Day 7: Salome, AZ

Day 7

May 23, 2015

Miles: 40

Quartzsite to Salome

I woke up this morning at 6:30.  You might think that is pretty good, but in light of the facts that I fell asleep at 5:30 the night before, then woke up at 8:30 to finish off the rest of the medium-sized pizza I had ordered for dinner, then went back to sleep, then woke up at 10:00 to take a quick shower, and then went back to sleep until 6:30 this morning, its not really that good.  I was tired!  Even after all that sleep I was still tired and Di said she felt the same way.  We didn't ride that many miles yesterday, but the long ride through the desert the day before had finally caught up with us.

I ate one of Di's pieces of pizza for breakfast, then we packed up and got ready to go.  We stayed at the Yacht Club Motel, named as some kind of joke, I suppose, which is made up of a number of mobil homes each split into two rooms.  I found it to be a very strange setup.

Di getting ready to leave our room, the Queen Mary

We rode a half mile down the road and stopped to have breakfast at the only place that was still open: The Stagecoach Inn.  We had the special, diced ham omelet, for $4.99.  During breakfast everybody who came into the restaurant stopped to say hello to us and exchange some pleasantries (are you enjoying the coffee? was my favorite).  The couple sitting across from us started talking to us and we learned that the woman was a trucker who started her career back in the seventies.  She was one of the first women to drive a semi!  She helped us out with some trucker lingo:
                    aligator - pieces of blown out tire strewn about the road
                    lumper - workers hired on the spot to unload the truck
                    reefer - refrigerated truck (though for half the conversation I had another notion in mind)


We were done with breakfast and on the road by 9am.  It was sunny and dry, of course, but the temperature remains unseasonably cool at around 75-85 degrees.

Di drinking it up

I was surprised how so much grows even though the ground is extremely dry.

Classic Cacti

Stuff is even growing on the mountains

We stopped at Buckaroo's Country Store around 11:00am to take a short break and get some Gatorade.  About ten minutes later, Di said she was really hungry and needed to have a sandwich, so we both ordered the veggie sandwich - it was really good.  We ate on the table near the front door, and again, everybody who came to the store had to stopped and say hello and wish us a good day or a safe ride.  One gentleman asked if he could sit with us for a spell and proceeded to give us a tutorial on how to deal with rattlesnakes.  A couple that had toured the area by motorcycle told us of some nice places to visit and also of their trip to RI and "that city that has all the mansions."  One guy came by and asked us where we were staying tonight.  We said we weren't sure and he said we should stay at the Westward Motel.  "Why", I asked.  "Because its the best motel in Arizona", he replied.  "What makes it the best?"  "It was voted the best by Arizona magazine".  "And you believe the magazine?", I asked.  "I should", he said, "I'm the owner!"  We all laughed at that and Di and I told him to hold a room for us because we had to see the best motel in Arizona for ourselves.

A store on the route is always a welcome site

That green pushpin 2/3 down on the left is where we are at

We started riding again around one c'clock.  Obviously, we weren't riding with great ambition today. Di and I were both feeling a lot better, so even though I ate an entire pizza last night and Di ate 3/4 of another, I guess we needed more food.

Who can resist puerile humor

Leaving Hope causes bad grammar

Those tall things are called saguaro (Di had to tell me this)

Di says things (spiders, snakes) can live in the saguaro - gross!

Proud looking saguaro

Typical prickly road-side plant (don't fall on it)

Lots of saguaro

Di with saguaro.

I like saying saguaro.

We arrived at the Westward Motel around 3:30 and Randy, the owner, and his wife, Janet Lee were happy to see us.  They showed us to our room and then gave us a tour of the premises.  Randy restored the motel himself and he has given it a lot of character.  It has the charm of having come from some other era:  the room is decorated with hanging hand-made rugs, there are bowls and knickknacks on shelves, the furniture is antique -- all in all, a very cool place!

Janet Lee says rabbits love living at the motel

The backyard

Orange tree in the backyard

The front yard has a giant saguaro (hah, I said saguaro again).

Randy and Janet Lee are having a party out back tonight and they invited us, but it is 9:30 and Di is already sleeping, so I guess we will have to pass on the party.

My camera broke a few days ago.  I'm using an 18-200mm lens, but it doesn't focus very well beyond 50mm.  I placed an emergency phone call to Andy and asked him to send Di's camera to us.  I wasn't sure of the best way to go about this, but Andy had it all figured out after a few minutes of discussion.  According to Andy's plan, I will get the replacement camera on Thursday, just in time for the Grand Canyon, which is where we'll be on Friday.  Yeah, Andy!

We are going to Congress tomorrow.  We had originally planned to go to Wickenburg and then on to Congress, but we can triangulate to Congress directly and save 16 miles.  That works out to reducing our overall trip by 0.4%.  Wahoo!