Mountain men really do exist.

After missing 246 yesterday I wanted to make sure I saw natural wonders. Boy did I see them! I saw them for the entire day. What I thought was going to take 3 – 4 hours ended up being a long winding road over the entire mountain range. It was everything I had hoped for and more. I decided the best way to do this was to leave Deming by taking route 10 onto 180. Route 180 takes you towards route 191 which goes through the Apache Mountains (my target). First I went into Silver City. I love this town. It had dogs and alternative health care for them. It was just up past the base of the mountain so where it was super hot down in the desert, it was only about 70 – 80 degrees in town. It was also surrounded by horse farms. About 15 minutes up the road you started getting into the Apache Mountains and there were loads of marked trails. Does that place sound made for me, or what? Did I mention the hot men everywhere? No? Well I should have. It was shocking in a very pleasant way. I raced two of them into town but we were swayed by the stoplight and oncoming traffic. I would have won for sure.

After the town of my dreams passed I entered into the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. And I thought the mountains of NH and VT were pretty. Not that they aren’t pretty, but damn, the The Apache and Sitgreaves National Forests are something to behold. I climbed up, up, up. There were signs warning of elk and sure enough I saw some grazing by the road. I took a U turn and went back for pictures. They saw me but didn’t run until Jim had a mental break down and began squealing like a stuck pig so I would be moved to open the door and let him give chase. That’s when they booked it out of there. It was long enough for me to get some pictures though. They have funny butts.

The further we went the nicer it got. The temperature (obviously) went down and it became a wonderful mix of sun and cool breeze. Not to cool. Just right. The words I use and the pictures I have taken do not do this ride justice. It was overwhelming and took my breath away many times. At one point I cleared the mountain I was climbing to take a sharp turn and once around the turn I could see everything. It was such a fast turn and it opened up so wide at such a height that my head actually swam and I had to turn my eyes to the road. But the view from that turn made my breath catch. I can’t remember the last time my breath caught from seeing something beautiful (looking in the mirror doesn’t count as that is obvious). The road was at times incredibly tight. It also just dropped off the side. At points, when I looked over the side, you couldn’t see the bottom. It was super scary but so intensely pretty that I just went slow and enjoyed every horrifying second of it. Once you got up into the mountains you had to go about 25 mph anyway due to the sharp turns. It slowed to about 10 mph in some places and believe me, they meant it. The drop off the side of the road was mind blowing. At one point I stopped the truck and got out to see if standing was any better. It was still such a sheer drop and still such a long way down that it was hard to stand on the edge without getting that weird I’m about to fall and should back up feeling even though I knew I was fine. Ah survival, you gotta love it.

The people out here are so polite. I have yet to meet one snooty person or have anyone drive like a jerk. They wait to pass and thank you as they go by. Very rarely have I been tailgated and the couple times I was it was totally warranted as I was driving about 30 mph with my mouth hanging open while I gazed about in wonder. Of course they don’t know that, they just know I’m slow and it’s a no passing zone or something. Woops. Cruise control rules. When I stop and get out of the car for any reason people are always super accommodating (albeit a little standoffish when I get out in a town that is in the middle of no mans land, but that’s expected) and will usually offer a smile and some conversation. I talk way to fast for some of them, and I need to slow it down to about a 100 at times but overall but they even put up with that. That says something.

I stopped in Luna to pee and get an iced coffee at this cute little coffee/latte shop. It was the best iced coffee I have ever had in my life. I’m not kidding. To die for. Starbucks had nothing on this place. Nothing. Mmmm… The people in Luna were a little wary (I doubt they see many people passing through) until I won them over with my award winning smile and enthusiastic nature. It was a cute little town and I can see why people live there. Although, it’s out in the middle of nowhere.

They have been having issues with fires and you could smell the burning along the way. In fact, for about 20 miles or so before I hit the valley, all the trees were charred and in some areas I could still see smoke coming up.

