Day 310 June 4, 2017 Tombstone to Senoita, AZ

Highs forecast in the mid 90's today, so once again we leave early. On the road at 06:30, and it is already over 70, so knee warmers are not needed.


Today's map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21714880

Tombstone is up in the Tombstone Hills, so the first order of business today was heading down hill.


The Dragoon Mountains, located north and east of Tombstone.


AZ-82, our route to Senoita, diverged from AZ-80 just before a Border Patrol check point. We didn't stop, and nobody chased us, so I guess we did OK.


Descending into the San Pedro River valley.


At least there sometimes is a river here. Not today.


Once we crossed the "river" our long climb for the day began. We got as slow as 4 mph. Sometimes we were at 6 mph, sometimes 8 or even 10 mph, but the climb never gave up for 15 miles.


Going so slowly did give us ample opportunity to admire the scenery. When we sail with Margaret's brother Jerry, we sometimes joke about 'another f'ing day in paradise.' This country we are traveling through elicits the same feelings. The mountains, the desert, the incredible variety of plants, is all astoundingly beautiful. The vistas take your breath away. But. Yeah, just another fantastically, breathtakingly beautiful f'ing mountain coming up.




At this point, only 7 miles left in this climb.










At any rate, the land opened up a bit, and we got a very nice descent, reaching 37 mph.


Coming into Senoita. Our motel is the brown building with the green roof on the left.


It is 10:58, and we are in the restaurant next to our motel about to have lunch.


Tomorrow we ride to Green Valley and a visit with our friends, Tim and Julie. The map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21784031

Day 308 and 9 June 2 and 3, 2017 Douglas, AZ to Tombstone, AZ

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. 

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. 

Mountains from the flood plane.

The same mountains after climbing, and climbing, and climbing...

Wanna live in the middle of nowhere with floods and sandstorms as neighbors? Have I got a deal for you!

Our fan club. We stopped  here to take a rest and the cows stared at us the entire time. 

The view of Tombstone, AZ as we neared town. Beautiful views from up high.

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.

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.

Day 307 June 1, 2017 Rodeo, NM to Douglas, AZ

Over the last weeks, we have wholly embraced getting on the road early. Temperatures are more moderate, and winds are usually less strong early in the day. Scenery looks pretty too.


As an added benefit today, we would be riding into Arizona. Arizona does not follow Daylight Saving Time which effectively puts it on the same time as California which does. It also puts it one hour earlier than New Mexico. Practical effect, we got to Douglas at 11 AM local time. Oh yes, we also got to cycle in our 22nd state.


Looking backwards into New Mexico. Notice that when they put the states together, they didn't put them together quite right, so they had to curve the road.


Here is the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21511514
Kind of an up and down day. As an added feature to the map, click on the <map> box in the upper right, and choose <Esri Topo>. Gives you a look at the geography.

Our fans were out early today.


Good to be warned. Abandoned railroad grade on the right.


 Just east of Apache, AZ, we passed the Geronimo Surrender Monument.
 

At about mile 20 we left the San Simon Valley and entered the San Bernardino Valley. This was also the top of our first climb today.


Weeeeee!


Margaret actually got a picture of a bird in flight today. Tough to do.


 At mile 33 or so we turned NW to get to the west of the Parilla Mountains.


Yep, need to get around, not over, those.


 We have to go around the nose of this mountain (to the right hand side).


Getting there.


The view from the other side.


The reward for all this climbing? A ten mile descent into Douglas.


Next we ride to T0mbstone, AZ and a rest day.

Day 306 May 31, 2017 Lordsburg to Rodeo, NM

I am having problems getting photos to upload. Hopefully< I will add them soon.   : )  

Sunrise in Lordsburg NM

Because we expected a headwind, we got our day underway by 7:30 AM. The directions were pretty simple. Take the entrance ramp to merge onto I-10, continue 17 miles to NM 80. Ride south on NM 80. The hotel will be on the left at mile 47.

We use secondary roads whenever possible, today it was not possible. There are no secondary roads that will get us from Lordsburg to NM 80 and Rodeo, NM. You might imagine riding on an interstate highway to be challenging to say the least, but it was not. New Mexico does not have a large population and thus the interstate was not very busy. Additionally, there was a wide shoulder so there was space between us and the 75+ mph traffic. We actually wished we could stay on the interstate longer! As it turned out, NM 80 was a pleasant road as well.

 All day we road between the Peloncillo and  Chiricahua mountain ranges in the Chiricahua Desert. The scenery was breathtaking. After a long climb, we stopped to take pictures at Granite Gap. The gap is absolutely breathtaking. We ended up spending 10 or 15 minutes just looking around trying to find the correct superlative to describe it. There are none. They all fall short. Weeks of climbing allowed us a view of the land below second to none. It took my breath away, not only for its beauty, but for the fact that all the effort gaining altitude over the last couple of weeks got us there. We earned the view.

 

John and I have fallen in love with these
Soap tree Yuccas. Their scent is lovely
 and the insects are mad for them.

Further on, we happened across the Chiricahua Desert Museum. Having made good time, we stopped to look around. Unlike the last desert museum we went to, this one focused on the animals. We knew the desert had rattlesnakes, but had no idea how many types there are. The museum had live examples of at least a dozen different rattlesnakes. They also had live lizards, turtles, and tortoises. Additionally, there were examples of anti-venom throughout time. It was an interesting time.

We stayed the night at the Mountain Valley Lodge and RV Park. It is like a small oasis in the desert. The grounds were landscaped with desert plants in bloom and filled with a wide variety of birds. Our cabin was a charming 2 bedroom cabin. In the morning, we were able to sit at the kitchen table chatting while we enjoyed our breakfast and coffee.

Soon we will head to Douglas, AZ, 47 miles away. More great views... and climbing. :)

Sunset in Rodeo NM.