| Page 5 Day 20 - 2/2/02 miles today 48.1 climbed today 1,480' NEW FRIENDS We slept in the snow last night. Well, not right on the snow, but in a clearing under some trees. Thankfully it was warm last night. I'm rested and looking forward to a great day. As we were packing up and game officer pulled up to see who we were and what we were doing. He seemed genuinely intrigued at what we were doing. We asked him for??? What!!! Yah you guessed it, a cafe recommendation. We were about 12 miles from Sonoita. We took the suggestion and ate at; Cafe Sonoita. It was good but a bit pricy. After a hot breakfast, which was more like lunch, we had beef burrito like things without the tortilla. We were now ready for Tombstone. We had a leisurely ride. It turned out to be a beautiful day (without wind). We pulled into the Tombstone Hills RV Park and asked if we could pitch a tent. There had a spot for us. It is the only place in town that allows tent camping. This is where we met Mary. She is the shopkeeper. We also met LG. LG is the caretaker. Both were very accommodating and kind. With a hot shower clean clothes we headed out for a hot meal. When we returned we went to visit Pete, Marge and Paws. Pete came over earlier and introduced himself. He asked us to come over for a drink later. We made plans to visit after we ate. We strolled over after dinner and had a wonderful visit. Pete and Marge travel the country in a beautiful RV. NEW FRIENDS - Myron and I visited Pete and Marge for several hours. It is wonderful it meet such nice people. This is what it is all about. As we were leaving Pete and Marge invited us to stay with them at their home in Ohio when we get there. We look forward to seeing them again. It is so nice to meet people and be invited to stay with them. It gives us a chance to really get to know our people. Day 21 - 2/3/02 miles today 28.3 climbed today 4,350' STAIRWAY HAVEN Today was a great day of riding. We had rain and hills but it was nothing like a few days ago when we had the winds. The scenery today was nothing short of spectacular. I had the first flat of the trip today. It was on the BOB trailer. I ran over glass. It was an easy 10-minute fix and we were on out way. We were losing light and we still had about 10 to 12 miles to go, uphill. We ran out of light before we ran out of road. We got into Bisbee about an hour after it got dark. We knew there was a hostel in town but we didn't know where. We asked several people were it was but they didn't even know that there was a hostel in town. We found a phone and called. We were cold, tired, wet and hungry when we finally found the hostel. This is when we discovered why the hostel is such a secret. It was 79 steps up a hill. We had no other option at this point so; we bit the bullet and carried our bikes and all our gear up to the hostel. After many trips we finally got our reward. The STAIRWAY HAVEN HOSTEL is the nicest hostel I have ever been in. It was a great find. It was very comfortable and homey. Myron and I quickly settled in and made ourselves at home. We had three other wonderful people staying in our section which had a kitchen TV room and all the comforts of home, books to read, a good selection of movies to watch on the VCR. Needless to say our stay was wonderful. Our roomies were Judy from Washington State. Marlow from BC and Grant from Ireland - all very interesting good people. Day 22 - 2/4/02 LAY OVER IN BISBEE First let me say that the Stairway Haven Hostel in my humble opinion is a great find, I would stay there again and again. The address is : 59-B Subway St. - Bisbee, Az. 85603 - 520-432-6671 - Ask for Lorenzo Lorenzo is the manager and he is a wealth of information. He was raised in the area and knows all about where to go and what to do. Bisbee is a quaint artist colony with all the charm of an old town in a Norman Rockwell painting - without the crowds and high prices. For coffee, I recommend the Bisbee Coffee Co. It is in the heart of downtown. It is where the locals hang out. For great coffee and a taste of local charm we recommend the Bisbee coffee co. We had dinner at he Bisbee grille it was a bit pricy but, the food and service were good. Now for our favorite hangout: it is the Old Tymer restaurant and saloon. It is a biker bar with great food, very reasonable prices, and live music in the evenings. I had a beef burrito the size of my forearm for $4.50 while your at it have a locally brewed beer. The Old Tymer is the kind of place everybody is welcomed and waited on hand and foot. In short we loved our stay in Bisbee. It is now my new favorite town. Day 23 – 2/5/02 Tuesday Feb.5,2002 mileage today 27.6 climbed today 530' KABOOM We had a leisurely start today stopping off at the coffee house. While we were there Myron and I made a bet. We need your help in finding the answer to: What is the tropic of cancer and capercorn? Myron says it is the furthest points north and south that the sun travels. I say it is the 45th latitudes. Who is right? We have a cup of coffee riding on it. Well at about noon we get started. As we head out of town I stop for air, bragging to Myron that I don’t need a tire pressure gauge, I have my thumb and forefinger. Not more than a mile down the road KABOOM my trailer tire blew out bending the lip of the wheel. Thanks to the help of Kevin at the Chevron station in Bisbee we arranged to have a new wheel sent to Douglas, Az. We hammered the wheel to its original shape, well close anyway and limped into Douglas. Along the way we saw the Border Patrol loading up about 8 to 10 illegals into a large van. We inquired about camping out along the border and the border patrol said " I wouldn’t do it myself. It is unsafe, so I don’t recommend you to try it. There is a lot of drug smuggling. He recommended asking at the golf course if we can camp there. As it turns out we went to the Cochise County Fairgrounds and slept in a horse barn. It was wonderful. We were protected from the wind and the ground was soft. |
 |
 |