Woke to the sound of birds chirping, not a bad way to wake up
actually. The traffic noise was there
also but again it’s just background noise for me. And in the sound mix was a little dog barking
like crazy. There are numerous dogs in
this park and I don’t think I’ve heard any of them barking except for the
little one down a couple of lots. Of
course, I’ve been gone throughout the day so maybe there’s more barkers than I
realize. Anyway, this little dog was up
and raring to take on the world by the sound of it.
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Diet Pepsi is my main liquid of choice, followed by water. And I know that caffeine is a diuretic but
that’s not a problem at home because I can make a quick run to the bathroom
whenever, even in the middle of the night.
However, camping creates different priorities because walking to the
bathroom at night across a shadowy campground isn’t even close to my idea of
fun, even with Kim along for the walk. I
know the obvious answer is don’t drink any pop; however the stopping cold
turkey approach to caffeine can create a nasty headache for a few days as the
body adjusts. Not really willing to put
up with the headache so I’ve just been aware of when and how much I drink and
that includes water, too. Trying to
drink enough water and Gatorade to keep hydrated without overdoing it. And it’s been working…no nighttime walks to
the bathroom! Yay! And I just might be forming some new and
improved habits!
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Despite being a little overcast, the
day started out warm. I was on the
computer so I opted to sit in the trailer with the door open, easier to see the
screen but still able to enjoy the weather. A bird flew in the trailer while I
was sitting on the edge of the mattress with the computer on my lap. My brain rapidly ran through my limited
options. Option #1 was duck and cover which would sacrifice the computer to
some extent…Option #2 was get the hell out of the trailer, which would also
sacrifice the computer because of the awkwardness of getting off the mattress
and also would have me going out the same hole the bird(s) needed to go
out…Option #3 was to stay in place but make loud uncommon noises out of fear,
which only serves to make the bird more anxious and confused. I’ll take Door #3, Monty. 😧 And I don’t
know if there were two birds or just one that went out and came back in out of
confusion but I saw a bird go out that door twice in the space of 10 seconds.
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The eyelid is a wonderful thing. It can slam shut in the face of danger before
your brain has even registered the danger. Yesterday, we had just started out on
our ride and were still figuring out the wind issue with the communicators, so
they were on. Just that fast a bug hits
the top of my goggles and ricochets into my eye, which slammed shut and refused
to open…and just as fast I let out a yell, right into Kim’s ear. Something like “Aghhhhhh! Gross!! A
bug…there’s a bug in my eye!” He calmly
says “Do you need to stop?” “Yes, I need
to stop because I have a bug in my eye and it’s closed, I can’t open it, I can’t
get it out and I can’t drive like this…yes, I need to stop.” Upon inspection, the bug wasn’t really in my eye…it had been protected because
my eyelid had reacted so quickly. And
while cleaning a bug off my eyelid was no pleasure, it could have been so much
nastier. Viva La Eyelid!!! And this goes in the “I
could go a lifetime without experiencing that” category.
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We had talked about seeking out little
churches on Sundays while on our trip.
Found out that there’s a little church right on the frontage road within
walking distance of the campground. Real
short walking distance. We’d passed that church every time we approached from
the west but there are traffic things to be concerned about at that
intersection so I didn’t pay any attention to the buildings, other than to
register they were there. Anyway, we
made a plan to go to the service at 11 a.m.
Probably 50 -60 people, including kids, in attendance. The pastor introduced himself and then
introduced their special musical guests, Bluegrass from Heaven. It was over an
hour of singing, humor, and worship. When these 7 older gentlemen, all dressed
alike in white shirts and black vests, got up to sing, I really wished I had
thought to bring my camera. I tossed
about the idea of hurrying back to camp, grabbing it and then hurrying
back. However, at that point I thought
they were part of the church service and would maybe only sing 3 or 4 songs,
then the pastor would get up to give the message. Didn’t want to back to find them finished
with the portion of the service. What I
didn’t realize is that they were the service!
When I saw the lady next to Kim taking video on her phone, I switched
places with him to ask her if she would take a picture and text it to me. She
was happy to oblige…in fact, she offered to send video also. No, thanks, just a picture. Technology and friendly people….don’t you just
love it? The church was having a potluck afterwards but we wanted to get out on
the bikes so we opted out.
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Decided to ride to Tortilla Flat, which
is less than 80 miles away and by all accounts a great twisty ride up into the Superstition
Mountains. Our route took us through
Coolidge but between us and Coolidge are maybe 10 miles of open fields. I don’t know what they grow but I do know
there is less dirt on those fields today than there was yesterday. Oh My Goodness! The wind!
The dust was visible from a distance and I cringed at having to ride
through it. Riding into a cloud of grit
is no fun. Clamp your mouth shut, try
not to breathe through your nose and hope that your goggles do a good enough
job protecting your eyes. And today it
was blowing with such force that the dirt stung and visibility was
compromised. Fortunately we only had to
run through 3 such dust clouds…I would have begged to turn back had the whole
open area from Picacho to Coolidge been a dust storm.
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Don’t know if the ride to Tortilla Flat
was great because we turned back maybe 5 miles past Apache Junction. We decided that making it all the way to
Tortilla Flat was not worth the bikes shaking apart. The road was not in good shape….bumps (worse
than winter roads in Michigan) and uneven asphalt made for a very unpleasant
ride. We stopped at a paved scenic overlook, where
we could turn around easily. But there
were pictures to be taken first because we were overlooking Canyon Lake with
mountains in the background and cactus in the foreground. It was a scenic overlook all right,
especially with the sun hitting the mountains. And while I complain about the road condition,
the landscape all around was stunning. So there was that about the ride. Power lines did muck up some of the
best views but since we humans love our ability to flip a switch to light up
our world, that’s the price we pay…mucked up views.
Sadly, I had a tip over when we stopped….I thought I
had my kickstand down but obviously not properly because when I released my
hold on the bike it went over. Dinged up
the bottom of the saddlebag and the tip of the clutch broke off. So I’ll have to replace that and at some
point will fix the saddlebag. Only
damage I sustained was to my pride.
I’ve been putting sunscreen on but my nose doesn’t
seem to care. It’s getting a bit red but
I suppose that could be from the wind also.
Kim is getting his crazy summer biker look going….cheeks, nose and arms
are sunburned already. I sunscreened him
as well as myself today…but it probably just made the dust stick to us instead
of blowing on by.
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Rode over 150
miles today
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