It went something like this: I was planning to get to Las Cruces, NM today to see an old family friend for dinner, but riding I-10 the whole way wasn't interesting to me. So I looked at the map and I found a road headed out of Tucson up and over the mountains to the east. On the map it looked like the classic twisty mountain road, and a perfect alternative to the Interstate.
So I set out to ride a fine mountain road and get to Cruces by mid-afternoon. As I got out of town the country got prettier. Hundreds of Saguaros lined the hills and the road started to get a little twisty. It was beautiful, and I was feeling good. Then I saw the "winding road for 3 miles" sign and got excited. I went down in a little gully and saw some road construction folks. They motioned for me to go slow. I nodded and then pressed on thinking, "Oh, they're doing road work, that might slow things a bit, but that's ok. I have time." I got about a mile up the road and made a shocking discovery; they weren't doing road work, they were BUILDING THE ROAD!!
Now, under most circumstances I would have just turned around and gone back, but for some reason I didn't. (I've been trying to think of the reason all day, and I got nothin'.)
So there I am riding my RT on a road meant for a GS, thinking, "Dennis would be proud." The road continued to climb and I followed it. Then I looked at the temp gauge and realized I needed to stop before I boiled the oil out of the bike. I reached a little crest and stopped for a rest.
When I got off the bike I looked back at the view:
Then I heard gunshots…and more gunshots. Then I heard a rattlesnake. Then I saw the vultures circling above me. I screamed like a little girl, got on the bike, turned around, and went back to the pavement.
While descending the small mountain I had inadvertently climbed I made the decision that my next bike will be a GS so that won't have to turn around.
I got back to town, set the GPS for Las Cruces, got on I-10 and went smoothly down the road. I was still on track to arrive in late afternoon so I was all set.
After about an hour and a half I started to smell rain. Little whiffs here and there of desert rain. It smells different here, it's sweet and clean. Then I started to see the storm on the horizon. It didn't look too bad, and it looked like I was going to bypass it just fine.
As I approached Bowie, AZ the wind started to pick up. It got to the point of being difficult to hold the bike on the road just in time for me to stop in Bowie and wait it out. Once I stopped I could tell that it was blowing at least 40mph and gutting up in the 60's. The dust was blowing around like crazy, and the occasional raindrops were falling horizontally. Not good. And it looked like this:
As I waited I got a cup of coffee and wandered in impatient circles. By some stroke of "luck" I ran into Mike and Jenny, a couple traveling form Washington also. And going to San Antonio for the same reason I am! It was nice to see some smiling faces amidst the storm.
When the weather cleared a bit I decided to go at it again. About forty minutes later I realized I was chasing the storm. The wind kicked up again, this time stronger than before. There were massive dust storms hiding the highway ahead of me, and lightning was striking all around me. I pressed on, hiding from the wind beside trucks when possible.
Then it happened…the cloud I was chasing opened and dumped buckets of rain and hail. I was drenched in thirty seconds. I was lucky to be passing truck stop and pulled in for cover. It continued to dump and I made the decision that I would stop in Deming, NM for the night.
The folks at the truck stop were all very friendly, and a guy named Wayne was nice enough to tell me that the frontage road would take me the remaining 15 miles into Deming, and that from the looks of things it would be mostly dry if I left then.
Having given up on Las Cruces, I looked up a meeting in Deming. I got into town and made it to the Duster Group with time to spare. I had made it to a meeting...and it was in Spanish. I thought about leaving, but knew that it was good for me to be there.
I understood about every 20th word, and couldn't follow much of anything so I closed my eyes and then felt like I was home. The feeling of being in the room was just the same as if I could understand every word. They asked me to share, and someone translated for me. I shared that it is great that our family crosses all barriers without trouble. It was really wonderful to see them all smiling as I talked. It brings tears to my eyes to think about it. What a magical thing we have!!
All told it was a long day for 259 miles, but I made a meeting, and I got what I asked for…oops.
