day 33

leaving tucson, i thought i would go to some of the same places that aLex and i rode through when we were here a few years ago. i decided to ride through tombstone and bisbee, as i liked those areas and remembered the scenery and towns being very nice. it was a very good day for riding, not too hot and none of the rain i had seen the last few days.

i guess i had a different impression of these towns from the last time i was here. we must have ridden through them originally on a weekend as both towns were almost empty and many of the shops didn't even appear to be open. after some time of continuously comparing everything to when i was here with aLex, i just wanted to be somewhere else so that i didn't ruin any memories of our previous time here.


road to bisbee, az - 09/13/2006


copper mine in bisbee, az - 09/13/2006

after heading east from bisbee, i was riding within a mile of the mexican border. i saw border patrol vehicles every few miles. heading north again, i couldn't believe how green everything was. i knew they had a lot of rain here, but it didn't even feel like i was in arizona. the only things that reminded me where i was were the occasional catus or desert plants almost hidden by all of the green.


arizona highway - 09/13/2006


arizona - 09/13/2006

making my way to las cruces, nm, i had planned on taking some non-interstate highways, but i was low on gas and didn't want to risk being stuck in the middle of nowhere, again. as i was approaching las cruces, i could see some large clouds above the horizon, and i was headed directly for them. at first they seemed too far off for me to ever reach them. but as i got closer and closer to my destination, the clouds got larger and darker. within about 10 miles of las cruces, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees in less than a minute. at first there was just water on the road, but then i noticed what looked like snow. i quickly realized that it was actually hail. there was standing water everywhere along the side of the road. as i rode toward the campground, there were city crews out "plowing" dirt and debris off of the roads. i found out that they had just gotten about two inches of rain in an hour, including hail. there was so much hail that after about an hour, there was still some piled up on the edge of the sidewalks.


hail in las cruces, nm - 09/13/2006

it started raining again a few hours later and it probably will for the rest of the night. i have already seen more mosquitos tonight than i have this whole trip. hopefully this won't cause any road closures along my route tomorrow.