Although I didn’t specifically set it,
the alarm on my phone woke me out of a sound sleep at 7 a.m. Seven o'clock in the morning! Aghhhh!
Of course my phone was across the trailer, not up on my shelf as Kim had
envisioned when he installed it. Anyway,
in my hurry to get to it to shut it off, I rolled over to throw the sleeping
bag off and somehow my hand caught the shelf, which then fell on me along with
one of the brackets, causing my glasses and watch to fall between the mattress
and wall. “Shit! Those are new glasses....find them before they get broken or
scratched!” is what my brain was telling me. Turned off the alarm, found my glasses
and watch, replaced the bracket (securely this time) and put the shelf up a
little higher. I guess it’s time to get
up! **Footnote: This evening I looked at
my shelf and realized one bracket was lower than the other. Seems my leveling skills weren’t up to par in
my early morning daze.**
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After Kim got back from his trip to
Tucson yesterday, we went for another short bike ride. Just 8 or so miles to the little town of Eloy
to get some chips to go with our hotdogs.
I noticed a homemade gingerbread type cookie packaged up for sale. This is the same store that sells the Mexican
bread; the bread is a little mound and these cookies, called “Cochitos” are pig
shaped. Looked good so I
grabbed a package…cookies make a good snack when bike riding. In another part of the store, I found the
same cookies but smaller, although still pig shaped. Their size made them a better option for
snacking, so I grabbed those and put the first package back. So I was thinking that ‘cochitos’ was the
Spanish word for pig since these cookies only came in pig shapes. I did my best to
increase my knowledge; I googled it and came
up with : “cerdo” appears to be the most common Spanish
word for “pig”. I did find a couple of
sites that said the word “cochino” is sometimes used to mean “pig”. However, that’s not the spelling I’m looking
for. I did find a recipe for Mexican
pastry that suggested using a pig shaped cookie cutter if possible. And on Pinterest I found the comment "Cochitos"!! Mexican Piggy Shaped Gingerbread
Cookies! I have been craving these! YUM!
None of which tell me what the word “cochitos” means. So I
gave up….whatever the meaning, they’re a
mild gingerbread cookie and very tasty.
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 |
| Indian Route 15 through the Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation |
We rode to Organ Pipe National Monument
today. We rode out that way last year
but because of time we didn’t stop. So
this year it was put on the ‘Must Do’ list.
The weather was sunny and warm, perfect for riding….and since we were up
so early, we were able to eat our Cheerios and be on the road before 9
a.m. Rode through the Tohono O’odham
Nation Reservation again….speed was 55 so we were able to fine tune our use of
the communicators. Wind noise is still
more of an issue for Kim than it is for me…I have a short windshield and maybe
that contributes to more noise coming through my mike. The communicator attaches to the left side of
the helmet (we each have one) and there are two buttons used to turn the system
on and then only one of those buttons is used to temporarily turn it off. Leaving it on all the time is too hard on the
ears because of the wind. We figured out that only one of us needs to tap the
communicator to turn it off and either one can tap it back into service. Just have to make sure that we both don’t tap
it because then it’s off…and then back on.
Easier for me to see Kim tap it off because he’s in front of me;
however, in order for him to see me tap it off, he has to watch the mirror
instead of the road. So I’ve suggested that the one who taps on to talk is the
one who should tap off.
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 |
| Indian taco |
There is a little trading post near the
intersection of Indian Route 15 and Hwy 86.
We knew from experience that a bathroom would be available so we
intended to stop for that reason. When
we pulled up to the stop sign, I could smell something good cooking
somewhere. Turns out there was
fundraiser being held in a tent outside the trading post…good smells were
coming from the tent! It wasn’t quite
lunchtime but since I doubted we were going to find anything that smelled that
good in the next 50 miles of desert, I was all about eating when we had the
chance. And when I saw that they were
serving Indian tacos…well, that sealed the deal that we’d be making a
contribution to the fundraiser. Last
night we talked about bologna sandwiches for a picnic lunch today but totally
forgot about it this morning, although I did remember to bring the pig
cookies. J
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We rode as far as the visitor center in
Organ Pipe; that was about the extent of what we could do. There are hiking trails and roads that allow
for exploration; however, the roads are gravel and one section of the main loop
requires the use of a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle. We were not dressed for hiking and these were
not exactly the kind of road easily traveled by bike, so we looked around the
visitor center and then headed back the way we came. Saw a variety of cactuses on the drive, but
not many organ pipe cactus were visible from the road. So, all in all, we didn’t get to experience
much of the area but it was a nice day for a ride. I learned that it’s 517 square miles in
size…it’s located in the Sonoran Desert region in southern Arizona…it’s the
only place in the U.S. where the organ pipe cactus grows ‘wild’; however, the
cactus is common in Mexico….and it shares 31 miles of border with Mexico.
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Kim was still hoping to get his
telescope back today, so we didn’t stop and dawdle too much on the way back to
the campground. As it turns out, Frank
closes at 5 on Saturday, although the answering machine said open 10 to 6
Wednesday through Saturday. But he said
he’d stay until 5:30 if Kim thought he could make it by then. So Kim jumped in the truck as soon as we got
back to the camp….and I didn’t waste any time jumping in the shower. Very dusty ride today and my hair hadn’t been
washed in a couple of days. I’ve been
perfecting the “Scratch and Go” method of styling, but no amount of scratching
was bringing it back after being in a helmet all day. A hot shower was just the thing to top off a
good day’s ride.
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We stopped at the entrance sign to
Organ Pipe to take a picture of the little monkeys and us. Just as we’re getting off the bikes, a van
pulls up. Since we always take longer,
we decided to wait until the family I assumed was in the van was finished
taking their pictures. Well, six young
guys pile out of the van, then wander around the area, taking pictures,
etc. One of them mentioned a group
picture in front of the sign, so we just sat by the bikes waiting. They regrouped and one of them asked Kim if
he’d take their picture. Sure, no problem. Then we both thought that he was offering to
take our picture but turns out he wanted Kim to get in the picture with them.
To clarify, Kim asked ‘You mean, you want me in the picture with you?’ To which they all nodded and smiled. As Kim was handing me the phone, I said, “You
guys just want your picture taken with a bad ass biker, don’t you?” To which
they all nodded and smiled bigger. Kim
walked over and crossed his arms to give it his best bad ass look. Five of the six struck the very same pose as
Kim and I’m not really sure what message the 6th was trying to
convey, but it was a picture of 6 happy guys posing with a random biker. As they drove off, I said, “You know, don’t
you, that you just made their day?” Kim just smiled, shook his head and said
something about them telling people they got their picture taken with the biker
from Village People. Absolute best encounter of the day! I didn’t get a picture but I have a copy
saved in my head. J
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Rode 259 miles today and had bologna
sandwiches for supper. J
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