Chapter 2 - Arizona

​                In Needles, CA we spent the night in a motel where we did our laundry and planned our route through Arizona.   After a breakfast of microwaved oatmeal, bananas and yogurt, we packed up and rode our bikes to the on ramp of Rte. 95 held up our sign and started hitchbiking south to Blythe, CA.  We were standing there for about 20 minutes when a woman drove up and told us she couldn’t give us a ride but here have some hot chocolate!.  Before long a truck pulled up carrying Shanan and Teresa who were on their way from a trade show in Las Vegas to Shanon’s home in Yuma, AZ. They offered to bring us to Quartzite, Arizona which was an even better destination than Blythe as it dropped us farther along our route.  Shanan was a marathon runner and she had run marathons on all the continents, including Antarctica, except one. Living in AZ Shanan had spent a lot of time in the desert and knew quite a bit about the vegetation and she introduced us to the mesquite and creosote.  When we reached Quartzite our bikes were unloaded and soon we were riding on the Southern Tier bicycle route along the lightly traveled Rt. 60.  This desert was quite different than the Mojave Desert as we had crossed over into the Sonoran Desert.  The riding was easy and we ended our day outside of Brenda where we set camp on BLM land surrounded by mountains and Saguaro cacti.  It was after dark when two young Canadians who were traveling the US pulled up looking for a place to camp.  There was definitely plenty of room.

Hitchbiking to Blythe, CA.

​It didn’t take long before Shannen and Teresa picked us up.

           

​             Our first full day in Arizona was uneventful and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  At the end of the day we pulled into Salome when it started to rain with the wind picking up.  Taking shelter under the awning cover of a closed down convenience store we noticed that the sky was black with clouds and a big storm was coming through.  Gazing around while trying to decide the best plan of action we noticed there was a motel across the street and next to the convenience store was a restaurant/ bar.  We checked in, ate some food and headed to the bar to talk with the locals.  There was only one local and he was leaving so we ended up talking with the bar tender for some time about local lore before heading off to bed.  The storm passing through was intense but was gone by morning and sunny skies awaited.
                It was one of a very few extra special days.  The wind was at our backs and the mountains and landscape were so captivating that we had to stop every few miles just to take it in so we did not make as many miles as we had anticipated. Late afternoon was campsite searching time and we asked a woman picking up her mail on the side of the road who told us of a possible camping area about 3 miles up the road.  People who drive cars often misjudge mileage.  I looked at my odometer and we started riding towards the site and after we passed 3 miles, then 4 miles we decided to ask Jim and Joanne, a couple repairing a fence by the end of their driveway if they knew where this area could be.  They knew where it was but then said, “It’s about 3 miles up the road, why don’t you just camp in our yard”.   We pushed our bikes up the driveway, set up our tent and then were asked to dinner.  Let me tell you, Jim and Joanne could tell more stories.  They own pack horses and travel way back into the mountains for weeks at a time and fish.  Some of the stories were dramatic such as the time one of the horses was spooked.  Jim was standing next to the horse when the horse fell over onto him breaking some bones.  They were out of reach of any communication and Joanne had to get Jim out. They also told us about a survivalist that lived in the mountains and biked down to Wickenburg, the next town, with empty jugs to be filled in town.  We traded stories well into the night.  Their generosity was overwhelming as they fed us and made sure we were all set before they went to bed.  The next morning we had breakfast together and it was hard to leave especially when we were trading more stories.  Joanne looked at our bikes and commented that traveling on a bike was similar to traveling on a horse, you bring only the essentials.   Goodbyes were shared and then it was time to get on the road. 

Basking in the evening glow.

Jim and Joanne, snowbirds from Washington State, spend their winter in their camper and welcomed us into their space.

