Still nothing for this wandering gypsy down in Nogales, so we just cruised on through and picked up I-19 north to Tucson. Nice ride for an Interstate highway, but then again it is… No invigorating curves or ups and downs… just long, strait miles of pavement… scenic, however… and, of course, the ubiquitous Border Patrol check points… the K-9 gave me the usual thumbs-up… Then it was time to deal with Tucson…

I think I prefer Tucson to Phoenix, but just barely. Either one, I’m sure, is a good place, it’s just that they are both way too big and hectic to appeal this country-boy at heart. I did what I had to do to navigate through the maze of turns and traffic lights and found my way to HWY 77 north towards Globe… Once finally clear of the urban sprawl, that actually turned out to be a very nice ride! Yep, I’ve been this way before, but due to the passage of years, probably a decade, it was fresh enough to really enjoy.

For an easterner, no matter how many times I ride out here, I’m still amazed at the beauty, and the difference in everything. The mountains in the east to me are warm, inviting, serene, comfortable. The mountains in the west are bold, stark, ‘in-your-face’, challenging you to venture forth and see if you have what it takes.

The vegetation is also vastly different… cactus instead of palmettos, evergreens instead of mighty oaks… and rocks… Whoever named the Rocky Mountains didn’t need much imagination to come up with that moniker! Dampness, too, is ever present in the east, but noticeably absent in the west. A couple of scientific reasons for that, but suffice it to say the humidity is half or less out here, and you don’t experience ‘air that you wear’… Precipitation is far less, as well, so riding is almost doable any time… temperatures being the big factor there.

About thirty miles or so before Globe in Winkelman, signs of a detour appeared… Great. Had to turn off onto HWY 177 to Superior, then over to Globe. Fifteen or twenty miles further that way, but… Ever notice how the detours, missed turns, wrong turns, the unexpected, often unwanted, can really be a prelude to serendipity? What a great ride!

I’d miss-remembered the route through the canyon/gorge just out of Superior heading towards Globe, thinking it was on the other side of Globe… Well, there it was, and we were soon banking those curves, taking leave of the practice of good citizenship, and having a ball… Holy cow! No way I would have been on this route except for that fortuitous detour…

I’ve learned to withhold carping about unexpected, forced alterations to a ride like this for precisely this reason… Fate, destiny, luck, whatever has a better idea of what I need far better than I do, so I just trust that things will work out… and they always do! Some health ailment or other will eventually get me, of course, but I’m reasonably certain it won’t be ulcers due to stress… Yep, that wondrous groove was most definitely back, and I was smack in the middle of it!!!

I got a room in Globe… a really nice room, too. Pricy, but what the hey. I long ago advised my daughter there will be no need for an armored car in my funeral procession… Anyway, the Mexican restaurant I’d been told about didn’t have any lights on, so Subway became my fall back dinning option, since I didn’t want to go in search of something else.

I did walk into a bar the nice lady at check-in had told me of that was within walking distance of the motel… Several ‘real riders’ were standing around looking all macho, a few couples were shooting pool, and they all were wearing the ‘uniform’… I didn’t see any colors on anyone, but they all had the look… I paused to make sure of my evaluation, then backed out the entrance and headed back to my room… Probably a low likelihood of finding a dance partner anyway… more likely to gain a knot or two on my noggin’…

So, life is good again… not that it ever wasn’t. I’m just me being me, doing what I do. I got no legitimate complaints save possibly one… This huge goober grin on my face causes me to catch more bugs in my teeth… Oh well, nothing is perfect!