| Page Three Day 11 - 1/24/02 miles today 36.04 climbed today 840' WELCOME I love to read the signs along the road. Today we finished the day in Gila Bend. As you enter town a big sign is there to greet you, it read: "WECOME TO GILA BEND Where there are 1,700 friendly people and 5 old grouches." We have some bad news for you. Regretfully Chris has decided to leave the group. Chris plans to continue on his own, at a slower more relaxed pace where he can enjoy the trip more. Chris we will miss you and wish happy trails and safe travels. Last night we camped at a rest stop 30 miles west of Gila Bend. We went and knock on the caretaker’s door at the rest stop. We were very fortunate that Charley was so nice. Charley allowed us to stay there and he even checked on us several times to see if we needed anything or if he can help us in any way. Thank you, Charley. Tonight Chris decided to get a motel in Gila Bend, while Myron and I decided to ride a little further and find a place along side the road. Day 12 - 1/25/02 mileage today 48.72 climbed 1,645' COYOTE CHORUS Today turned out to be a wonderful day. First off we had many nice people honk and wave to say hello. We had no shoulder to ride on so we had to ride in the road, something I prefer not to do. We decided to ride on the opposite side of the road so that, we could easily see on coming vehicles. One benefit to this strategy was that we could look at the people passing us eye to eye. We had many of them wave to us. We were riding through the middle of an Air force bombing range. Myron didn't like it and I was like a little kid. We would have F something fighter jets fly low right over us and then bomb a target. WOW that is cool. I could see the pilots as there passed overhead. I would stop and wave hoping they would wave their wings at me, but no such luck. I guess they had better things to do. Myron didn't eat enough today so he was running out of steam. It is usually me who tires before Myron. Anyway Myron found that you couldn’t cycle on will power alone. We arrived in Ajo at about 3:30 and promptly found a cafe where Myron ate one of everything on the menu. After eating we went for groceries. We knew that it would be several days before we could shop again. After shopping we continued out of town about 7 of 8 miles to camp at my favorite camp yet. It was a small clearing about 100 yards of state route 86. We could hear the cars but could not see them. We made camp and watched the sunset. As darkness fell we studied the moon and stars contemplating the vastness of all the worlds and our place in it. As we turned in for the evening we were lulled to sleep by a COYOTE CHORUS. It was truly beautiful. Day 13- 1/26/02 mileage today 32.60 climbed today 2,073' TOHONO INDIAN RESERVATION We decided to have a short day today so, we can reorganize and relax in this beautiful area. We are now a day into the reservation. We entered the reservation at Why, Az. As we entered we went in to the XY cafe for a bite to eat, we were met by a couple of drunken Indians outside and when we walked in the cafe only had about 5 tables. We sat at the only empty one. We quickly found out we were not welcome. The cafe/bar owner didn't want to wait on us. We went to her to order. After sitting down a drunk Indian came up to us to talk. He was quickly harassed by the other Indians in the place for talking to us. He told them to shut up and mind their own business. They continued to harass him then the owner kicked him out. The others followed. I hope he is ok. We were informed by another Indian not to ride thru the reservation not because we weren’t welcome but because it would be very dangerous. He said that there is a lot of drug smuggling activity. Also that the Indians get to drinking and get crazy. We finished our meal and decided to ride back to a Border Control office that was near by and get a second opinion. Robert the officer we talked with was very reassuring. He told us that we would be safe but to be careful of traffic. There is a lot of drunk drivers and just plain bad drivers on the road. We found that Robert was right in that is was completely safe riding and camping. We did realize however that the drivers were very courteous to us by slowing down and by giving us a wide berth as they passed. Myron noted that there were about 2 or 3 memorials along the road per mile. It is easy to see why just by looking at the side of the road. There are empty broken liquor bottles everywhere. You can not take three steps along the road without stepping on one. Even though the road was littered you can't help to revel in the beauty of the desert, the rugged Rocky Mountains with the majestic saguaro cacti standing as sentinels. We camped about 25 miles east of Why, Az. hidden from the road under a blanket of stars and a Coyote chorus to sing us to sleep. Day 14 - 1/27/01 milage today 51.10 climbed today 2,390' NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS One thing I really like about touring is that you are removed from all that is going on in the world. The world could be falling apart and I wouldn't know it. We seldom get to see TV or hear radio. Life takes on a new prospective. It is broken down into the simple things like Food, Water and Shelter. These are our main concerns. Not what the commute is, or who killed who. We just ride. See the sights, smell the smells and hear the sounds. When we get tired we stop and sleep. We are also fortunate to meet people like Carlos or Ira. We met both of them while we were eating lunch on in Sells, Az. Sells is a town on the outskirts of the reservation. Ira works at the shell station / mini mart, and Carlos is a resident who was interested in the trip. Carlos if you read this please send me some information on the run. Carlos is coordination a run for Native American pride and dignity from Alaska to Panama in 2004. As we were getting ready to head out today Myron notice something wrong. His BOB bag was vibration. A BOB is the trailer we use and we use a large waterproof bag to hold our gear. Well any way it started to vibrate. I teased Myron that I know it is a long trip but he didn't need to bring along such devices. It was his battery-operated toothbrush. At the end of the day we stopped at what looked like a good place to camp. We opened a bobbed wire fence and went back into the desert about 100 yards, miles from anything. We found a suitable spot and parked our bikes when Myron found a brand new black duffle bag near by. Myron found it odd that a ranch hand would leave a bag. I told Myron it probably wasn't a change of clothes. It was most likely a drug drop. Myron said in a loud voice well we should tell border patrol. I said, “shhh” we might not be alone here. So we went on about a mile down the road and camped. |
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