Arizona Night 1

Harsh heat of over 110 degrees force a rather long stop at Mc Donald's. Soon after leaving Dateline we were wilting and swooning in the sweltering sun. Most of us were hot enough to want another break so quickly...yet night was not far off. There was debate about waiting out the high temps in favor of riding in the darkness rather then in the relentless rays of the dry heat of the desert. I was getting nervous about waiting so long as we still had far to go and my eyes don't work so well after dark, especially in the middle of nowhere with no street lights. My proposal (just shy of a demand) was to keep moving forward. I felt it better to not loose momentum but instead to press on even if we had to stop every 20 miles to hydrate and stretch. At least we'd be moving closer to our destination instead of camping in Mc Donald's for a few more hours then trying to navigate the night and end up arriving at our hotel in wee hours. We were already kind of burnt out; no need to burn the midnight motor oil.

We finally got back in the saddle and sailed to a meetup place where some Desert Diamonds (an Arizona branch of WITW) were anxiously awaiting our arrival. They escorted us all the way to out hotel in Globe, after another long break or two and a few u-turns to get back on course. We ride well into the evening. We were beat by the time we got to the hotel but we were supported and joined by our Arizona sisters so sleep was not invited for another few hours.

We discover there is a diner across the street that was willing to stay open for us. After checking in, unpacking the bikes, and changing clothes we slothfully assembled in the
lobby to lollygag and pretend to move towards to the diner. I asked who wanted to walk across the street with me; only had one taker. Anita likes to workout and wanted to find a weight room in order to get a little exercise. She was the only one wanting to walk across the street with me. Everyone else waited for a local sister to take them in her truck. I realized that to most bikers "walking distance" equates to only the distance equal to or less then the distance of where they are to their bike.

Anita & I compared talismen. She adorned a medallion of Saint Christopher on one side and a motorcycle on the other. On the same gold chain she also wore a little Buddha. All my jewelry
was symbolic (garnet ring and bracelet for my blood count and chi, moon stone earrings for travel, and most subtle yet notable -- a skull mala bracelet for protection).

At the diner I couldn't see anything vegetarian on the menu. I asked what I might be able to have that is vegetarian. The waitress suggested the Tuscan penne pasta. I looked it up in the menu and read the ingredients. Listed first was chicken. I consider chicken meat so I asked if I could have the pasta without chicken. They made it so. I think it was around midnight by the time we got to bed. Did a mini restorative yoga routine and then slept like a rock dreaming of riding to Roswell.