I wanted to do two things while I was in Phoenix. One of them was to ride a very long ways on a four wheeler. I had in mind before I left Alabama that Mike and I could ride from I-17 at north of Phoenix up to Crown King, an old mining town in the mountains. Ross and I had taken 4 wheelers up there years ago and had ridden for several days, but we did not ride from the bottom up the mountain. I rented a trailer and brought my 4 wheeler with me to Arizona. I was in hopes of getting some preliminary rides in, but only managed one. This was due only in part to my lack of time. A great deal of it had to do with the new laws that Arizona passed. To ride a 4 wheeler off road, you had to have registration and a "sticker". I tried in vain to find out how to get one for an out of town visitor, but only once was I able to talk with a live person and she gave me bad information. In the end, I decided to plead ignorance if stopped. Mike, Chris, Annette and I went one Sunday afternoon to an area in Scottsdale that Mike had ridden before. We had a great time, but toward the end of the day, we did get stopped by the Scottsdale police. They were nice and only gave us a verbal warning, but informed us that there probably would be no more riding in Maricopa county at all. The city(s) had taken over most of the county and there were dust and pollution regulations everywhere. We still had a good day. At the end of my stay, Mike and I loaded up the 4 wheelers and rode towards Crown King. We parked a few miles from I-17 and rode to Crown King without incident. It was a good ride, about 25 miles. Once there, we started seeing the ravages of the fire from the year before. From what we could see, the fire came very close to destroying Crown King itself. Thankfully, the firefighters prevented that tragedy. We ate lunch at a restaurant owned by a couple of Mike's friends. It was a good lunch and a very interesting place. Afterwards, we rode over to a campground and past one of Mike's, Tavia's and my favorite places. It is an overlook that gives a great view looking West. The fire had just about destroyed the area. The picture with Mike sitting on the stump is at the lookout. This tree used to have a sway limb that you could sit in almost like a swing. It was very sad, but we still had a wonderful day. On the way back down the mountain, Mike stopped off to say goodbye to his friends and I went on ahead. I was going slow and there was some traffic on the gravel road. I waved them by me and then heard a "beep" from a siren. A Yavapai county sheriff's deputy stopped me. This time, it was not for an offroad "sticker", but because I didn't have a tag, signals and brake lights for riding on a county maintained road. I almost laughed at him, but kept my cool. I told him I was just an ignorant Alabama man who had ridden here years before and thought I still could. He also gave me a verbal warning and told me I should head straight for my car and trailer. I assured him I would. If I ever ride in Arizona again, I will leave my four wheeler at home and rent one there. Nonetheless, a good time was had by all.
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