Skip to main content

Day 11-Safford

 It was another beautiful sunny day with bluebird skies and a big puffy clouds. We had 79 miles ahead of us, which was actually shortened by mutiny amongst us riders. We requested hotel accommodations in Safford rather than an additional 6 miles out to a state park, and a 6 mile return in the morning. This would have meant back to back 84 mile days. We said no thanks and plans were changed.

Today’s route took us out route 70 E. The first 20 miles was pretty much downhill and passed quickly. We took a quick break at mile eight to get snacks at the Apache market. We met Hersom, and Apache men who chatted with us and gave us a blessing. Much of a ride was through the San Carlos Apache Indian reservation. He said we were welcome here.


Route  70 is rolling and except for the traffic was quite enjoyable. The scenery was as usual beautiful. More and more often there are large hills in the middle of deserts that just poke up. The mountains are constant on both sides of the road, in the distance. Mount Turnbill, near the town of Vilas is 8284 feet tall.

We stopped for a quick lunch and got back on the road. That Apache blessing worked its magic when a semi decided to pass a row of cars, and a fire truck, down a hill, as we were coming up. We had to move off the road and off the bikes in order to avoid being flattened. We were grateful to remain safe.


79 miles is a long way so we stopped in Fort Thomas at Meg’s place and establishment run by a woman with down syndrome. We had the best cookies ever — chocolate chips, pretzel bits, and salted caramel. That put me over the finish line!


A pending storm also motivated us to move smartly, but I still took the time to take a picture of the sign that said a portion of the highway had been adopted by the peyote way church of God. Some thing for everyone out here.

Things I learned today:
They grow cotton in Arizona. Pima is one of the towns it grows in.
Arizona drivers are impatient.

Comments

  1. I continue to learn a lot with you. I looked up Meg's Place. Loved it! I also looked up the Peyote Way Church of God. Interesting. Glad you are safe and sound. Hooray to the rider mutiny. Debbie

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1- Ocean Beach to Alpine

 Day 1 is in the books! Great day that started at Dog  Beach and a back wheel dip in the Pacific. Tad, Kathy, and Charlotte met me down there. It was great to see them as we headed out. The ride was flat for the first 25 miles or so, but hot! Temps were in the 90s with blazing sun and clear blue skies. We separated out early into smaller groups. I found good peddling with Sue and Ann. We also crossed paths with Adam and Kelly, the tandem riders. Our route took us to through Mission Gorge regional park which was absolutely gorgeous. A nice pass that cut through the mountains and made it possible for us to miss an incredible climb. No worries; there are plenty more ahead of us. At 30 miles we made sure we were fully loaded with water and electrolytes. I’m not sure if I’ve ever consumed this much fluid in a single day. Then the climb began. On the map it looked evil, almost straight up. In reality it was less steep than it was long. It was 6 miles at about three or 4% grade. It d...

Day 45- Poplarville MS- Rest Day

 Today was our first day of rest after 12 days of riding, so of course I woke up at 1:30 AM. I was absolutely sure it was 6:30 AM and I was ready for the day. I love all these perks of getting older. As luck would have it, there was a lunar eclipse starting right around this time.  I was, of course, wide awake for it. I peeked out of the tent, took a look at the moon,  read for a while, peeked at the moon again, and decided I was hungry. I snuck out to my bike to grab a bar, there being no milk and cookies readily available like there are when this happens at home. I finally called it a night again around three. 630 finally came around for real and I was ready. The Snowflake Donut and Taco store. Beckoned and a bunch of us that off for coffee. The tacos looked pretty good but I held out for brunch back at the campground. After brunch, most of us loaded into the van and headed into New Orleans. We parked in the French quarter and headed right to café Dumond, will became im...

Day 46- Gautier MS

It was a perfect day for an 80 mile ride. We got up really early, planning to get on the road quickly since it was going to be dark by five and we had so far to go. This was no mean feet for me as sleep was hard to come by last night. My bladder woke me at one and four, at which time I was treated to Matt singing the song of his people. And I didn’t need my alarm because the water dripping from the condensation On my tent onto my face was hard to sleep through. Kelly and Adam were on the road by 615. We followed far behind, rolling out an hour later. The roads were awesome right from the beginning. Great pavement and low traffic throughout. Mississippi offered up some treats and some oddities. The first was as we headed into McHenry. On a one and a half mile stretch of road, I counted eight old fire hydrants. And hardly any houses. This roused my curiosity. I passed a man walking a dog and asked him about it. He looked exactly like I expected a rural Mississippian to look, except the d...