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​              The next day had little wind and it was almost all downhill to the historic town of Wickenburg.  As we neared Wickenburg we saw the man biking with all the jugs strapped to his bike and had the chance to stop and talk with him.  He warned us of all the drug lords holed up in the mountains and many other things to worry about, snakes, insects, thieves.  By the time we reached Wickenburg, a new town to see and new people to talk to we forgot that we should be afraid of going forward on our trip.  After a few of hours of riding away from Wickenburg and towards Phoenix, it began to get dark and we were forced to look for a campsite in a suburban area, something which is not always easy.  Riding down a side street we saw a wooded area with housing developments all around.  We pulled over, looked around and when no one was driving past we pushed our bikes into the woods out of sight of any of the houses.  It was mainly mesquite trees surrounded by tires, bottles, cans and other trash.  A spot was cleared, tent was set, dinner was cooked and eaten, and off to sleep we went.
                It was good to get out of there early as it was definitely one of the bottom 10 in our campsite rating system.  Our destination for the day was the Phoenix Hostel where we planned to stay for two nights, one of them being Thanksgiving.  At the start of our ride we believed we didn’t need the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier maps but found that that was not true.  On our way to Phoenix we ordered the maps and had them sent to Tempe, a city outside of Phoenix.  The road had heavy traffic and the wind at our backs was short lived.  It was so strong I actually thought that the elevation of Phoenix was a lot higher than Wickenburg but when I looked it up found the opposite to be true.  Using the tablet as a GPS we found an incredible bike path leading down to Phoenix.  The path was beautiful with many people out riding, running and walking, and at intersections it would either go over or under the roads that crossed.  As the bike path gets closer to Phoenix, however this all changed, it gets rougher and rougher with trash strewn everywhere.  The houses are run down and again the homeless walk the streets.  At this point when the bike path reaches an intersection it stops with no way to cross except to walk your bike down broken sidewalks to the light, cross the street then walk back to the path making the path useless for travel.  The affluent have no way to travel through to witness this and the ones who live there cannot travel out.  We left the path and started using the tablet-GPS to find our way to the hostel.  The people staying there were great.  They were from Canada, England, Mexico, India, Germany and a few beside us from US.

The start of the bike path into Phoenix was beautiful and well cared for.

In contrast, the bike path right outside Phoenix was rough, disconnected and filled with trash. 

             

           It was Thanksgiving the next day and everyone was excited to have an American Thanksgiving dinner.  Mary and I had things to do in the morning so we started early fixing a flat, doing laundry and walking to get something to eat and buy some groceries.  On the way to Safeway the homeless lined the streets on Thanksgiving Day.  We separated out one dollar bills to hand out and budgeted five dollars on the way to Safeway and five on the way back.  

​                It is times like these I start thinking about Branko Milanovic’s study on disparity.  Milanovic, a leading economist at the World Bank (more information) at one time and has taught at many universities, researched demographics along with incomes throughout the world.  In the US we are concerned that 1% of the population holds so much wealth leaving 99% short.  People in America, in fact are starting to get angrier and angrier about this situation.  When I look at Milanovic’s research what stands out in my mind is when looking at the global disparity instead of just the US the picture is astonishing.  On the global scale if one makes more than $34,000 dollars that person is in the upper 1% of the global population.  The question which is ignored in this country is if the 99% of this country is getting angrier at the 1% then should the 99% of the global population get angrier?  Instead of getting angry, maybe changing the culture to include the 99% without raising the need for an increase in resource demand would be a more viable solution.

Our home at the Phoenix Hostel was this remodeled camper.

The beautiful front yard of the hostel where singing birds filled the trees.

The Thanksgiving dinner the Phoenix Hostel.

         

​              Back at the hostel, we had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat then spent the night in a converted camper that was left there in the yard by someone in the past.  The next day was breakfast at the hostel traveled on the light rail to Tempe where we picked up our Adventure Cycling maps at the post office, bought a used sleeping pad to replace the one that we discovered had been chewed by a mouse before we left and then traveled to Apache Junction.  Yes, most of the day could be summed up in one sentence until we arrived at Rick’s house, a Warm Showers host.  Warm Showers is an organization that people can join that is willing to offer a place to stay for those weary travelers on bicycles.  Mary and I are members and we will use this service throughout our trip.  Rick, a retired state trooper, worked in an area near where I was from and I happened to know about a famous case that he had been involved in.  A view of Superstition Mountain, a mountain we would see for the next couple of days from different viewpoints, was seen from the front of his house.  There was a tale of a lost gold mine on this mountain and the tale was slightly different depending on who was telling the tale, however all the stories were intriguing.
                In the morning Rick made us oatmeal for breakfast then he hopped on his three wheel recombinant bike and escorted us to Rt. 60.  Again we had a head wind and I asked Rick about it and he assured us that it was only temporary and by 11:00 A.M. we would have a strong tailwind.

