Adios Arizona!

Goodbye Grand Canyon state...Hello Land of Enchantment!! The last few days have been our final push through southern Arizona and into New Mexico (which we'll do tomorrow). As a disclaimer, the pictures below won't even begin to do justice to the sites and wide expanses of rugged beauty we've been passing through. It's almost a shame to try to capture it in pictures, yet we know no other way. So please use your imaginations and pretend your in an Imax theater.

Leaving the greater Phoenix metro area took for-ev-errrrr. Seriously, that is one sprawling city! From there we hit the hills and spent a rather rainy afternoon climbing up to Superior, AZ. For those of you who know what wet desert smells like, *insert olfactory memory here*. For those of you who don't, imagine dirt, metal, and sage mixed together...it's lovely. Our host family in Superior was...unique. We stayed in their airstream and were very happy to be out of the cold rain and snuggled in with two movies that they let us borrow (from their collection of thousands). Superior is a "bedroom" community for Phoenix and local copper mining towns so life in town was a little on the desolate side....but apparently Hollywood likes to use it.

Even though we thought the climb to Superior was steep, we didn't even consider what was ahead....getting out of Superior. This mountain pass was beautiful (as per usual), but slow going. We spent about 2 hours climbing the 1,600ft to Top Of The World, AZ at 4,500ft. It was only a 27 mile day, but we worked for each and every one of those miles!

This day brought us into the heart of copper mining country where the mountains look like they've been undressed and the mining companies own the land under the towns...so don't plan to get too attached to your property! The funniest sight we saw were about 25 cows grazing in this tiny plot on the side of a very steep hill. Apparently, these cows are being used to replenish the copper-savaged mountains with their poop nutrients.

 

Globe, AZ was out home for the evening and we bunked up at the community center/pool changing area. This center also shares its land with a baseball field and 1,000 year old Native American ruins. Check out the Besh-Ba-Gowah to learn more. We then spent the evening at the best bar in town; the Drift Inn Saloon, were we partook in their Super Bowl potluck, made a few friends and won some Pats paraphernalia. Globe gets high marks inour book for hospitality and general awesomeness.

It was a long day leaving Globe, 80 rolling miles of which 50 were through the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. This was a place where everyone had told us to "just not hang around too long". What we passed through wasn't much different from most other small towns we had seen on this journey. That is, towns where the poverty is painfully obvious, stores are nonexistent and the dogs are scary. This was the first time I had to use my pepper spray to ward of a dog who we just couldn't outbike. We ended the evening in the home of a lovely Mormon couple in Safford, AZ....a Mormon enclave it seems. We took part in a potluck at their home and learned a bit about the Mormon Richardsons...who knew!?! Below is a picture of our host's house in Safford....see the mountain snow?

Our last Arizona stretch was today as we peddled a short 36 miles into Duncan. Stinkin' beautiful! Tonight we are staying in a teardrop travel trailer behind the Simpson Hotel with our neighbors the chickens, cats and billy goat Pepper. We're pretty pleased and excited for a good sleep because tomorrow looks to be 72 miles uphill.....

For this of you who are wondering what our days look like, here's a quick overview: Up at 7ish, pack, eat, bike, bike, bike, bike, eat, bike, bike, bike, snack, bike, bike, reconfirmed address of host/camping area, bike, bike, arrive at location, unpack, "shower", eat, prep for next day, in bed by 9. It's an ironically very full day for doing such a simple activity. We spend a lot of time seeking out coffee in the morning, wine at night, and fantasizing about food...all the time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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