The day started with a breakfast of oatmeal, toasted bagels, and coffee in the kitchen of the Westward Motel in Salome, AZ. Then we packed up our bags, but them in the “great white,” our nickname for the Dodge minivan, applied sunscreen, took some Advil, and started off, finally getting on the road at about 9:00 am. Today’s ride was one of our quickest, aided by a strong mostly westerly wind that helped us complete the 55 mile ride in about 3.5 hours, even with 4 short breaks along the way. Our breaks were all pretty short, because once off the bike and not pedaling, it got cold in a hurry! We stayed on U.S. 60 the entire ride and, probably for the first time in the trip, the scenery was somewhat monotonous and not overly pretty. Nevertheless, we still took pictures and the ones I took during the ride are all below.
My bike, Mark and Tim on our first break outside Salome, AZ
Mark on a break along US 60 outside Salome, AZ
Tim on a break along US 60 outside Salome, AZ
A lonely saguara along side US 60 outside Salome, AZ
Harvested field and mountains along US 60 outside Aguila, AZ
Mark eating a Hershey bar along US 60 outside Aguila, AZ
Spiny barrel cactus along US 60 outside Wickenburg, AZ
Teddy bear cholla cactus along US 60 outside Wickenburg, AZ
Tim at Wickenburg Massacre historical marker just inside Wickenburg, AZ
After getting to our lodging for the night, the Best Western in Wickenburg, AZ, we all took showers to wash off the road dirt, and then all four of us had lunch at Nana’s, which was an easy walk from our rooms. Beth, having already seen the town’s museum, opted to go back to the room to work. Tim, Mark and I then visited the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, a short walk from Nana’s restaurant. Here are a few pictures I took inside this small but very nice museum:
Recreation of hotel, store and church in Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, AZ
Recreation of general store in Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wockenburg, AZ
Photo of Annie Oakley in Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, AZ - sorry about the flash!
While I was at the museum, I purchased a short book entitled “Cacti of the Desert Southwest,” by Meg Quinn, which was where I found the names for the Teddy bear cholla and the spiny barrel cactus. After our visit to the museum, it was back to our rooms for some relaxation before going out to dinner.
Tomorrow we make our last ride of this first leg of our cross-country bike tour. We travel about 70 miles to Tempe, AZ. Some of it will be along U.S. 60 and a good deal of it will be on a dedicated bike path, which should make for a safe final ride!