A Great, Memorable Sunday Ride

Sunday morning I headed out for a motorcycle ride under blue skies decorated with white, wispy contrail clouds. I successfully backed my bike out of her garage, onto the scary, slippery gravel. The I successfully maneuvered down and up the deep ditch between the storage facility driveway and the the road. Then I settled into my long awaited, much needed ride. I headed west and traveled 15 miles to Show Low. I turned left onto HWY 260, riding through Pinetop Lakeside then turned right onto HWY 73 at the Hon Dah Casino. I traveled through beautiful mountain, pine tree terrain toward the small towns of Whitewater and Fort Apache. The route took me through Fort Apache Indian Reservation. HWY 73 swooped around and eventually it intersected with HWY 60. Instead of turning right and heading back to Show Low I turned left and headed toward the Scenic Salt River Canyon. I had been there 6 years earlier, in an overheating truck pulling a trailer (not mine). I was a bit distracted by the overheating situation so I didn't really enjoy the scenery before me. So, I headed back there today to take pictures and have a better experience, establishing new and better memories.
I spent a little time taking pictures and chatting with two Harley riding fellows. One was from Tucson and his visiting friend was from Louisiana. They headed off towards Show Low and I followed shortly after.
I eventually made it back to Show Low, rounding a curve, heading east into a cool wind and the sight of huge, black clouds ahead of me. I continued east toward my garage with lightning and thunder all around me. I was hoping to make it to the garage before the rain started falling. The wet highway told me it had already rained. I hoped it was done raining. I don't mind getting wet, but it sure can leave a dirty mess on a bike. Well, about two miles from the garage I started to feel wet stuff on my face. Rain. No, those hard, round pelting things were hail. OUCH!! It felt like my lips were going to explode. And it sounded like my windshield was going to explode. I crouched down behind the windshield to protect my vulnerable, exposed, delicate little face. I was so focused on the hail hitting me and my bike I forgot about the danger the hail produces on the road for a motorcycle. I had visions of me and my bike skidding and sliding sideways across the road. I skillfully slowed down, and made it safely to the storage facility, just as the hail subsided. Since there had been very little traffic passing me, my bike and I stayed clean. After I parked my bike in her dry garage home I found a soft clean cloth and wiped her down. She looked pretty. The hail did a good job of cleaning all the bugs off my chaps and helmet. So, even riding a motorcycle in a hail storm has a silver lining.