Old And New

 

RVing has introduced us to a lot of nice people, but riding the bike and playing pickleball has allowed us to meet a whole lot more.  Today our latest pickleball friends, Cliff and Judy, allowed us to introduce them to one of our all time favorite  bike rides—to Bagdad.  At ten am we rolled out of Saddle Mountain RV Park outside Tonopah, AZ.

At Congress we introduced them to our old friends and traveling companions Brock and Leola (at the building.)

The curves up “Yarnell Hill” were very familiar, but still fun.

Something new in Yarnell—snow left over from Christmas eve.

I’ve been past this rock many times but finally managed to catch the football.  (Enlarge the oval rock and you can see the markings.)

We crossed the Santa Maria River in October and again today.

Another new thing—water in the Santa Maria River!

Same diner, same table, new faces—Brock and Leola on left, Judy, Cliff and that creepy guy—aka Duane.

Since Cliff and Judy were on a journey of discovery today we decided not to retrace the ride as we usually do, but to take the AZ 97 cut off over to AZ 93.  We don’t like the traffic on 93, but the scenery is different and they could see the Joshua Tree Forest.    However when we were ready to leave after lunch, Cliff couldn’t get his bike started.  After trying all of the tricks the guys knew and a few from other guys in the parking lot, he gave up.  Judy called their roadside service, but they would tow only 15 miles.  Brock and Leola stepped in and volunteered to ride “home”, pick up their truck with the bike lift in the back, and return to bring them home.  With this plan in mind Duane and I and Brock and Leola headed home on 93, but only because it was the quickest way home.  Meantime, the Schwann’s guy in the parking lot put out a plea for help on the Bagdad helpline.

As the day went on our partly cloudy skies turned threatening in the south.  The clouds allowed the sun to pop out occasionally, but mostly they kept building up.

All in all, we still managed to enjoy the beautiful vistas,

including the Joshua Tree Forest.

Beautiful blue sky and blue mountains.

Before we got home, a guy from Bagdad had volunteered to bring Cliff, Judy, and their bike all the way to Tonopah—120 miles!   The rain held off for us—we got ourselves inside before an evening of rain started.  When everyone arrived from Bagdad, the rain slacked off a bit while they backed the truck up to our ramp, which we lowered to the truck bed.  We pushed the Goldwing into our house, the truck pulled forward, and Cliff rolled the Wing down the ramp and parked it behind our house before the rain got started again.

As I said—we meet the nicest people!

Always an adventure,

Louise and Duane