When I was a boy in elementary school, the classes were equipped with maps mounted on pedestals usually positioned off the to side of the classroom and the maps, I suppose they were more like map stands – with multiple maps in layers, were large enough to be used in instruction from the front of the class so they were actually large enough that important features like national borders, capitol cities and the like were easily seen by the kids in the class – even the kids in back. So you could stare at these things from your little desk while the teacher was droning on and on and on about something or another. I don’t remember much of what they said, but I would stare at those maps and dream of far-away places while waiting for the bell to ring and recess to begin.
Travel
I had a hankering for a genuine ‘Bertos-Style’ Burrito and decided this time, it had to be Humbertos in Gila Bend. Period.
The One and Only Humbertos of Gila Bend, Arizona
So to justify the journey, we planned a trip to Organ Pipe National Monument on the Arizona, Mexico border and on the way back up to Phoenix, we could detour along highway 86 through the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation and make a quick tour of Kitt Peak on our way back. Continue Reading
We had stopped at quite a few places on the way up to Springerville, the end of our journey on US Highway 191; sometimes called “The Devil’s Highway” since it’s original Hwy number was 666, but people were stealing all the 666 signs so it was changed to 191. If you keep following it, it eventually goes all the way up to Canada but our plan was to overnight it in Springerville and then return to Phoenix via Hwy 260 to 73 so as to loop around the Fort Apache Indian Reservation going through Whiteriver, Ft Apache, and finally meeting up with 60 and taking that back home.
But first I’d like to tell you a little about Springerville. Continue Reading

Tunnel – Made Possible by the Miracle of Dynamite
When we last left our intrepid adventurers they were sipping Starbucks and, from a safe distance, checking out enormous mines. https://gregole.com/2016/03/08/devils-highway-roadtrip-part-1/
But time had come to Enter the Devil’s Highway… Continue Reading
Look on a map of the State of Arizona and in the lower right hand (southeast) corner is a highway running north from Morenci to Springerville – Highway 191 and this approximately 90 mile stretch is the curviest road in the United States. I’ve wanted to ride a motorcycle on this road since before I owned a motorcycle, and this last weekend made a reconnaissance in the SUV. And now I’m here to tell you about it. Continue Reading
I got a motorcycle. It’s a Triumph Bonneville T100, 2014 new off the lot. It’s a lot of fun to ride so I took it for a spin down to Gillespie Dam. It was a blast.
We’ve had a wonderful spring here in Phoenix, Arizona – cool by our standards and it even rained here for the first time in recorded history earlier this month. But now the sun is back and it is beautiful. I can’t say I like every single hot day here, but all in all I like the heat. And I like the sun.
It was rumored, in fact hoped, that the Philae lander might wake up from its slumbers when summer approached. If you recall, the Philae lander is the first ever probe to make a soft landing on a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Continue Reading
For some weird reason I started thinking about dates today it being the first work-day of March and the second day of Meteorological Spring. Continue Reading
Chicago. Third largest city in the United States. The windy city, the second city, the city with big shoulders.
I’ve visited it a couple of times and always had a great time and had a business trip there late last week and over the weekend. The term “business trip” has two parts: business and trip. I’ll be covering the trip part in this blog and the question is; did I have a great time? Yes, yes, yes! Because Chicago rocks that’s why. Continue Reading
Regular readers know I am interested in humanity developing underwater cities as soon as possible as potential party-spots for owners of personal submarines – and I am hopeful as a late-middle-aged dude Continue Reading