February 18th

There was an overnight frost in Superior, so we waited until the sun warmed things up before heading out. The tunnel was 400 feet uphill and a good climb. Fortunately, there were two lanes in the climbing lane  and one on the downhill, so I got through it all right. This, being a Saturday, traffic was less intense. This was followed by a series of climbs and descents.

The grades were 6 1/2 %.

This is some kind of mining operation.  There are numerous mines in the Southwest.

This was above 4,000 feet getting ready to descend.

This is an old fashion arch bridge over an enormous windy abyss. There generally are no bike lanes on these bridges so you ride in the traveled lane with the traffic.

When I got to the bottom, bathed in sweat, I found Jeanne parked in a small gravel space siding. She was praying for me and when I came to the truck she said, look over there. Wow. Here was this shrine to Our Lady. Now I know how I made it.   

Next thing you know, we were in Miami; Miami Arizona, that is.

There are a couple of what I think are copper mines on the hill.

Then we headed to Globe.  While there I stopped at the Visitor Center to get my bearings.  The woman who helped me was very friendly. She took my blog down and asked if she could use my name on a radio show about people passing through the area. Of course I agreed and then she took my picture in her office. 

 

She also advised me not to do any overnight camping on the Indian reservation, which was my next destination.  She suggested getting out of the reservation and camping somewhere else. We took her advice. 

This was an extremely small speck of a designation of a town called, no less, Geronimo. There wasn't much else on the reservation. Later, we camped at Safford, AZ and went to St. Rose of Lima Church for Saturday night Mass. We had a lot to be thankful for and after Mass Jeanne and I met the pastor, who gave us his blessing for our ride. Praise the Lord!