I stopped on one of the places where they actually made a place to stop so Jim and I could stretch our legs. I also wanted to take pictures out of the truck. Most of the pictures on my Flickr account are from inside the truck. The road was so narrow that I couldn’t pull over so I would just stop, lean out and take a picture. Pulling over meant either falling off the cliff or smashing into it. So I was happy just stopping in the road. Besides, I think I saw about 12 people out there (towns not included) so it was basically me, Jim and nature at it’s best. That was a little unsettling but also nice considering I wanted pictures and didn’t have to worry about anyone rear ending me when I slammed on my brakes. Ha ha. Anyway, when I stopped and got out I met this nice couple who gave me their card and said to call them if I wanted to see “real horse ranching” when I came back to AZ. Sweet. While talking to them I got cactus stuck in my foot (I was walking around barefoot as I normally do) and the pain was incredible. As I was without Dr. Campbell or a pair of pliers I had to pull the little nasties out by hand. Do you know how hard it is to pull cactus out of your foot? Yeah, I didn’t either. I am used to the ones I grow on my windowsill. These ones embedded themselves into my foot and wouldn’t let go without a serious struggle. You’d think I’d just put on a pair of shoes wouldn’t you? I don’t like my feet feeling restricted if they don’t have to be. My feet like to breathe. The pain continues until I cause some serious enough damage.

Once through the mountain range I came upon some cows! Finally!!! One of the moms was feeding her calf right in the middle of the road. When we came upon them she started for the side but the little one thought it was all fun and games and started bucking and playing out in front of me until she whacked him onto the side of the road with her head. Then he got the picture and ran along beside her for a bit. There were two moms and two babies. The babies were so cute. The black mother wasn’t all that thrilled about seeing us so getting a picture wasn’t easy. The brown and white mom was feeling put out about the whole thing and when James had another melt down and started yelling at them she rushed the rushed the truck and stomped her feet at us. This got me smacking Jim as I don’t want a huge dent in my truck all because of his big mouth. Once he settled for just vibrating uncontrollably I took some pictures of brown and white mom with her little one next to her. Now again comes the question of how they round up these cows when it’s time to make burgers? They were sprinkled all throughout the mountains.

After the cows I came across where some mining was taking place. As much as cutting into the mountain makes it smelly and really takes away from the whole nature aspect of it all, the mine was very cool looking so I snapped some pictures. I met a family at the scenic view pull off area and there was a little girl who was fascinated with the fact that I could stand on the bench and see over the fence to take pictures. She was a nice little one and I lifted her up so she could also see an uninterrupted view as well. It made her whole day. I took off from there and while driving around a bend came upon a tarantula moseying across the street. He was huge and I was in full picture mode. I tried to stop him by poking him with a stick but he couldn’t care less about me. He had places to be apparently. Following that I was met with signs of crossing longhorn sheep. Just as I was thinking how cool it would be to see one, there was a little billy right on the side of the road. I would have gotten a better picture of him had the screaming mess next to me been able to hold it together. Apparently James is convinced we should take on all the animals larger than us. His racket made the long horn (with short horns) a little unsettled because he also charged at us. I revved my engine and that stopped him for a second but he was not kidding. I was impressed. I’m satisfied with the picture I got and I am also thrilled I saw it before getting onto the main roads where stopping would have been impossible.

Speaking of stopping being impossible… I guess out here it’s okay to not give a decent warning that the highway is ending and it’s also okay to simply put up a stop sign. It was getting dark and I am bombing down the road doing about 70. Next thing you know there are signs for my turn. I expect it to be gradual just like every other time I have ever been on a roadway going 70. This was not gradual. It was immediate. I missed my turn and before I had time to lament about missing the turn I noticed the stop sign. Uh yeah, that’s right, I am going 70 mph and there is a stop sign in front of me. My choices are turn left or right or I was also given the option of shooting off the side of the road into the desert. I opted for a hard right while doing a brake stand. All I know is for once I was grateful it was almost dark as there was no one else on the road. Both the embarrassing factor and the killing everyone in my path factor come into play here. I ended up doing a massive arc back end going first with my tires squealing and throwing up smoke. It must have been a spectacle. At one point I was really hoping I wouldn’t tip the truck. It’s just not made for corners like that. Luckily everything worked out and as much as I ended up pointing in the wrong direction I thought I did rather well with the whole thing truth be told. I was shaken, Jim was wondering what the hell was going on and then it was time to U turn and go in the right direction. I don’t know why putting a stop sign at the end of a fast moving roadway is okay, but at least I will expect crazy going ons like that. I am so glad I do well under pressure because that could have gone horribly wrong. Can I get a JH#1?