The front yard of Rick, our Warm Showers host.

Rick rode his recombinant bicycle out to the highway where we said our goodbyes.

               

              The bridges on Rt. 60 had no shoulders with fast moving traffic.  Mary became stressed to the max when we had to cross any one of many bridges.  On one of the bridges her pack hit the guard rail sending her in the opposite direction into the traffic lane,  scaaaary!  Eventually the traffic lessoned and the shoulder widened as we pedaled uphill against the wind through Gonzales Pass.  At last it was downhill until we spotted a dirt road leading into the desert.   Pushing our bikes about a ¼ mile we found one the best camp sites on the whole trip.  At this site we developed a rating system for campsites, top 10 and bottom10 which after having more than 20 sites had to have a middle 10.  This site remained in the top 10 throughout the trip.  Mountains were all around us, there were saguaro cacti on the hillsides all having their individual character with different types of cacti in between, other vegetation that we did not yet know, and different kinds of birds flying around and landing in the trees around the tent site.  It was all there.  We made camp and walked to the top of a hill to see the view then had to hurry back before dark to cook and go to bed.

Be very careful when hugging a cactus.

One of the top 10 campsites.

Leaving this campsite was difficult due to the beautiful scenery that surrounded us.

             

​            It was hard to leave our site the next morning but we wanted to get to the Bryce Thompson Arboretum early so we would have the whole day.  Since we did arrive early we discovered that after the admission fee was paid that we had time to go on the two tours that were included in the price.  Tom and Carol, our first tour guides, told stories about how the arboretum came about along with their knowledge of local history, geology, wildlife and plant life.  As soon as we returned to the main center, the second tour began with David, a Native American from the Choctaw tribe of Southeast US (Mississippi).  David was an expert on Native American medicinal herbs and also had an unlimited amount of bad jokes.  He told about the obesity problem and diabetes rate among the Native Americans and how medicinal herbs could help.  I was surprised that he didn’t mention the fact that the area was in a food desert lacking nutritious food and eating less junk food would go a long way to solving the problem.  At the end I had the chance to talk with David about the problem and he agreed that the nutrition aspect is a huge part of the problem.  Before we left I couldn’t resist telling a few of my bad jokes.  We had a good laugh and parted ways.  Mary and I made our way out to the main building when Tom and Carol walked up to tell us that they had asked the management if we could camp at the arboretum and they said yes.  We thought about it, however it was cold and to rain that night and decided to ride down to Superior and stay in a motel. 

One of the buildings at the Bryce Thompson Arboretum.

The original Bryce Thompson house.

The Davids are sharing a few bad jokes.

           

​            Superior was an old copper mining town at one time and the landscape around the town had been stripped leaving big gaping holes.  It was very apparent when we rode into the motel in the town that this was a depressed area.  How could we have known that the only motel in town was very small, old and filled with construction workers who were building a new road through the town so traffic could maneuver quickly through this depressed town?  It was cold with rain in the forecast and going back to the arboretum was five miles of uphill against the wind and the way out of town was through a tunnel as it was getting dark.  The owners of the motel struggled economically and still were generous in their offer.  We could set our camp beside the motel.  They ran their only extension cord out to our tent so we could charge our devices and made sure we were alright.  During the night big trucks roared by continuously, dogs barked right by our tent and we could hear people walking right by our tent in the middle of the night.  On one hand this site could be rated in the bottom 10 of our campsite rating but on the other hand the owners were so generous to offer what they had it raised the rating to one of the top 10.

Camping outside the motel in Superior, AZ.

Across the street from the motel is a copper mine that is working still in a limited capacity.

             

​              In the morning we had coffee from the gas station nearby followed by breakfast at a Mexican restaurant where we made a sign that read “Globe”, the next town.  To get to Globe we needed to go through a tunnel and over a crazy bridge so we decided to hitchbike.  After breakfast we rode to the intersection where we began to hold up our sign.  Not even an hour went by when Jerry and Rita pulled up in a small SUV with a bike rack.  As we rode to Globe we looked out the window at the destruction to the hillsides was extreme.  Buildings were boarded up as we pulled into Globe.  This whole area is an example of our move on economy.  Resources are found, exploited, the population grows, and then the resource diminishes.  As the diminishing phase happens the affluent move on, investing in the next resource to be exploited leaving the poorer population behind.  Most of the time, the infrastructure is left behind to rust and decay as an ugly reminder of the good old days adding to the depressed psyche of the area.  

