The wild wild west ride

November 15, 2021

San Pedro River ride west

Today we're squeezing a bike ride along with our other chores. After loading the bike in the truck, we headed back to Benson to first take care of our dirty laundry. That took a couple of hours so it was nearly 11 am by the time we actually got on the bike.

The ride started in Benson again as we headed out north on Ocotillo Rd. This time we were on the west side of the San Pedro River. Although there isn't any visible water in the river basin, there must be some not far underneath of us since we've seen lots of green alfalfa fields close to the river.

We even passed several acres of newer pecan trees that one farmer had planted. I think if you're patient enough to wait for years for your trees to produce, pecan growing could be a fairly lucrative crop. And as long as you have water, you can even grow them in the desert!

The road was a little rolling, but with no super steep hills. There were more people living out here - some nice homes and many run-down looking properties. We continued north until we reached the end of the pavement, then turned around.

On the way back we took a side road that went into a small development with older trailer homes. That was a pretty trashy area and I was happy that all of the dogs we passed were behind fences!

Back at the truck, we loaded up the bike and drove one more time to St. David to visit our pecan guy. His stand was still closed but Don called the number posted to see if he would open up for us. The guy said that he was out of pecans from last year but that his trees were full.

He said he could maybe "shake" a few trees and see if he could collect some. He was even willing to precrack the shells. But he was at work so would have to call us later one way or the other. If he did get any, he would deliver them to us in the campground. Unfortunately, he never got back to us so we'll have to make due with what we already had purchased. Bummer, he had the best prices of the 3 pecan places we've visited!

Don spent the rest of the day packing up the truck with everything we had pulled out of the bed so we could carry the tandem. That took awhile and he was pretty tired by the time he had finished.

Before dinner, we took a walk over to a nearby Airstream to talk the couple about their trailer and tow vehicle. They were very friendly and patiently answered a lot of our questions. Their trailer was a different model than ours but about the same length and they had owned it for 4 years. It would be fun to get to know them further but of course we're leaving here tomorrow.

But we may run into them in the future since we might end up joining the same Airstream club they belong to - the 4C's club which has members from all of the 4 corners states - AZ, CO, UT and NM. It would be fun to someday go to some local rallys or longer caravans.

This isn't a road, but a dry wash. On the last couple of rides we've crossed many of these. I sure wouldn't want to try to cross one after it had been raining!

We've also ridden over many cattle guards. Nice that they warn cyclists!

As we continued north of Benson, we had expansive views of the desert and this mountain range to the NW.

Give them water and they will grow. We passed many acres of newly planted pecan trees in one spot.

Today's ride: 18 miles (29 km)
Total: 230 miles (370 km)

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