Friday, April 1….
Been waking to
the sun brightening up the trailer through the roof vent and to the sounds of
birds…the tweeting kind. I don’t always
get up right away because I enjoy laying in bed listening to them. This is a pet friendly campground…there’s a
dog play area not far from us and lots of the campers have pets. This morning, in addition to hearing tweeting
birds upon wakening, I heard a dog barking….by the sounds of the bark, it was a
little one. And it wasn’t just a bark or
two, it was constant for about 10 minutes that I heard. Who knows how long it had been barking before
it registered in my sleepy brain. Would
have thought that after barking for that long it would have a sore throat. So we’ve traded the crow for the dog as part
of the wake up routine…at least we don’t have to worry about the dogs flying
overheard and pooping on us. J
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On tap for
today’s ride….Nogales, AZ, for no other reason than to have lunch! About 110 miles traveling the highways (I-10
East to I-19 South). We’ve been trying
to take different routes to and from a destination…get to see more of the
countryside that way. So, we came home
the scenic way (Hwy 82 to Hwy 83 then to I-10) which was about 130 miles. Rode 251 miles today….left at about 10:30 and
got back about 6 p.m. Good ride! We’ve
been trying to be back in camp about an hour before dark so Kim can get his
telescope set up. Mission accomplished
on that front.
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Landscaping is a
whole different ballgame down here in the Southwest. There are no lawns to mow….well, there is the
occasional green space but it’s usually tiny and could be mowed with a push
mower in 15 minutes. No lawns….just
littles stones and desert plants. I
suppose there’s some regular upkeep with stones…replacing them so there are no
bare spots showing. But other than that,
I can’t see a lawn care business having much to do around here. I suppose in the higher income neighborhoods
there might be a green lawn or two, but it would take a lot of irrigation to
keep it green. We just haven’t seen lush
green lawns, just stones and cactus.
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When I’m driving
from Point A to Point B, I play a mental math game. I determine how many miles
it is to my destination (mileage signs are a great help with that) and factor
in the speed I’m traveling to determine an estimated time of arrival. Then I really try to arrive by that time, but
making adjustments in my figuring if something slows me down. And if I’m on a long trip, I’ll break it down
into sections…set smaller goals. It’s all geared to sharpen my mental math
skills. Today, as we’re heading to Nogales,
I’m starting to play the game. Made it
to Tucson by my estimated time, then I turn my attention to the next leg of the
trip…Tucson to Nogales on I-19 South.
That’s when I realize that mileage signs, mile markers and exit signs
are all using the metric system. I
didn’t learn the metric system…in my current life, I have no need to use it and
my bike doesn’t recognize it. I have no
idea how many miles are in a kilometer; therefore, I have no idea how long it
will take to travel 101 km at 70 mph. Way
to mess up my game, Arizona!! And yes,
all the speed limit signs were miles per hour, not kilometers per hour.
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I packed some
fruit today for healthy snacking if we stopped along the way. We stopped to use the restroom at a gas
station and what happens? We buy a
Mexican version of Ding Dongs and shortbread cookies. Felt compelled to buy something to pay for
our flush. J
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Got to thinking
that there has to be a reason why there is a highway in the US using the metric
system. factually.gizmodo.com puts it more succinctly than Wikipedia:
If you turn onto Interstate 19 which runs 63 miles (101
kilometers) from Tucson, Arizona, down to Mexico, the road signs suddenly
change to metric units. Interstate 19 is
a relic from a more optimistic era, when we believed all of the U.S. could and
would convert to the metric system.
The great metric conversion obviously never
happened, and it’s now I-19 that stands out as an anomaly. This is the only stretch of continuous
highway in the U.S. where road signs, markers, and exit numbers are all counted
off in kilometers.
Blah, blah, blah on the Metric Conversion
Act...(my way of paraphrasing a couple of paragraphs). Instead of leading the charge into the brave
new metric system, Arizona’s highway is a reminder of a failed experiment.
To get a taste of how difficult it was to
switch units, just consider the battle to switch I-19 back to miles. Arizona is currently trying again, after a
failed attempt in 2010. Along I-19, 400
road signs would need to be replaced, which is no inconsiderable expense. And then there’s hotels and restaurants that
advertise their exit numbers (based on kilometers, remember), who have
vociferously opposed the switch back to miles.
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Observations
from the road:
*Every time I
use a public restroom, I have a fleeting thought: “I wonder if this toilet has
flushing issues.”
*Drivers of
sporty cars have a need to be at the front of the line.
*White vehicles
are very popular in Arizona.
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Our intention was just to have lunch in
Nogales and then head back. During
lunch, though, I wondered how far we were from the Mexican border...didn’t want
to cross, just wondered what it looked like.
I’ve crossed into Mexico in a car at Tijuana…I’ve walked across a bridge
into Mexico in Brownsville, Texas…and I’ve stood on the shore of the Rio
Grande, knowing that the cliff on the other side was Mexico. Just wondered about the Nogales border area.
So we drove the extra 4 kilometers (that’s what the sign said) to get a peek at
the border. I wasn’t expecting to see
the Mexico side look like a low income version of San Francisco, with houses
seemingly stacked on top of each other up a hillside. There isn’t a river dividing the two
countries, like in Texas…there is a fence, maybe 15 to 20 feet high denoting
the border and traveling along the contours of the land. On this side of the fence is Arizona and on
the other side is Mexico. That
simple. We didn’t get to the actual
crossing with customs and all that, but we were right beside the fence and then
we walked a little distance up a hill to get a picture of that fence following
the hillside up and down.
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Ate lunch at Pizza
Pollis (haven’t been able to find a translation) in Nogales, AZ. The TV was tuned to a station with a Hispanic
version of Entertainment tonight (La Sopa) and the sound was on and loud. I had
my back to it, so all I could do was listen.
And I have to say that nagging and whining in Spanish sounds the same as
it does in English.
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 |
| A shrine of gratitude beside the highway |
Telles
Family Shrine
Begun
1941
Erected
By Juanita and Juan Telles
Based
On A Vow To God For The
Safety
Of Their Sons In War.
Re-Dedicated
November 18, 1988
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I wanted to know more and while I
found several sites mentioning the Telles Family Shrine, all contained similar
bare bones information. arizonaedventures.com
had the most information: This roadside shrine
was carved into a shallow cliff side niche in the late 1940’s. During World War
II, the Juan Telles family had five sons in military service. Mrs. Telles vowed
that if all five of her sons returned home safely from the war, she would
construct a shrine devoted to the family’s patron saint. The existence of this
shrine represents the return of all five of the Telles sons and their mother’s
subsequent expression of gratitude. Once the shrine was completed, Juan and
Juanita Telles kept candles burning in it for many years. The family is now
gone, but faithful members of the community continue to light the candles. A
small parking lot and a short series of steps lead up to the shrine on State
Route 82 about three miles southwest of Patagonia on the east side near
milepost 16.
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