Hitchbiking to Globe.

Jerry and Rita picked us up and carried us, and our bikes, up and over the mountains to Globe.

             

​               Mary and I spent the night in a motel where we had time to relax and think.  One of the issues in looking at the economy is many think of the economy in terms of dollars.  It is what’s behind the dollar that should be considered.  When someone earns money, borrows money or even steals money, the dollars are traded for resources of some kind.  Resources include, energy to run the houses, cars, food, clothing, education (schools are in buildings with books, computors,etc.)  and even services (the employee is working to buy resources for his or her lifestyle).  No matter what economic system is in place the amount of total global available resource diminishes over time.  We either have a system of sharing the resources or a system that a few have more than others.  Sharing the resources needs some thought because if we increase the access to resources to the entire world’s population  then the already stressed Earth will become more stressed.
                After spending our recuperation night in a motel we pedaled toward the San Carlos Reservation of the Apaches.   What a day!  It was mostly downhill with the wind at our backs.  The miles seemed to fly by.  A few miles into the reservation we stopped at a grocery store and walked in and could not find any food that we were willing to buy.  There were mostly chips, soda and candy with some canned items such as ravioli.  The fresh vegetables included wilted lettuce and sad tomatoes.  We did eat in the café and as we left there were people hanging around with nothing to do and trash along the side of the road. 
                The mountains as we rode along the mountains were spectacular and we started to see one in particular that we would see for many days called Turnbull Mountain.  It was the end of the day when we set camp near the road at the base of this magnificent mountain.

We stopped on the side of the road and talked with a train spotter who shared a bit about the trains that we continuously experienced.

Frost on the top of Turnbull Mountain.

On the San Carlos Apache Reservation.

A very cold morning camping at the base of Turnbull Mountain.

             

            The cold that night was extreme for the area and both of us had little sleep.  I arose early to make the coffee in the dark and since we did not expect this temperature I did not know where my gloves were.  It was so cold I had trouble lighting the stove and by then my fingers began to tingle.  The coffee bag was taped shut and my fingers were not working well enough to peel the tape so I decided to use my knife which I had trouble finding.  After finding the knife and getting the coffee going I really had to find my gloves.  The coffee was ready when I realized the lids on our coffee cups were frozen on so now I had to boil more water to unfreeze the lids.  All the while this is happening I was using choice words and just as I’m about to pour the coffee I hear Mary from inside her sleeping bag, “can I help?”
                After coffee and breakfast we start cruising along the side of Turnbull Mountain when Mary started to pull way ahead of me.  Mary and I each had our strong days and this was definitely Mary’s.  She was just a small spot in the distance; I could barely see her when I realized I had a flat tire.  I tried calling her on the phone but there was no answer and I started fixing the flat.  Mary finally called and I told her to just stay put and I would be there soon.
                The flat was fixed and we headed to Safford where we planned to stay with the Warm Showers host, Jay.  We find Jay’s shop and introduce ourselves.  Jay was 80 years old and reminded me of Willie Nelson with his braided pony tail.  He said his accommodations were rough but he had a friend, Hal, also about 80 years old that had a warm apartment with a hot shower.  Jay led us over to Hal’s by driving slowly in his pick-up truck.  Hal was a historian and knew everything about the area including the history of Geronimo.  Daiki, a young Japanese man traveling across the country ended up staying in Jay’s shop.