Once back in civilization things picked back up big time. I was in mining country. It was gross, getting dark and full of people who just wanted to take a shower. I was going to stay in Safford as I didn’t want to be on the road at night but I had been warned not to stay there by the nice couple in the mountains. In his words, “A pretty girl like you is going to stand out in Safford and you’re not going to have a good time because of it.” Excuse me while my hair stands on end. They were right. I had to stop for gas, a bathroom and something to eat, as I was famished and sick of the nuts and dried fruit route. I did not like stopping. And coming from little miss I hang out in the ghetto because that’s where I always end up by mistake, that says something. It was full of rough looking characters, worn out families and young teen girls dressed like they were fresh off the pole. I got gas, got food, peed and split by way of 191. Who knows, maybe it’s nicer during the day. It was dark on 191 man! Wow. Black all around. No streetlights, nothing. Of course it had rained so there were clouds and those star pictures are going to have to wait. I saw a trucker pull onto the same route so I tailed him all the way to 10. I stopped in Wilcox, AZ and got a room there for the night. I needed a breather.

In the a.m., I headed back on 10 towards Phoenix. There was border patrol everywhere! I have been told anywhere there is border patrol is not usually the best place to be. Illegal everything from people to drugs. Had I known it was a drug trafficking place I would have scored some much needed crack. I suppose there’s always next time.

I passed by Tucson on my way out. It’s very industrial. Power plants throwing out smoke and trains rumbling by. That sort of thing. I love industrial areas so it was a welcome sight. The only part I don’t like about industrial areas is how it’s always surrounded by very poor neighborhoods. Although I suppose the rich and famous don’t want to live near that kind of mess and racket eh? And they shouldn’t have to. They’re better than that.

So here I am in Scottsdale, AZ. It’s right outside of Phoenix. It’s hot as hell and kind of cute if you are in a cute part. I am. I passed by an Indian reservation and that was not so cute. I always wanted them to look nicer and be super colorful with teepees and old men telling stories around the campfire. Um, yeah, it’s not like that. It’s flat out depressing. Made me feel reserved. Ha ha! They don’t take care of their land and just have these run down mobile homes on it. It’s sort of like a spread out ghetto. Dirty, poor and run down. What a bummer. I wanted to feel bad for them but after talking to some people I don’t anymore. They have land but they don’t take care of it at all. They’re paid just for being here but they drink it away. They have more opportunity than most of us will ever dream of having but they don’t do anything about it. Maybe when we massacred their families and loved ones, took their land and gave them the smallest shittiest amount to settle on it took their hope and drive away? Even so, it’s over and they should do something, anything. Mostly because I want them to. I want them to be proud people, not drunken vagrants. If I ruled the world…

Right before Phoenix I drove through all this land with cacti. You don’t realize how large these things are! I’ll try to get James next to one so you can see what I mean. They’re HUGE. There are also jackrabbits everywhere. I’ll try to get a picture but they’re fast little buggers with big old ears. I guess there are also roadrunners. Meep meep! I hear they are aggressive little guys so I am going to take one on and make it part of a photo shoot. I don’t want to run into a rattler as I’m told they can be huge but you’ll hear them before you see them anyway. Did you know they can strike the distance of their body? Comforting. The weather here is something. The heat is a dry heat. It’s awesome. Less sweat. So nice. Also without the humidity you can actually step into the shade and cool off. If there is a breeze in that shade it’s bliss. I like this kind of heat way better than NE heat. It’s less oppressive. I mean, it’s incredibly hot, but not the kind of hot that makes you want to entirely stop. You can keep going provided you hydrate and use your head.

It’s strange because they have palm trees out here. They’re looking kind of sickly but I guess they had a “deep freeze” this last winter and it hurt a lot of the plants in this area. All the people in every area have the same thing to say about the weather/climate and it goes like this, “It’s odd because that doesn’t usually happen around here”. You know what that translates to in my mind? Yup, that’s right. We’re all going to die.