The cold chased us south early.

December 23, 2017

A forecast of -11 at home made us decide to hurry south to wear shorts in the sunshine. It was a bit late to be inviting others, especially over the Christmas holiday.

I have been enjoying Kevin's journal - follow the photo link below.

We decided to make our own small foray riding into Mexico. It is certainly laughable compared to Kevin's ride. But it feels pretty big to us as we sit here in the rough almost border town of Ajo, AZ.

With the time we have, we are riding from Ajo, through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, across the border to Sonoyta, Mexico. Then we are continuing on to Puerto Penasco on the Sea of Cortez. It will be interesting to compare bicycling over the Mexican border to crossing the Canadian border. Canada was an easy process.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I question the availability of food at the border. I suggested buying a couple of cans of chili, just in case. Jacinto thinks at the worst we should be able to buy gas station food. That's not quite the typical holiday feast! At the worst, I have my emergency packets of tuna.

Jacinto has big Jandd panniers. One side has clothes. The other side is empty except for a percolator, coffee, and the fixings. He has offered to carry anything I don't have room for in my petite panniers. Truth? What I want to carry fits in my bags. But I could give Jacinto all of the heavy stuff to slow him down.

We are both nervous at cycling in Mexico. Jacinto still has family in Mexico and we visit yearly. The stories about drug cartels are true. Jacinto knows innocent people who have been caught in the cross fire. We are amazed at the cyclists who have safely bicycled Mexico. Jacinto has frequently commented that he would love to be comfortable riding in his home country.

Another truth? I told him that I will be riding so close to him that I can smell his farts . . . .no farting allowed in Mexico. He got quite a tickle from that statement.

We found driving to the start to be more difficult that riding from home. I threw all sorts of things in the van, planning to make the final decision once we test the air in the morning. The forecast is 57 degrees at our planned departure time of 10 AM. That sounds mighty fine to this Colorado girl.

I need to bump riding through Monument Valley way up on my list. Driving through went too quickly.

Those aren't shadows on the wall. That is two tones of paint. They must have painted around the wall decorations.

Our $60. motel in Ajo. It was adequate and we could leave our van while we toured.

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