September 15, 2008 at 11:57 PM
Days 11 & 12
Day 11 - Sept. 13th I left Phoenix at 6:20am as the weather was 75 degrees. Getting out of the city was a little challenging as there were a lot of turns and I had to stop several times to ask directions. Once I hit Hwy 60 at Apache Junction it was much easier as it was relatively flat for appox the next 20+ miles. Barb finally stopped me at 12:30pm as it was a long morning at the temperature was rising. I was near Superior AZ as I finished that day.
Day 12 - Sept. 14th I took off at 6:15am and again the weather was perfect at 75 degrees. I had to ride uphill into the mountains to 4800 feet. This was up and down, up and down for about 25 miles to get to that final elevation. There were strong headwinds going downhill on the backside which made for a challenging ride. My speeds varied between 5-7mph uphill and 20mph down. We passed through Miami, Claypool and Globe AZ. which were all pretty much run down Copper Mining towns....it reminded me of thos old Western ghost towns you see on TV.
While staying at a Motel 6 in Globe AZ (not many choices) we experienced a room that had no phone. The hotel suggested we take a phone from another room...which we did and it still did not work. So we moved to another room and the TV remote was held together with scotch tape and the TV only showed dark pictures. To top it off...there was still food in the refrigerator from whoever stayed here before us! Also....there was not a lamp in our second room so we had to move the lamp from the first room so we could have light. To top this whole experience off...the AC sounded like a 747 which was actually not a bad thing since just outside our room appox. 50 feet away were to men cutting stakes with a power saw so that they could claim the land for Uranium Rights. As it darked outside these guys were still working using the headlights on their cars for light. Needless to say....we were glad to check out the next day!!!
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