YOUR NIAGARA PAUL

Tuesday, 10 January 2023

DOUGLAS, ARIZONA. ................USA..........BUT NOT FOR LONG;


Out of the Greenway Manor and we are on the run. 
A nice downhill run of forty K`s to Douglas, Arizona for a quick overnight and then to start our next year in Mexico. 

Sweet dreams are made of this..............
Downhill with a tailwind!!!






"It is the night
My body's weak
I'm on the run
No time to sleep
I've got to ride
Ride like the wind
To be free again

And I've got such a (not) long way to go (such a (not)long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I'll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind

Christopher Cross


Our modest economy room just increased by a one star rating after looking out the window to a rather, unusual for us, unfriendly evening.

Better days maƱana!








 

LOWELL, ARIZONA.USA

After a great Christmas burrito break, we are off towards Bisbee, Arizona. With Neal and Nicola scheduled to come in February, we will wait and explore this once mining and now art centre together. With limited camping options, we will just stay out of town in Lowell, Arizona. 


Missed the service, but thank god-ness for the temp!
As we roll out of Sierra Vista, still getting use to seeing snow on the mountains.
With the amazing weather we have been having, it is all pretty much a product of the local elevation.
Most plains that we ride average 4,000-4,500 feet above sea level.
The range in the distance is pushing 7,500 feet above sea level.




Having already been right to the border of Mexico and never being too far from it, we have been watching a variety of series and shows pertaining to illegal crossings.
Illegals crossing for both immigration or drug traffic sake.
Not the first time, here are common remnants used to deter capture.
Soft sole slippers to leave as nominal of a footprint as possible and camouflage wear to help blend into the desert 
 

Now from any number of countries, reportedly five hundred illegals cross into, JUST ARIZONA, a day.


Here’s another great find that I’m sure we would have never found unless on bike. The Greenway Manor. Once an estate to a mining magnate, today the treasures are music themed. We are hunka, hunka, hunkering down in The Kings Suite for the night. 

It was as fun as it looks.




 

Monday, 9 January 2023

HEY GOOGLE.........


"gotta let me know
should we stay or should we go"




 

SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA. USA


The four nights we will spend in Sierra Vista, Arizona over Christmas will pretty much see us reset, refuel, restock and with feet up watch a lot of high quality trash TV.

Amongst the many thing that we will give thanks for over the season is this melting pot that is the USA. Thankfully here that in that pot there is a mix of ancestral Germans serving their wonderful cuisine.



 Ein Heiligabend Wiener Schnitzel, bitte und danke.

Sunday, 8 January 2023

SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA; USA. ..............INTO, DECEMBER 23, 2022

We’ve been on the move now for eight days straight. With Christmas in a couple days we’re looking forward to laying up for a bit.

Sierra Vista, Arizona seems to offer most everything we will need for a holiday break. 

But first we need to get there.




When we mentioned:
"First we have to get there",
wasn't really thinking we would be delivered by a Christmas savour.
It wasn't the end of means by no means,
but our day unravelled with a late day puncture that  proved unusually troublesome.
Just one quick inquiry resulted in us being ferried the last ten K`s by the wife of this WONDERFUL couple.
Proving once and again(and again, and again) that there are beautiful people everywhere,
including the USA!!!!


 

SONOITA, ARIZONA. USA..........ON OUR MERRY WAY TO

A perfect stay with a perfect reason to return, 
not enough meals in one day and night for tamales, ..........

Well try to make up for some of that with breakfast burritos that should help power our way to Sonoita, Arizona.
Another little bare bones crossing that would fill anyones` Southwest wishes.



Local look-a-like.
Who?



With pretty much no camping option,(thank you)
here we will fall out of our rotation of schedule tenting,
and be "forced" to spend a night in the Sonoita Inn.


Again the town did not have much to offer,
but what it did......!!!!....
The next door steakhouse met all the hype of the"best" in Arizona.
The storied decor, clients, staff and oh yes,
the plated star attraction that we've been slowly studying on the range, as if to pick out our cut, beyond the roadside barbed wire fencing.





 

PATAGONIA, ARIZONA; USA


We've heard big things about this small little town, 
and we will not be disappointed.


To me, pretty much what coming upon a town while cycle touring is all about:
One, more than adequate, place to stay.
Big welcoming "downtown" boulevard with centre park.
A handful of extremely cool, and local, places to eat.
Friendly folk.
A couple of mom and pop re-supply markets,
including a little pop-up with locals hawking their goods.
Not a one stop-light.
Bonus: 
It's base camp, and subsequent vibe, for some of the best gravel riding in the state.

In this town, Lumber means Tamales.