Surviving Storm #1

ARIZONA mountain range

Not much out here but wind and clean air

He who lives in love lives in God and God in him.
                           1 John 4:16

Since traveling from Globe I've had the opportunity to travel thru the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. I enjoyed spending my money there because the taxes on items bought were about 4% vs. the 8+% that I pay in Arizona. The Apache Gold casino wasn't bad either with $5 in free slot play just for signing up for a player's card. The homemade Indian Fry Bread in the restaurant was outstanding.

I had interactions with the first touring cyclists during this leg of my journey. Chris was heading west after getting off the Continental Divide Route. He started in Anchorage, AK and wants to travel to Cancun, MX via the Baja California Peninsula before returning to his homeland of Switzerland. I gave him some information about traveling on the Apache Reservation and suggested some camping techniques. You can check him out @ www.chrigiontour.blogspotcom. If you like reading German, you might find his site appropriate.  I also met Janet traveling to California from the Houston area, I plan to look her up when I get closer to Houston even though she will probably still be touring.

The last few days have been challenging with strong headwinds starting in Pima, AZ all the way to Lordsburg, NM. Although the elevation here in Lordsburg is higher than Safford AZ, the climb was tougher because of the strong winds that preceded the latest storm and the first major one I've experienced on this tour. I was happy to get into Lordsburg before it got to dark. It certainly was a challenge to get here and  fulfill my personal goal of averaging 30+ miles per day. After setting up camp and falling soundly asleep, I woke to lots of rain coupled with strong winds. Needless to say, it wasn't a great idea for me to set up my air mattress without putting up a tent to enjoy. My sleeping bag got soaked along with my air mattress. Thankfully, the rains and temperatures in the 30's  didn't last long. The sun came out today and dried my stuff out pretty well.