March 19, 2014
Day 74: Las Cruces to Tucson: An SUV ride to Aunt Sophie
It probably is not fair to include throwing the bikes and gear into the back of Jim's SUV as the sixth time they have gotten a boost from a vehicle on this trip. On the other hand, it is a letdown to be doing it. I guess it's just a letdown to not be cycling today. Well, we do have Angel, the short haired husky, coming with us to keep our spirits up.
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Las Cruces to Tucson by car is basically a straight run on I-10, though the ACA bicycle route had some variations on that.The desert until almost at Tucson is very arid, and consequently there are few plants to look at. However, there are a few points of interest. We stopped at Akela Flats souvenir shop. It has a large facade depicting old west town buildings, and actually there is real shop space behind much of it. Though it was a souvenir shop on the Interstate, some of the stuff looked pretty good to us. This included turquoise jewellery, which is a totally genuine expression of this region, as were varius minerals, such as geodes. We were happiest to find some locally themed little socks, ideal for a grandkid.
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Still in New Mexico we stopped off at the small town of Deming, where Jim recommended the Mexican restaurant Si Senor. This lacked the elegant decoration of La Posta, though it was still generously lined with colourful tile.I ordered the same thingas at La Posta - fajitas - and though the portions may have been slightly smaller, the quality was equal or better.
Our last stop in Arizona was the ghost town, Steins. A sign seemed to indicate that there was a general store there, but no. However we did come across a woman who seemed to belong there, and asked if we could take Angel out for a walk. Yes, she replied, and added that while there are no restrooms for us, we could always use a bush. Out here, we really don't care, she volunteered.
We ended up chatting with the woman for a while. I believe her name was Linda Link. She explained that the town had been established as a water stop when the nearby railroad still needed it for steam. The population had been as many as 2000, but when steam went out, all but a couple of hundred left. Later, even these drained away. Linda and her father had purchased the town, I think she said 1988. But her father was murdered, found dead pretty much where we were standing, a couple of years ago. No motive or suspect was ever found.
I asked Linda what one does for excitement here, and she replied that she enjoys every day. Hard to fathom, but interesting.
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Into Arizona, a rest stop exists in an area of boulders very reminicient of Joshua tree National Park. Always alert as cyclists, Dodie and I checked out the picnic shelters for their overnight camping potential. However we were a little put off by a sign warning of scorpions and snakes. We also saw some pretty ferocious looking red ants.
On the outskirts of Tucson we encoutered the first iconic suaro cactus. We will have lots of time to check these out later.At Dodie's cousin's house, Aunt Sophie was also waiting for us. We had been wondering how she and Jim might get on, since Sophieis definitely not a supporter of carrying weapons. Surprisingly, they seemed to hit it off right away. We have found that political labels are one thing, but that one on one, people of good will usually get on well together. Sophie drove cross town to retrieve some grapefruits from her tree, for Jim and Jenia.
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