What a wonderful day to ride today. Sixty-two degrees and no wind under a sky with only light, wispy clouds as we pulled out of the motel and headed West again on Interstate 10. First gasoline stop was at Deming, New Mexico. A lot of miles to ride today and we expected some heat before getting to Tucson, so we wanted to break up the ride into four stops. Nice easy ride though since New Mexico and Arizona both have 75 MPH speed limits most of the way. Next stop after Deming was at Lordsburg, just about the half way point. Took a short snack break and then back West again on Interstate 10, stopping 20 miles down the road at the Arizona state line for an ABC's of Touring picture. A nicer New Mexico state sign was just across the highway, so we got a better picture of a New Mexico state sign also. More beautiful scenery today, into the mountains, some up and down, but not many curves, but the constant changes in terrain plus watching out for the tractor-trailer moving along at 80+ MPH keeps things interesting. Third stop was a Wilcox, Arizona, and since our motel is in North Tucson, I didn't want to risk trying for the last 95+ miles without one last stop. Last gasoline stop was at Sahuarita, leaving exactly 21 miles to the motel. Nice motel, with a Denney's within a short walking distance. As a plus, we got here an hour early since Arizona does not recognize day light savings time. My watch said 2:45 when we arrive and the clock in the motel read 1;45PM. Plenty of time to unload, clean up, relax and get some computer work done before supper. Into the motel after a great ride of 276 miles today, 3,111 miles this trip, 152,003 total miles. Total for motel was: Room charge $58.49 plus $6.73 shown as state tax for a total of $65.22.
View from the Rear by Peggy:
Sunny, 62 degrees at 7:50AM, MST - light winds 5-10MPH - Didn't leave Las Cruces 'til 9:20AM - wore sleeveless top as supposed to get warmer as the day goes on. We rode West on I-10 going over a narrow portion of the 'Rio Grande' - Mac owes me $2.00 as he bet me that we'd already passed over it the day before. Rode past the new Barnett Harley Shop and didn't stop as we had no desire to.
Border check point for all vehicles - they just passed everyone through... Continuously, we saw big, yellow signs that said 'Dusty Storms Next 15 Miles'; 'Zero Visibility', etc. When we'd go 15 miles, the signs would be posted again.
Gased up in Deming, New Mexico at a Texaco - prices $2.49; $2.59 and premium was $2.69.
We rode alongside miles and miles of railroad repair - new railroad ties in stacks every 25-50 feet beside the railroad tracks. Many trains going both ways but slowed up or stopped through construction areas. Near town of Gage, still in New Mexico, saw a huge number of railroad workers and all kinds of heavy equipment.
Landscape is dotted with those cactus/palm, looking plants - riding through the plains, mountains in the distance surrounding us. We seem to be climbing and it's bcooler passing through town of Quincy and wind has picked up.
Crossed over the Continental Divide at 11:00AM, MST at an elevation of 4,585 feet.
Arizona State Line and on the opposite side of road a nice 'Welcome to New Mexico' sign. We took both pictures as the Arizona sign was smack dab in the middle of the highway.
The mountains to our Southwest had white peaks - must be snow.... Rode by more 'blowing dust' signs and it's getting warmer.
Exit 366 'Bowie' has sign advertising 'Baskin and Robbins' ice cream - Mac didn't stop - I had seen this billboard 46 miles ago and had been dreaming of a fantastic cone, lol....
Scenery has changed to huge nursery/groves with Pecan trees and other bushes growing. 'Blowing Dust' signs again - saw a tractor trailer laying on it's side on the opposite side of the highway about 22 miles East of Willcox.
We're near mile marker 358 and noticed my 'cottage cheese' clouds in the sky - sure enough, can feel the air is cooler. By the way, the speed limit here on I-10 has been 75MPH - didn't want to look at Mac's speed... Also, I-10 is called 'Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway'.
Mile marker 322 - heading into the mountains - sign says 'Entering Texas Canyon'... HUGE boulders/rocks sitting or balancing on top of each other - what a site...!! Riding through these mountains speed limit is still 75. We're 57 miles East of Tucson. It's sooo beautiful..!! Continuous mountain ranges all around us - occasionally I can get the view behind us from the side-view mirrors and it's AWESOME..!!
Getting warmer - can feel the heat in the air and coming off the pavement. Riding past a large variety of desert cactus growing alongside the road - like what we'd see growing in those small pots in Home Depot.
Just spotted four low-flying jets in the sky - Davis Montan (sp) AFB is in this area. Tucson is a big city and again they built high roads that crisscross and go above each other - have to say these are pretty with the colorful flower designs covering the highway supports - the noise barriers are of a pretty color too with a fancy design painted on them. I remember El Paso had the colorful highways, too.
Tomorrow on our way to Yuma, we'll pass the Giant Saquaro Cactus that are near Picacho - hopefully the same cactus will be there that Mac took a picture of me alongside of in 2000, 2002, 2004 and now, 2005. It's huge....
By the time we got into the motel it was really getting hot out - waiting for the traffic lights just made the leathers hotter. When we checked into the motel, Mac looked at the clock and said 'who changed the time'? It was only 2:00PM - so we are actually in Pacific Coast Time as Tucson does not go along with dayling savings time...
Most of the above I wrote while we were riding today - it's not too hard to do if it's warm enough that I don't need gloves on and/or that the roads aren't too bumpy - I keep a small pad, usually from the motel, and a pen in my vest pocket to jot things down otherwise I'd forget because there's sooo much to see...