomorrow (Im not).

Luckily there was an ‘auto zone’ right next door to the hotel so I walked over to get some carb cleaner and a few other bits that I will probably have to leave in the hotel because I dont have room for them.

I stripped and cleaned the carb in the car park,cleaned the air filter and checked a few other obvious bits and pieces then went for a test ride. I did about 30 laps around a trailer park and managed to get the needle to go just below ‘the danger zone’  and it didnt cut out so I may have fixed it. I will only know for sure tomorrow when I am out on the highway with the throttle pinned open. Fingers crossed !

Time is running out and I have decided to make the end of my trip San Franciso instead of LA. I have 7 days to cover just a smidge under 1000 miles so I may have to make some other cuts along the way. I’ll see how it goes.

So,Grand Canyon tomorrow,hopefully the ride will be far less scary than today was.

Night !

Keep donating – https://www.justgiving.com/Matt-Tipper1/