Burrrrrr.......it got cold list night! Just reminded me that colder weather is around the corner, and crawling out of the sleeping bag each morning is going to get harder. But, it was a beautiful morning, and by sunrise I was on the road. I spotted a rattler, which unfortunately for him, had encountered a vehicle earlier. I have been told the snakes go on the road during the night to get the warmth of the blacktop, and sometimes don't make it back home. This particular snake had 6 "rings" on his rattle, whatever that indicates. Not a huge snake, but nice size.
The mountains and fields were soon covered with grass. Obviously this is a season when it rains out here, so the grass sprouts up everywhere. And with the grass, grasshoppers.......thousands of them everywhere. The grasshoppers were a little larger than the common ones found back home. They had a blue head, reddish-orange ring around the middle, yellowish-gold body, and more blue on their legs. Very pretty for a grasshopper, but with the traffic, you can imagine what the road looked like.
Now, I watched these grasshoppers for miles, and came to 2 conclusions: 1) they are carnivores based on the number of them that appeared to be feasting on their dead companions; 2) they don't have a particular destination in mind when they jump.......just seem to jump in the direction they are pointed. So, if they're jumping to avoid my cart, might jump right into the guardrail and knock themselves silly, or jump right under the wheel of an oncoming car. If they survive the landing, the next jump appears to be in the direction they are pointed when they landed. (ok, so what would you do for hours on the road?)
I was making good time, the road was flat or only slightly rolling, but here comes more rain clouds. This time it caught me, but not before I had time to put on the rain suit, and cover the cart with a tarp. It was a nice rain, hard for maybe 30 minutes or so, then just an occasional drizzle. I reached a high point in the road, and there, in the distance, was Duncan. It looked downhill all the way, so no way was I going to wait until tomorrow to get there. About that time, an SUV pulled up in front of me and a woman got out. She had some stuff for me......Boost energy drinks, V8 vegetable juice, and a couple of candy bars. She lived in Duncan, but was on her way to Safford to visit family. Again, she had seen me walking another day. Said she was Chicano.......half Mexican, half American.
Reached Duncan an hour or so later, and inquired about some place to get dinner. "Everybody around here goes to 'Ol Joes'", I was told, "you can get anything there from burgers to steaks." So, that's where I headed. You can't help but love a place where everybody who comes in is wearing a cowboy hat and Wranglers. I asked for a menu, but was told by the waitress no need for that......only serve tacos on Monday night. The only decision I needed to make was, do I want corn or flour tortillas, and do I want onions?
I asked the waitress about the difference in the tortilla shells, and a woman at the next table, obviously perturbed that I was taking too much of the waitresses' time, said, "why don't you try one of each and then you will know?" So, I did, and liked both, but the next order was for flour tortillas. Very good dinner, and the place was loaded with atmosphere.
After dinner, walked down to the convenience store and asked about a place to camp. The woman suggested I go to the park a block or so up the road, and stay there. I did, found a nice spot in the back of the park, and soon was resting comfortably. It's been a very good day, sometimes things just work out.
(I really liked Duncan, just had a good feel to it. The picture above is of the Arizona Ranger Station. The rangers always get their man.)
Also, I wanted to tell you that I passed a group of cyclists (bicycle) back around Ft Thomas. They were biking from CA to FL. Must have been 10-12 of them, and they were already pretty spread out. It's hard to keep together when there are different levels of endurance. They didn't talk much, seemed to be in a hurry.
Acts of kindness for today:
- the Chicano woman who gave me the food
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