We pulled out of Deming and headed ‘up the hill’ towards Silver City, NM. A nice two-lane road, not busy, and we spotted no LEOs that might be inclined to impede our progress… The sun was above the horizon (I have no idea what time it might have been!) and more just behind us than abreast of us… It was just a tad brisk, but that actually felt really good, considering the temp must have been 20*F+ below average! Hardly a cloud in the sky, and the whole world seemed to be in tip-top form!!!
Riding without a passenger means solitude while underway, even if riding with someone else… Having a ride partner along on his/her own scoot means a blending of companionship and me-time without an overload of either. My partner this time has been most accommodating and un-intrusive, while affording a suitable sounding board for ideas. He’s also been most receptive to all of the adjustments forced upon us, both minor and major! He doesn’t force conversation, nor does he require constant blabber… As a ride partner, he’ll do!
In time, the tranquility of a most peaceful and enjoyable ride was interrupted by my recollection we were coming up to a café I’ve dined at before… Jerry really likes breakfast. I do to, but it is common for me to skip that meal… This time I would be accommodating us both… We pulled in and filled up with people fuel…
I’m a wee bit surprised that actually rather nice place is still open. Nothing fancy, but it is clean, the food is good, and the service is excellent. I had it drummed into me during marketing classes in college, that the three most important things in retail (back then anyway) are ‘Location’, ‘Location’, ‘Location’! This place is out in the middle of nowhere! A small motel, gas/convenience store, and this place, plus a tiny hamlet nearby just down a side road. Both times I’ve been there only one other couple was present as far as customers go… Perhaps it’s just my timing, but… Next time I’m through there, I’ll have a look inside again…
The road steepened a degree or two as we continued our ride on up to Silver City. A small but bustling town on the move. It seems to have grown a bit since my last time through, so apparently they have something going on that I don’t know about. It’s not a place that beckons me to come hither and linger a while, but it’s not a turn-off place either. Just another large town getting larger, and a bit busy to suit me… We rode on…
A downhill ride this time to Lordsburg, NM. An old town, it’s even been mentioned in some old western movies… Flat land all around, but with views of mountains off in the distance. A dusty, dry, little town… I spent a couple of nights there once upon a time to rest and do laundry, and I found nothing there that inclined me to return… If there is adventure to be found there, and there just might be, I didn’t find it.
If you turn your back on a shutterbug, anything can happen... Of course, if you don't turn you back, then...
It then became time for us to scoot on over to Safford, AZ, and find our motel for the evening. Another interesting little place that has tourism competing with agriculture for economic prominence. Lots of motels and restaurants for those passing through, but it also has huge amounts of cotton grown nearby! Yep, irrigated land produces a surprising number of bales each year! Farm equipment sales are naturally close by as well, and visual evidence of the scale of farming is readily available!
We stopped to top off and take a break once we’d arrived in Safford. While we were standing around jabbering, a guy walked up and commented on our Valks… Turns out he has one too, and he rides through there often. He lives near Phoenix and has a cabin/RV arrangement near Pinetop, the place we were headed the next day. He introduced himself, and I must say he has a rather easy to remember name… Robert E. Lee… He assured us he wasn’t kidding…
Robert E. Lee meets Big Wolf…
Next morning, we awoke to… moist news! We’d been dodging or running from rain ever since we’d hooked up, and it appeared it had caught up with us again… The forecast called for it to move on through, though, so we delayed departure a bit in hopes… it did! We waited a bit longer, because we could see it was still falling up on the mountain we were headed right for to begin our assault on ‘The Devil's Highway’…
Morning surprise…
US HWY 191 is known as 'The Devil's Highway'. It is a monster of a road, over 90 miles with more twists, turns, switchbacks, and elevation changes than I can count. It is a good ride, although rather long when most of it is done in 2nd & 3rd gear, especially the southern end, and one makes innumerable stops to gaze at the many awesome views! But, that’s not how it got its name…
When the road was initially built, it was given the official designation ‘US HWY 666’. Well, as one might imagine, that didn’t set too well with some of the local meek and pious, and predictably a ruckus was raised. It was strongly felt that nothing manmade should reflect positively upon the head of the underworld, let alone bear his mark, so… Those dear, devout, and dogged guardians of virtue eventually prevailed, and the designation was changed to US HWY 191.
It is a rather pleasant and scenic ride from Safford over to the turnoff onto ‘that road’, and then the rider passes through a couple of small mining towns with the unmistakable signs tourism is making inroads into the local economy. Since Jerry rides a Standard (smaller tank), I thought it wise to top off before heading on up, as there are no services beyond Morenci until one reaches Alpine.
We stopped at the overlook at the Morenci Mine near the beginning of the ‘sweet spot’ of this ride… The trucks that drive down into the mine to haul rock, dirt, and ore out use tires like this one.
The size of this mine is hard to grasp! It is huge, though, and it is impressive to peer down into it… letting one’s mind wander and wonder…
The southern two-thirds of that road is the more twisty and scenic, in my view, as the northern one third is through a pretty dense forest. Lots and lots of overlooks to gawk at the landscape from, and it takes a goodly amount of self-discipline not to stop at every single one of them! As Jerry so astutely and aptly put it… “A photo op every few feet!”
bellco atm
pretty ethnic girl namesWe stopped at the Bear’s Wallow in Alpine for a meal and look around… Interesting place, actually.
Inside are some unusual items on display…
Our meals…
Once our fine dining experience had concluded, it was time to move on to the next phase of this outing… Not really controversial, and no hard feelings lasted beyond it, but… there was a moment when… OK, I reckon I’d better explain…
We departed Alpine, and I was thinking we’d top-off in Springerville. Well, we cruised into town and the station I had in mind had an advertised price per gallon of $3.29! No way, I said, we’d just scoot on over to Show Low and see if we can’t find something a bit more reasonable… Bear in mind we’d paid $2.69 in Safford… same state and all, so you’d think… well, just goes to show!
Well, that little choice of mine would have been just dandy, had I not misremembered the distance to Show Low! I was thinking it was about half what it turned out to be! Well, there was this other reason, too, that I should have stopped at the first place… my bladder soon reached maximum capacity, and no town was in sight!
I gave up, finally, and pulled over to a convenient, semi-secluded spot, and… Yep, I did. Right there. Oh yeah, that wasn't the first time I'd ever done that either... Once I’d regained control over myself and my smile had returned, I waltzed on over to Jerry and inquired, “How long have you been on reserve?” He responded with two messages in one… “Twenty-three miles.”
The information itself was useful, as by then I figured we only had another five miles or so to go and he could easily make that. The non-verbal part of his response, however, conveyed a different message… Nope, I haven’t heard that ‘tone’ since back in those joyous days of matrimonial bliss! Understandable, really, as he didn’t know where we were or where we were going, and he certainly couldn’t read my mind. I’d taxed his nerves more than I should have, and I instantly regretted that!!! Oh well… my bad!
We did make it OK, feelings were soothed, and we lived happily ever after… for the remainder of the day. We got our room down in Pinetop, settled in, and called it a day…
DDT
