Q: How to exit east through San Diego, by the shortest route, without avoiding traffic signals?
A: Not possible!
TIP: Leaving the City of San Diego via University Avenue is definitely not a good idea!
We had to negotiate scores of traffic lights to get out of town, which is always heavy going, especially in the midday heat. By the time we arrived at the Lemon Grove / Spring Valley area - and therefore out into the beginnings of countryside - our good laid plans had all gone astray; I took Hwy-94 to the right, whilst Mack appeared, from my point of view, to head straight for the more northerly Intestate-8 to make his progress eastwards. Anyway, he went his way - and me, determined to avoid yet another Interstate ride went south-eastwards towards the Mexican border.
And what a ride I had?! Hwy-94 is twisty and almost devoid of all traffic .. er, except for the multitudes of 4x4 Border Patrol vehicles! .. hundreds of 'em there are down there. At one point, just after the tiny township of Potrero, I must have been no more than a quarter of a mile from Mexico. I would like to have stopped and taken some pics, but was afraid of attracting attention to myself.
50 miles [80 km] - around 75 minutes - after last seeing Mack out of the LH corner of my misting-up visor, I emerge from my nervous fun onto I-8(E) at Manzanita, and join-in the monotony, at a buffety 75 mph, with the usual fleet of 18-wheel trucks .. :o(
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Saturday, April-12
Still determined to keep off Interstates whenever possible, and after a poor night's sleep, I take a direct northerly route [Hwy-111] out of the sleepy township of El Centro towards Brawley where I then take a right onto the Ben Hulse Highway .. which at one stretch could have been mistaken for a ride across the Sahara Desert ..
.. see what I mean
Up onto a ridge for a quick break to survey the territory ahead - and drink some cool water from my new Camelbak (thanks again Mack .. :o)[Between you and me .. I reckon that I've seen just about enough desert now]
After some lunch at Blythe I have a decision to make: (a) slip across the eastbound carriageway of I-10; or (b) add another 50-60 miles to my journey into Phoenix, by following the west bank of Colorado River up north before turning right and crossing into Arizona over the bridge at 'Earp'.
Naturally I choose option (b) - as this means that I can stay in the state of California for maybe up to another hour or so - cuz who knows when I'll be back again?
.. and ride through little hamlets that don't even appear on the map. But they exist all the same. I guess they must be called something.Now looking east across the Colorado and slightly down river to Arizona, as this long and labouring river winds its way down to the Gulf of California ..
..and upstream in the direction I'm headed
By around 4:00pm I turn right at Earp and cross the River. This picture was taken at speed, which is the reason for the bad camera attitude.Notice how blue the water is compared to the brown hue it would have had, say a further 200 miles north, around the Grand Canyon region.
It's now six o'clock, and I'm just outside Wickenburg, AZ, on US-60.The sun is setting fast in the west, casting long shadows ahead, and as I take this picture in front of these Giant Saguaro cactus .. there's not a sound to be heard, anywhere around. What a change from the usual drone from my 117 bhp engine's power pack.
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I end the day's ride two hours later, after 340 miles, in complete darkness outside the reception area of a Phoenix motel.
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Sunday, April-13
Now I wanna say something about the motel scene here in the USA. It's a bleedin' lottery!
There, I've said it.
You just can't rely on price or standards from one group or chain of motels to the next. Even individual motels within the same group or chain. It all varies from one place to another - and therefore it pays to do a little background research work in advance.
Take last night for instance: It was dark by the time I wanted to call it a day - and all needed was a bed, and a shower. A very mediocre Motel-6 (large national chain) charged me (single occupant) $89.99 + tax. AND the air-conditioning unit didn't work that efficiently .. AND I was woken-up at 5:00am by some anonymous Hispanic builder's labourer who just couldn't get his clapped-out and rusting Chevrolet pick-up's engine started.
Incidentally, just what does, "Mierda .. Mierda .. Mierda .. usted va a hacerme atrasado para el trabajo .. BASTARDO" - mean in English?
Monday, April-14
On the other hand, down in Tucson - after a short'ish [135 mile] and lazy ride the previous day - I checked in at this Econo Lodge motel where, for a better, quieter and more pleasant stay (AND all the facilities & amenities actually worked .. inc, water in the swimming pool) - yet I only get charged $39.95 + tax? Considerably less than half the previous night's rip-off for a much higher standard of accommodation.TIP: Be careful with your choice of lodgings anywhere in North America. And woe betide anyone who turns-up at a motel reception after dark, looking quite bedraggled and in a clear state of tiredness .. cuz the buggers'll gitcha, if they think they can get away with it. Just like anywhere else in the world, really, I s'pose?!
.. but enough of my whinging
It's now shortly after breakfast, Monday-14, and a quick 10 minute [8 mile] ride south brings me to the entrance of the Pima Air and Space Museum; the last resting home and taxi runway of a multitude of historic aircraft, and the site of the fabled Graveyard of Planes or The Boneyard - one of the largest aircraft storage and preservation facilities in the world .. 
