Aaron pushes on up the Mountains

Friday Jan 28. Thatcher to Three Way, AZ

Breakfast at Gabi's Diner.  Our 1st breakfast in a restaurant since leaving San Diego exactly 2 weeks ago.  I don't really miss eating out.  It takes less time to get going in the morning when Lenny makes breakfast at camp and Lenny makes good grub.

We woke up to find 2 of Aaron's wheels flat and on the road today he got 2 more.  That makes 7 for the trip for Aaron.  He's riding thin racing tires that thin thorns easily pierce.  When we get to silver city we hope to pick up wider and more puncture resistant touring tires for his 2 rear wheels (the front doesn't have clearance to go any bigger).

Today's terrain is a long steady climb through the low traffic and wide shoulder roads of the Black Hills.  Once over the 4800ft Thumb Butte Pass we coasted into the small town of Three Way. They have free primitive camping on US Forest Service property near the Rangers Station.  It got below freezing tonight (doubt we'll get much sympathy from family back home dealing with sub-zero temps) so Lenny and Aaron made room for me in the heated RV.  Ear plugs worked wonders and the snoring was barely perceptable.

Aaron's been a trooper grinding 4 tough days in a row dealing with significant mountain passes or yesterday's high winds and numerous 1/2 mile climbs.  The next 2 days have even taller mountain passes before our rest day on Monday at Gila Hot Springs (and the Gila Cliff dwellings).  After a days rest we have our final and tallest mountain (Emory Pass) at 8,200 ft on Tuesday before we get a break from the mountains and get to enjoy gravity working in our favor all the way to El Paso Texas. 

The video below is from last week going into Surprise Arizona. That was a meticulously landscaped town outside of Phoenix.  A very popular retirement area where Aaron was enjoying the flat roads.  Keep plugging away at these hills Aaron and we'll soon have roads like that again!