Lunch at the Velvet Elvis

[Bisbonian]

To celebrate a new job, beautiful weather and a good life in general a few of us decided to go out for a ride this morning. When I initially asked Jesse where he wanted to go he came up with the Bisbee Breakfast Club, fine except that it's only 5 minutes from my house and doesn't give me that much of a ride. We eventually settled on the Velvet Elvis in Patagonia.

We decided to meet up downtown at 0900 so I had to leave a little early to make it up there. It was a nice clear morning so I decided to stop off on the way up and take a few Guzzi pics since I hadn't done any yet.

We're in the middle of the monsoon season here in the "high desert" so we've been getting a bit of rain lately. Actually it's the driest I've seen it in the past couple of years but the Cottonwoods are still green as I come over the San Pedro River.

I get to the meetin place a little early and wait to see who shows up. Jesse rolls in a couple of minutes before 9 with a passenger who's legs are flailing around like a monkey on the back of his KLR. I mention it when they pull up and she says she's fine. We then notice that the passenger pegs aren't down and she's just been holding her feet up to keep them out of the chain.

Morrison pulls up a few minutes later, we hang around a bit to see if anyone else is coming then take off. There's basically 2 ways to Patagonia from Sierra Vista, you can head down the highway and just bop along on the straight roads or you can go across Fort Huachuca and out the West Gate on a route full of elevation and directional changes. We've opted for the interesting route but it's evidently fraught with its own challenges as the Fort has rules regarding motorcycles and gear. Now we all work on Post either as Civilians or Soldiers so this isn't a surprise to anyone, except evidently Jesse's passenger.

We stop at the gate where the guards notice she's wearing some sort of slipper and has just a reflective belt on instead of the mandated vest. Seeing our ride getting delayed in an unacceptable manner before it's really even started Jesse kicks her to the curb and we take off one member lighter.

We pick up our final riders, Travis and Laura as we pass through the Fort and we're off! Somehow I get to lead the pack, probably because I'm the only one who knows where we're going. It makes for tough group photos but I do my best.

 

[Bisbonian]

We get to the West Gate, which is really out in the boondocks and we're finally back on public roads. Hwy 83 through Sonoita is really not in great shape, there are plenty of potholes and ripples in the pavement but it's the most interesting way to get where we're going.

After awhile we meet up with Hwy 82 and it's mostly a straight shot to Patagonia from here. It's nice to be able to see a ways down the road so I can get some pictures of my riding partners.

We arrive in Patagonia a little early. Velvet Elvis doesn't open until 1130 and it's 1030, stupid Google Maps trying to estimate riding time...

We walk around Patagonia a little and soak up the atmosphere.

Evidently if your camel breaks down in Patagonia they have just the store for you...

 

[Bisbonian]

The Camel Parts place had a really interesting door, so of course we took pictures of it.

I also liked the rebar Ocotillo they had in the yard. This is one of those things I feel I should be able to make, however I know that mine will come out looking like a bunch of sticks of rebar glued together with chewing gum.

Travis and Laura needed to get going to pick up the kids so we headed back to the bikes for some farewell pictures, the rest of us weren't leaving until the Elvis pizza was eaten.

Jesse, Morrison and I wandered around for a while longer but before we knew it the time was upon us!

They even had a little guy to welcome us in

The menu doesn't have that much on it and if you want you can get just a regular pizza, but why would we ride out for just a couple of pieces of pepperoni?

The gourmet page is where we turned

 

[Bisbonian]

Myself, I can't resist a pizza with the name of El Sassy so I had to get one of those; I find it's even better if you use a sassy voice when you order it. Morrison went for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly; but without the bad and the ugly. Jesse told the waiter he'd have the Chef's choice. The waiter just looked at him like a cow looks at an oncoming train...

Jesse says, "no really, bring whatever you want and I'll like it."

I think this was too much pressure for the waiter, he told him he'd get The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly as well.

We sat around waiting for our pizza, snapped a picture of the namesake

Eventually our food came, you can't rush a gourmet pizza.

El Sassy

The GBU

Evidently it looks good to Jesse.

After lunch we rolled back out to the bikes and discussed route plans to get back. Jesse and Morisson decided to go back the way we came, I elected to head back down Hwy 82 to Hwy 80 so I could drive through Tombstone on my way home. I actually cuts quite a bit of mileage off for me not to have to go through the Fort.

Even though the road is rather straight it doesn't mean it's without it's own charm.

I rode through Tombstone but didn't stop at historic Allen Street or anything like that. You know how it is when you live next to something, it just isn't necessarily that enticing anymore.

Cruising along I noticed that my camera battery was about dead, time to be a little pickier with what I'm taking pictures of I guess.

Coming into Bisbee I chose to head up over the divide rather than go through the tunnel, it's much more picturesque up there.

I had to be careful, we had a wildfire up here earlier this year and the monsoon rains have washed a lot of the dirt and rock down the mountainside. But I made it home okay.

 

[Rugar]

Great ride report with lots of nice photos. Thanks for sharing!