.. all no doubt 'pre-loved' by one of the USA's armed forces. But now here, wrapped and waiting for action again, perhaps - or to be stripped down for spare parts .. all at a whim and/or the drop of a senior military man's hat.
All these billions of dollars-worth [taxpayers' money, mind you] of overwhelmingly destructive power, all enveloped-up in a heat resistant composite & wax .. doing nothing
What daft bugger ordered these [eh-hem] shall we say '.. surplus to requirements' aircraft to be built in the first place, huh?
The Boneyard bus tour ends after an hour or so - and I'm back inside the museum, its outside hangers and display grounds. The first exhibit you see as you enter is a reproduction of the Wright brothers first powered aircraft .. and Wrightly so 
'The Bumble Bee' - designed and built for the sole purpose of taking the record for the world’s smallest aircraft, which it did on January 28, 1984 at Marana, Arizona .. just up the road from here, back towards Phoenix .. just a bit.
Outside : The Aero Spacelines 377-SG Super Guppy - Designed to carry very large, but relatively light cargos - such as segments of the Saturn rocket that powered the Apollo Space Program. When you see it, you ask yourself '... how did they ever get this darn thing off the ground?'
Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe - or 'Skycrane'
.. and it was really good to see a WWII veteran present, the Hawker Hurricane, which was the first British fighter to have both a single wing and retractable landing gear - AND carried a whopping total of eight machine guns mounted in its wings.This aeroplane bore the brunt of the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940. Without its immense contribution, the world would be a different place and I would probably be talking German right now ..
.. Achtung, Achtung - blick zum himmel!!
.. 'nuff said. I then ride the short distance of around 60 miles [97 km] to perhaps the most renowned of all Arizona's old mining camps - Tombstone - "The Town too Tough to Die"
.. and straightaway - even before arriving at my digs - take a look around the legendary Boothill Graveyard
And here are the last resting places of Mssrs Tom and Frank McLaury, and young Billy Clanton (19) who were 'murdered'[?] on the streets of Tombstone - just around the corner from here - in 1881. Tragic results of of the OK Corral battle, which took place between the Earp Brothers with "Doc" Holliday and the cowboys. These three men - well two men and a boy, actually - were killed and three of the so-called 'good guys' were wounded.
Unfortunate fellow
Another unfortunate fellow .. for having a name like that?!
And here lies [?] [?] .. And why not?------------------------
Tuesday, April-15
It's my daughter's birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! again, my dearest Melanie.
Up with the lark again this morning after another shite-of-a-night's sleep.Couldn't help but notice the day's first rays of sunshine lighting-up these exotic succulent plants around my motel's grounds.
Dunno what they're called though
.. perhaps I'll look it all up when I get back home
Mid-morning and I take a stroll around town
Take away the touristy attractions and I guess the place is more-or-less the same as it was back in the late 1880s - during its heydays
The world's largest rosebush is here in Tombstone. It's a white Lady Banksia whose original root came over from Scotland in 1885.
From a single trunk, it spreads over an arbor that covers over 8,000 square feet. Throughout April it blooms .. so I guess I'm lucky to see this
.. don't look much like roses to me though [?] .. but what do I know about such things?!
I want one
And so just before 2:00pm I head for 'The Deadliest Corner in Tombstone' .. 
.. where wooden dummies warm-up the crowd with a [some might say 'pathetic'] re-enactment, with recorded voices and background sounds, which all leads up to ..
.. an even more wooden replay by real actors .. yep, unfortunately they're even more wooden than their warm-up counterparts.There are four live 'acts' in total, spread over approx 45 minutes. Call me a party-pooper-mr 'ooper, but I left after the first 'comedy' play. My excuse to the doorman being that I had an important appointment to attend .. which was partly true
.. with my silver machine. By three o'clock I'm back on the road and heading south
.. towards the mining - mainly copper - town of Bisbee. Here's open cast Lavender Pit. If I had more time then it would have been good to go underground into the Copper Queen Mine tunnels
.. but I needed to press-on down another 25 miles [40 km] to the US border town of Douglas; well patrolled, again for obvious reasons, by a fleet of Border Patrol 4x4 vehicles. There's Mexico, barely a mile away to my right, as I turn the LH corner and head north-eastwards.
Around 50 miles later and I'm crossing over the line into yet another state, New Mexico, which became the 47th state in the Union on January 6, 1912.Only the neighboring State of Arizona - the state from which I’m just leaving - is ‘younger’ - in terms of statehood - and then only by a whisker, as Arizona joined-in the party the following month, on February 14 - St Vanentine’s Day - 1912. These two sister states, therefore, in this the far southwest of America, completed the continguous 48 states of a united and great nation.
But enough of my historical yakkin’! I now need to roll on the throttle to complete my last 95 miles [153 km] before dusk, in Silver City, New Mexico.
Tomorrow’s only another day away .. and I can’t wait for it .. :o)
