Getting ready for Central and South America, Greater Phoenix, Arizona 21. - 30.1.2015

My bike was ready to go and there were only small things left at Skippy's bike: valve clearance check (and maybe adjustment) and fixing the rear shock. Skippy wanted a few nights in "solitude" before we continue our couch-surfing tour north of Phoenix.

Hyperpro seals waiting to be installed

I had something very exciting to look forward to. One of my favorite My ever favorite band is Judas Priest and so happens that the lead singer Rob Halford has a house in Paradise Valley (Phoenix)! Imagine that!!! Rob is sooooo coool!!! Pity for me that he seemed to be on tour in Australia making other fans happy :D

Anyway we passed by house and yeah nobody there ;p

Rob Halford's residence in Paradise Valley

The view from the Halford residence (the house on the left)

Then we invaded Rich and Lorraine's home. Rich was a bit concerned about how all the dogs would get along and in "worst" case we would be able to camp in the front yard. Now that sounded first spooky to us. We had wildest imaginations about the front yard being besides the street, all the neighbors coming by and watching what the crazy Finns were doing. It's good to have fantasy :D
We gave it a try with the dogs and after one day everybody was ok and got along with each other. Rich and Lorraine - thank you very much for your hospitality!

Ulpu found her spot on top of my tank bag.

Trixie

Henry

Oh yeah ... lovely ... more please!!!

Walking in desert landscape.

People cover the tops of the cacti to prevent them from freezing during cold nights.

We take our dogs for a walk and the neighbor takes the horse for a ride ;)

Steep hills on this mountain road. Skippy had good evening runs here!

Shangri La - Nudist resort. Prices for accommodation were a bit too high for our taste (also assuming that the average age is above mine was a no-go factor).

We had many beautiful sunsets.

Real veggie dogs - they loved ALL veggies and fruits!

Lyra a little bit exhausted? Maybe she is dreaming of snowy Finland ;)

Rich and Lorraine with Trixie and Henry.

Besides the fixing of Skippy's bike, I only needed a few basic spare parts for my bike as well as for the Suzi. Also our personal gear needed a fresh-up. Since our POV HD helmet/bike camera went more and more broken I decided to buy a GoPro and see how this would work. Skippy's Vibram shoes were falling apart and we were not able to find a new pair which fitted her needs. Before spending hours and hours riding through the city she ordered them online.

When we went shopping we found this pet shop which sells puppies while holding them in horrible conditions. Many of those puppies will end up in shelters after they lose their "cuteness" and people realize that there comes responsibility with a pet. Lorraine told us that it is illegal in Phoenix to sell dogs like this, however this mall was obviously just outside the border of Phoenix.

Not fun at all. This scenario broke our hearts! We were wondering from what kind of puppy mills these are coming from...

This was just a fraction. The shop had at least two more of this 2x3 boxes.

Puppies running on wire fence. Some already had signs of malformation on their paws because of that. Almost like some fur farm!

There are very many rescue shelters out there with plenty of pets who are waiting for a new home. Please adopt a pet instead of buying one! Every time you by a pet from a breeder a shelter animal looses it's chances for a good life!
"Approximately 3 to 4 million cats and dogs—many of them healthy, young, and adoptable—must be euthanized in animal shelters every year."

The valves on the Suzi were still within tolerance and the rear shock was fixed quickly. Rich and Lorraine would get some other visitors shortly and we needed to find another accommodation. Our timing was poor because it was Superbowl weekend in Phoenix. This meant that prices in all motels were sky-high, campgrounds were also pretty booked and then, do we really want to spend an extended weekend with drinking, shouting, barbecuing folks - maybe not. The next cheapest motel was in Globe and that was where we headed next.

Riding around in greater Phoenix area (700+km - yeah!)

Skippy shows off her new clothes ... very soft material!!! :P