It was a cold night, probably because we were somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 feet. But we survived. We got up early and sort of took our time getting packed. I took advantage of cell service and updated the last three days of this blog while I drank a hot cup of herbal tea and ate my overnight oatmeal.
Today’s ride was in two parts. The first is Hwy 191 though the Apache National Forest. Part two is ride across the desert to Mesa, AZ. The ride on 191 was fantastic and well worth the 1,200 mile ride to get to it. 70-100 miles of curves and twists. Some of them rated at 10 MPH!
Here’s some views along the way.
These, below, were at a stop for construction.
Then, lots more twists and turns….
When we exited that exiting part of the ride, Hwy 191 took ride through the Morenci copper mine. It is HUGE.
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We descended into the desert and it got warm, up into the mid-90s. Every time we stopped we were shedding additional layers. At a gas stop I got out my “cooling vest.” It's a quilted vest that has some kind of water-retaining material in it so when saturated, it gives up the moisture slowly. I doused it in water and put it on and the evaporative cooling kept me cool for 45 minutes or so.
We stopped for lunch at a Taco Bell and I saturated the vest agin in the restroom sink. The vest really does work well and I’m glad I brought it.
The rest of the ride was almost all of straight roads, in and out of little towns, until we got to I-60 which was pretty much a freeway. We pulled into to my mom’s place in Mesa for the night. It’s was good to have a shower after 4 days on the road.
Here are some photos from the dashcam.
A 323 mile day.
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