Shakedown Ride: Still kicking around Tucson
Well, here we are again, on the road again. We arrived in Tucson on Thursday of last week and here we are on Tuesday still in Tucson but we are on the southern most part. We enjoyed a wonderful stay with Caroline and Mary in their beautiful home near Sombrero Point. The stay was useful as we got to get the last last kinks worked out of gears and backs. I had to go to the chiropractor to straighten out my back and to the dentist to check out the tooth from hell which I had pulled three days before we left Denver. The visit was also wonderful to share their home and friendship. And we got to watch the Super Bowl. Go Bears!
We headed back on the road Monday morning and road through the West Saguaro National park on some good sandy remote roads. It is the strangest site to see multiple-armed saguaro cactus marching throughout the land. I always think of cartoons when I see a landscape of cactus. Of course we had to stop by the Desert Museum for the afternoon. Randy remembered the tortoises from when he was a kid and wanted to see them again. Unfortunately they are in hibernation so we did not get to see any. I loved seeing all the different large Cats and the Javalina which looks like a wild pig but is not.
During the ride this day I keep hearing a creak on the back of my bike drove me crazy. Neither one of us could figure out where it was coming from. We even changed wheels and it followed with the wheel. We decided to stay in town so we could go to a bike store the next day. It has been a long time since I slept in a baseball dugout but if you ever have a chance you might give it a try. The roof is covered, it is fenced in and is relatively safe. And there are bathrooms nearby.
Today we rode to Ajo bikes, an extremely well-stocked store and employees who wonderfully helpful and patient. After hours of trying to figure out where the creaking sound was we discovered the rim had a radial crack a quarter way around on the braking sidewall. We had them build another wheel up and finally got out of there around 4:00. We rode for an hour and made it to the Crazy Horse RV Park and Campground. We even got a warm shower. It seems funny but after only one night out in the park with no showers, the shower tonight made me feel like a queen and so appreciative of simple pleasures of warm clean water against my not so road-weary skin. Life is so good to us.