​                Jay and Hal gave tours of the area’s backcountry in past years, however I guess they were slowing down and discontinued their mutual business.  The next day they offered to take us on such a tour into the surrounding desert and we jumped at the chance for this experience.  Jay was an experienced mechanic and owned the 4WD vehicle while Hal was the historian making a great pair.  We drove for a while on a back road while Hal and Jay commented on the landscape, plants and history of the area.  At times we would stop and Hal talked about what had happened in the past then off to the next stop.  These stories at the stops eventually all connected involving the Mormons, black soldiers, a black flamboyant woman gambler following the payroll wagon, the payroll wagon itself, the white officers, Apaches in the surrounding area and a great payroll robbery.  The talking was in-depth along with questions from Mary and I. Daiki, who still had a great time, had trouble keeping up with his limited use of the English language.  During the tour we learned more about the Mesquite tree and that Jay was once a bee keeper and made mesquite honey.  We learned different kinds of cacti, agave, saw havalina tracks, saw two coyotes, and a red tailed hawk.  We ended the tour by going out to lunch.  When we went back to Jay’s we discovered that Daiki’s bike was not in good shape.  He had bought an old used bike in California and replaced many of the components with used parts.  It was sometimes hard to understand Daiki but I thought he said that when he reached Arizona he replaced the frame.  I asked, “in other words you replaced the whole bicycle”?  Daiki nodded yes.  His bike now needed a new cable, the seat was too low, and the brakes needed adjustment.  We rolled his bike to a new bike shop that was not quite open for business.  The owner was there but he really didn’t know if he had the parts to fix the cable because it also needed the end couple.  He went into the back and retrieved a bucket of parts and he dumped it out onto a table and as luck has it the part was in there.  The bike was fixed up and Daiki was so happy.  Mary and I couldn’t believe he was traveling that far on that bike.  When you’re in your twenties you can do anything.  We would keep in contact through texting for the rest of the trip.  On his last day he stayed with Mary’s son, Clyde in Brooklyn, NY.  Before he left he sent a general e-mail.        

 This is unedited.
Hi everyone.  Now I’m in DC and bicycling to Baltimore, staying there for a night, then taking a bus to New York tomorrow because my flight departure on 7th from New York.  It was soooooo amazing biking 3 month than I expected.  I have home and people to love in every state I’ve been to.  I’m gonna really miss everything America.  I’m kinda shy boy?  So I could not tell I love you face to face but I love you.  It doesn’t depend on how long we’ve spend time together.  It might be just a little time for us together, but I love you.  Thank you America thank you for everything.  For everyone I met on my biking I’m coming back:)?                 

Jay welcoming us outside his workshop in Safford, AZ.

Sleeping on the floor at Hal’s was a treat.

Hal describing the history of the backcountry site to Daiki, a fellow cyclist.

Jay, Daiki and I in the Arizona desert.

Many people along Daiki’s odyssey across the United States had a hand in keeping his bike going.

 
             
             The area was known for growing cotton.  Trucks loaded with bales of cotton traveled through the Gila River valley where the farms located on the either side of the river.  As we traveled out of Safford there was cotton balls strewn over the roadside that had fallen from passing trucks.  The fields are generally not rotated and the farms usually use heavy fertilizers to maximize production at the detriment to the soil.  Leaving Safford we could still see Turnbull Mountain and now Graham Mountain was in our sights.  Climbing up hill to a high point we reached the downhill and cruised all the way into Duncan where we stayed with Debra and Clayton, our Warm Showers host.  Debra and Clayton owned the Hotel Simpson which was an old hotel that they had remodeled.  In the back yard of the hotel was a small pull behind camper which was our home for the night.  The owners loved politics and entertained us with lively discussion on our last night in Arizona.

We rode past miles of cotton fields.

The agricultural practices used for growing the cotton for our clothing destroys the soil.

             
​              We ate breakfast at Hilga’s, a local diner the next morning.  There was a small bird hunter having breakfast at the next table and we asked about the weather and directions and it broke the ice for having a conversation.  I don’t know how we got on the subject of climate change but his solution was one of the most interesting one I’ve ever heard.  First of all he did not deny it was happening and he said, “if people would turn off their TVs and get outdoors and enjoy the beauty that surrounds them, the warming would go away”.   After breakfast as we rode towards New Mexico I kept thinking about this statement and how profound it was.
                Mary and I have gained strength by now.  Every day has been what we called a big day.  The number of big days just kept increasing day by day.  The amount of sensory stimulation was unbelievable.  You had to pay attention to the traffic, cracks and holes in the road, and make sure  you’re still following the map all the while you are enjoying the scenery, thinking about the plant life, wildlife, history, environmental and social issues.  We always have to think about how much food and water we have and if we have enough gas for the cook stove.  Cash was used much of the time so we had to make sure to find an ATM when we were low.  The checklist was long and it took both of us to pay attention to what we were doing.  I am grateful that I have such a wonderful traveling partner and yes at this point we are still married.