I rode my bike into Eloy first
thing this morning. Piggy cookie day! Yes, but that wasn't my primary reasreason for a ride; I wanted to test drive the new windshield. And I’m pleased to say that, even with a
smaller profile, it does make a difference. There’s no getting away from the
wind when on a motorcycle; it’s part of the experience. But the wind was less
of a factor in today’s ride than it was the first time out. Of course, I wasn’t
going 65 mph, but at 55, it was doing good. Told Joe the only adjustment it
needs is to be straightened, brought up a little on the right side. 🙃
Fork deflectors should be here in a couple of days.
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Kim and Gabe went for an e-bike ride down Picacho Hwy. They took the drone because they wanted to
play. While they were doing that, I sat out at the picnic table, watching the
Rufous reign his brand of chaos on all birds that dared come near and preparing
boxes of piggy cookies to send to the grandkiddos. Spreading the joy around. 🙂
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Cotton is a major crop in Arizona, Upland and Pima varieties specifically.
A University of Arizona website (cales.arizona.edu) does a deep dive into the
cotton industry. There were the facts
that stood out to me: Arizona ranks among
the top three producers of Pima cotton in the United States (in terms of cotton production in
bales). Pinal County is in the top 1% of all U.S. counties. The
campground is located in Pinal County, which explains the numerous cotton
fields around here; Coolidge has a 3-day festival celebrating the importance of
cotton to its economy.
While most crops suffer in extreme heat, cotton actually thrives. Cotton
plants love hot, dry weather—and Arizona delivers that in spades.
During our time out here, fields are typically being tilled in
preparation for planting. We miss the summer growing season and the late fall harvesting
season. However, there are always some cotton bolls laying in the field that
escaped the harvesting process, but they’re usually dirty. I had found a couple
of plants growing alongside the road and snagged five clean cotton bolls to
send to the grandkiddos. Put one in each box of cookies. Came up with a Haiku to explain what it was:
By the time the bike riders returned, the day was getting hot, with it
predicted to top out in the high80’s. Easy deciding what not to do: Not
a good time to hike around the petroglyph mountain, Picacho Peak, or Saguaro
National Park. That left sitting around camp or driving somewhere. Decided to
go to Mt. Lemmon…and stop at Arizona Pizza Company beforehand to introduce Gabe
to the biggest slice of pizza he’s ever encountered.
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Mt. Lemmon is a source of awe and anxiety for me. I enjoy the amazing views,
but I don’t like the drive. Twisty mountain roads are not my jam, especially because
what goes up must come down. And since we saw a beautiful sunset at the point
we had to turn around and come back down, it was full-on dark before we got
back to civilization. But Kim and I know this about me, so he does his part to minimize
my anxiety while I try to distract myself. Gabe enjoyed looking out his window at the scenery,
but I can’t do that. No looking down or out over the guardrail unless I’m
standing firmly on the ground. While I
grabbed the arm rest a few times on the way down, Kim agreed that I did a good
job controlling my anxiety today.
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Minor injuries? Amazing, considering how
that car looked.
Couldn’t get to the very top of Mt. Lemmon because the road was closed past Ski Valley. Either because it was too late in the day or because snow and ice were an issue. Elevation was 8200+ feet, temperature was a cool 52o and there was still snow along the road, plus warnings about ice being present. Whatever the reason…Ski Valley was as far as we got.
Built an 8” snowman while
we were stopped there. Snow was more like balls of ice; needed to pack the snow,
carefully stack the snow, then quickly take the picture because the head had
already fallen off once. Time to go back
down the mountain.
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A couple of days ago we noticed a grove of mature pecan trees over by
I-10 has been cut down. The entire grove…gone. Only stumps and branches remain.
Well, there is currently a herd of cows wandering around the stumps but
I’m guessing that the land isn’t going to be a cow pasture long term.
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This afternoon, the cell camera app indicated that it had taken eight
pictures: three were of a roadrunner, one was of a jack rabbit and the rest
were what I assume to be weeds moving in the wind. The main thing is that we
picked a spot that’s active.
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Kim tried imaging when we got back but there were some pesky thin clouds in the sky, so it was a no-go.
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