| Page 6 Day 24 – 2/6/02 Mileage today 34.3 Climbed today 1,680’ GOHL DERN Great night, at least for me! Myron was a little cold. We didn't set up tents, we just slept out in the barn. Myron got up and said GOHL DERN. You know Myron is upset when he says that. I asked what is wrong. He said I lost a sock. He was looking for it for a few moments when I hear Jiminy Christmas. I found it. Good I said where was it? On my foot. Myron had two socks on his right foot and none on his left. Now that we have the case of the missing sock solved, we need to solve my wheel problem. As promised I had a new wheel waiting for me at Jon Rays tire service in Douglas, AZ. Thank you BOB TRAILERS for such great service. Rigo at the tire store, car tires that is, was kind enough to accept shipment of the wheel and hold it for me until I got there. Day 25 – 2/7/02 Mileage today 38.8 Climbed today 890' GERANIMO Last night we had to climb over a fence to get to were we wanted to camp. This is a lot of work, we had to take everything off the bikes and pass everything over the fence, then reassemble it all to ride to where we wanted to camp. We got up this morning and had ice allover everything. Not to mention that we had to fence hop again. As it turns out we didn’t have to climb the fence on the way out somewhere in the early morning the rancher opened the gate. We are on our way again. We are looking forward to crossing into New Mexico today. We hope it is as nice as Arizona. About an hour into the ride we see a historical marker. I can’t pass them up. This one was cool it was a monument to Geronimo and to the spot where he surrendered to the US Army on Sept 6,1886. This is one reason I like touring I get to see things I wouldn’t otherwise get to see. A little further on we rode into Rodeo, NM. We stopped to take pictures and to have lunch. Everybody is friendly. All accept the cop in the car across the street. I waved and he just ignored me. I hope this isn’t a sign. We soon turned east onto highway 9. We will stay on 9 all the way thru New Mexico. It started to get dark so we started to look for a place to camp. We saw a good spot but it was on private property. We saw the ranch house and rode to ask permission to camp. This is where we met Johnny Peace and Linda Looker. Two of the friendliest people you’d ever meet. Johnny was quick to say make yourself at home and camp anywhere. There was a lot of anywhere to choose from. Johnny owns 10,000 acres. He suggested just down the hill from the house there was soft ground and water for us. As Myron and I were setting up camp Johnny came walking down the hill with two big bowls of stew and crackers Linda prepared for us. What a treat. So far Myron and I really like New Mexico. Johnny is a tall slender, strong man in his 50's. He not only farms, he works at a local smelter. He also helps his elderly neighbors with their ranches. Johnny told me he has never met a stranger. Well he quickly made us to feel like friends. Johnny and Linda - Thank you! Myron & Jim Day 26 - 2/8/02 Mileage today 51.6 Climbed today 1,530 HAPPPY HUNTING We had a wonderful night with the hospitality of Johnny and Linda. We started to break camp when nature called. So I went up to the house and Linda let me answer the call. She had prepared coffee for Myron and me. She also generously offered to cook us hot cakes and eggs. I said thank you but we were planning to go into town to the panther paws cafe and meet Grace. Grace is the owner and also Johnny’s sister. We went to the cafe and had breakfast but didn’t meet Grace. We did meet Wilma and Bob. They are touring around the states also. The only difference is they have the luxury of a car. Wilma lives in New York and graciously invited us to stay with her when we get into the area. Myron and I can’t believe the wonderful hospitality we’re receiving. While at the cafe we met a couple of local girls who overheard our conversation about how friendly everybody is, all except the cop yesterday. They were quick to point out that the cop is a dummy. Not that he is stupid but that he is a manikin sitting in a real cop car. Everybody got a big laugh out of the fact that I wave at dummies and get upset that they don’t wave back. Now I feel like the real dummy. We did find out that the cop who used to work that beat would pull over cars and tell the speeders that they can pay there fine right there on the spot. Well they did and he didn’t turn in the cash. So he was fired and the dummy was hired. Hours later we were hunting for a place to sleep. We found a gate and opened it and rode a ways back off the road. No sooner did we stop we saw a truck slow down back up and come toward us. We thought oh no it is the owner coming to say pack it up boys and head down the road. As it turns out it was a group of for hunters. John, Carl, Steve and Gene. They were stopping there for the weekend to go hunting. So we had company. The first thing they did was to ask what in the world are you guys doing on those bikes. They had seen us earlier about 20 miles back. When we told them what we are doing they offered us a beer and said you need this more than we do. John was the leader of this hearty band of hunters. John was the storyteller. Well they all were but John he can tell you stories and keep your laughing for hours. After we made camp we were invited over to their trailer where John made us all a great dinner. Once again that New Mexico hospitality! Myron and I drank and laughed the night away. Day 27 - 2/9/02 Mileage today 44.8 Climbed today 510' LITTLE THINGS Hot coffee in the morning! Thanks to John we had hot coffee this morning. We were made to feel apart of this hearty band of hunters. The practical jokes that they play on each other, if we stuck around we were afraid of becoming their next victim of a joke. We enjoyed all the stories and adventures. I especially liked the story about the rattlesnake in the backpack episode. It was time to head out; we stopped in Columbus to shop for groceries. We camped about 10 miles east of town. Were we camped we saw big cat prints all around camp as if it was a regular hangout for the cat. The prints were the size of the palm of my hand. The hunters had told us about the mountain lions in the area. They told us about a Jaguar that had been photographed in the area last week. I didn't want to get up and go to the bathroom at night, but nature made me overcome my fear. |
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