It was as if the heavens opened up and the Scooter God laid down a path before us and said, “Ride my sons. Behold the beauty that is southern Arizona.”

My visit to Arizona would not have been complete without meeting up with a member of the Sky Island Riders scooter club and going for a little ride across the Tucson desert. When I arrived at Howard’s house, I saw two scoots sitting in the driveway - - a Buddy and a Stella. The Stella was already warming up and the Buddy knew it would be his turn soon. Howard let me ride his Buddy while he rode the Stella. After only a few words and once suited up, we were off.

Howard led me to the Saguaro National Park-East entrance where we proceeded to wind our way through some of the most beautiful desert in the country. The road was one-way and there was not a car to be seen - - just scenic vistas of the valley floor and the city of Tucson.

As if that wasn’t fun enough, we then proceeded to head up Mt. Lemmon. Oh, no scoot fans… Arizona is not flat. Mt. Lemmon rises over 9100 feet above sea level. Only time held us back from continuing to the top of this beautiful and snow-covered mountain.

And of course I had to check out Scoot Over, Tucson’s premier scooter dealership. What a fantastic, first rate operation. James and Beth were very cool and I got a chance to poke around the place a little bit. Thanks guys!

Last, but certainly not least, Howard led me on a little detour back to his house. Let’s just say the route was also, “scenic”. So, if you ever get the chance to ride with Howard and the Sky Island Riders, be sure to ask for, “the short cut.”