The Three Flags Trip Begins

Dash back to the US Border (Friday, August 31st)

After getting about 5 hours sleep I got up at 3:00 AM to get ready for the trip. I check out of the hotel where I was staying which was a mile or so from the starting Hotel. During last year's trip it took nearly an hour to cross the Canadian border back into the US. I was determined to be towards the front of the line.

The ride organizer's gave every rider a poker chip with their unique rider number (mine is R28) that identifies them and simplify the first checkpoint process. There were about 50 people in the hotel lobby waiting for the 4:30 AM starting time. Everyone threw there chip into the box and headed to their motorcycles to start. Because I drove from the other hotel my bike was ready and parked in an area where I was not blocked in. I immediately walked to my bike and took off for the border. I could not believe that I was the first one to leave.

I have to say that the biker's in this group are courteous and show a great deal of pride in the ride. So it was not a race to the border, everyone lined up and rode as a group with me in the lead. When we arrived at the border there were a couple of cars in front of the line. We arrived around 10 minutes early and waited for the border to open at 7:00 AM. 

I was through is less than 5 minutes. One thing that I noticed was I was check at the border, again around 30 miles in from the border, and finally one more time again. I had to show my passport twice. There was a lot of Customs and Border Protection vehicles in that part of the country.

The weather was over 100 most of the day. As I mentioned in my earlier post, my new "Cool Vest" worked very well. When I soaked it, I didn't wring them out so I put it back on dripping wet.It seemed to work for 90 minutes or so.

I decided to not take the scenic route and headed directly to Phoenix before heading to Flagstaff and then the first checkpoint in Gallup, NM. I learned from last year drive an hour or two beyond the daily checkpoint before stopping for the day. I drove to Farmington, NM which was about 110 miles further. I got concerned because the entire drive from Gallup to Farmington had no gas stations. I got there with 35 miles left in the tank. The entire drive was through the Navajo Indian Nation. I have no idea where they get their gas at but it is not on any of the main roads.

I check into the hotel around 6:30 PM and ordered dinner from a restaurant and had it delivered.I ordered sushi but was disappointed in the dinner.