Looking at the elevation map for today's ride, we knew it would be slow. In nearly 50 miles, we would be climbing 1,500 feet and falling a third of that. The good news: beautiful views; bad news: 5 hours of climbing up the mountain.
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In Texas, flood areas have poles which displays measurements so that motorists can see
the depth of the water on the road. I'm not sure why NM and AZ don't do the same. |
The day began calmly enough as we cycles through a flood plain. I am accustomed to flood plains next to rivers and streams. In Michigan, rivers swell and overflow in low lying areas. In the west, water flows down the mountains, flooding as it goes. We passed many signs warning of flood waters even though we were at 4,500 feet above sea level. To allow for run off. the road dips making ditches for water to be directed off of the roads and down hill. Flash floods are not uncommon and it would be easy to be carried away in the rushing water.
On the other hand, when it is very dry the same food plane offers no barrier to wind blowing across the desert whipping us dust and sand making visibility poor or non-existence. Lucky, we had neither extreme.
After 18 miles, the road steepened.
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| Mountains from the flood plane. |
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| The same mountains after climbing, and climbing, and climbing... |
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| Wanna live in the middle of nowhere with floods and sandstorms as neighbors? Have I got a deal for you! |
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| Our fan club. We stopped here to take a rest and the cows stared at us the entire time. |
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| The view of Tombstone, AZ as we neared town. Beautiful views from up high. |
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| Main street. |
Tombstone is a tourist town with a lot of history. It's several blocks long with the typical souvenir shops and restaurants. There are shootout reenactments (at 11:00, 12:30 and 1:30!), people dressed in period costumes, museums, and theaters. You can ride a trolley and get the full story of Tombstone in its heyday or walk the boardwalk and read plaques to get a feel for the time. The buildings are original and the events true as far as is known. It is a fun place to go especially if you are in to the old west. From a jaded northern city slicker here is the basic story.
Lots of folks were shot. Lots. Some got away with it and others didn't. There were fires with both arson and unknown causes. People who got away with crimes were run out of town or ran out of town on their own. All the men loved their drinks. Prohibition was not good for the bars business. In short, as I have long suspected, the good old days sucked.
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| The original courthouse. |
Tomorrow we ride 38 miles west to Sonoita, AZ. It will give us a chance to get to know the mountains better and take pictures of the beauty below.
Looking at the elevation map for today's ride, we knew it would be slow. In nearly 50 miles, we would be climbing 1,500 feet and falling a third of that. The good news: beautiful views; bad news: 5 hours of climbing up the mountain. 
On the other hand, when it is very dry the same food plane offers no barrier to wind blowing across the desert whipping us dust and sand making visibility poor or non-existence. Lucky, we had neither extreme. 
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