Where's Joe?
Arizona, (again),
New Mexico (again)
Stage 8 of the Journey: September 18 - October 2
Arizona (again)
Sept 18
Joe got back on Rocinante and continued his desert ride. The temperature is still over 100 degrees. He re-crossed the Colorado River into Arizona at Parker. Most of the water from the river has been diverted for use in other areas. A month, and a thousand miles, ago Joe could step across the Colorado River at its headwaters in the Rocky Mountain National Park. If he followed the river all the way to the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), he could step across it again. If, that is, the river actually made it that far. But it no longer does. The water is all used up and the river is gone.
Sept 19
Joe and Barbara are staying in Wickenburg at the ranch of KC Publication's founder, K.C. DenDooven. KC Publication is the largest and best publisher of full-color, information and interpretive books on National Parks, National Trails, National Monuments, natural scenic wonders and Native American Culture. Top notch, high-quality books. Other than their surprising oversight of a particular scenic wonder located in Eastern Kentucky, they pretty much have America covered. And very well covered, at that. The DenDoovens are sending 130 books, each on a different topic, for the students following Joe's trip to use in their research. This is way cool. Thank you, K.C. and Bonnie DenDooven.
Sept 20
After a wonderful stay with the DenDoovens, Joe headed east and arrived in Phoenix. "It's hot riding," Joe says. "I can handle temperatures in the high 80's pretty well but over 90 it gets tougher. Anything over a 100 really wipes me out." Today, the thermometer on his bicycle read 110 degrees. Heat is also radiating upwards from the black highway asphalt. If he is riding at, say, twelve miles per hour, it is the same as if a twelve mile per hour hot wind is continually blowing in his face.
Saguaro Cactus
Sept 21
Barbara flies out of Phoenix today, home to Eastern Kentucky with its beautiful green trees and cool creeks and rivers. Joe is sad she is leaving but glad for her visit. He will pedal from the airport to the other side of Phoenix today and head eastward tomorrow.
Sept 22
At breakfast, Joe met the D2 (D Square) photographers from Phoenix. They took pictures of him riding out in the desert for an upcoming feature article in Teacher Magazine. Teacher Magazine goes to every public and many private schools in the country. The photo shoot was great and Joe said, "Those guys really know their stuff." Later that day, Joe was interviewed for an upcoming article in "American Way Magazine." This is the on-flight magazine for American Airlines. Even with all this activity, Joe made it to the Miami-Globe area. He will speak to two schools there tomorrow.
* Teachers: Joe's first collection of resource material is now listed on the "Teacher Design" page. It's for you to use. Contact David. Cash prizes will be awarded to three elementary schools- located anywhere- that have the best, large, creative maps of Joe's journey.
Hey kids, any questions for Joe?
Sept 23
Today's ride was a short but eventful. Joe spoke to all the fourth and fifth grade students at the elementary school in Miami and to the entire school at Globe. Everybody was really into the ride and enjoyed Joe's inspirational, motivational talk. He had hoped to speak at the Apache school in San Carlos but it was an official holiday on the San Carlos Reservation celebrating Apache Indian Day and school was not in session. Joe was invited to a coming-of-age celebration tomorrow morning for a young Apache girl. The ceremony begins just before sunup. Since Joe can't ride his bicycle in the dark he is trying to find a way to get there. The Apache Tribal Council recently voted that the short term monetary rewards gained from destroying their land by mining was not as important as preserving the integrity of the land for their children and future generations.
Thank you, Amanda.
Sept 24
Joe caught a ride to the ceremony with the editor of the local paper. Thanks, Shirley! He said, "It was incredible. It was an absolutely beautiful and solemn coming-of-age celebration for a young Apache woman. When the sun came up and the early morning rays shown directly on the beautiful young woman dressed in a gorgeous, traditional yellow dress, it took my breath away." Joe will describe more about it in an upcoming narrative in the "Stories from the Road" page. Later in the day, he rode to Safford.
Mew Mexico (again)
Sept 25
Joe left Arizona and crossed the border into southwest New Mexico. He had been in the northern part of the state earlier in the trip. He rode 77 miles to Lordsburg. Temperature- 98 degrees. It was possibly his most difficult day of riding. I believe his exact words were, "absolutely miserable day for bicycling." The desert, he said, "is parched and the small bushes that used to have some green are now totally brown."
Sept 26
Joe pedaled 47 miles to the mining town of Silver City. Still 98 degrees. He crossed the Continental Divide for the 11th and final time of the trip. That's a lot of times hopping back and forth across the Rocky Mountains.
Sept 27
It is still 98 degrees. The weatherman says it should cool down in a couple of days. Joe's 54 miles to Deming were mostly downhill but he had strong, hot headwinds all day, "like a big fan blowing hot air on you all day." Joe is concerned that the readers may be getting as tired of hearing about the heat as he is in riding in it. You're taking us all on an adventure, Joe. We are with you, through he good times and the hard times. We want to know.
Sept 28
Two traveling bicycling families took Joe to lunch. It was a beautiful day. Still hot but the weatherman says it'll be in the 80s tomorrow. Joe pedaled 60 miles to Las Cruces. Out West, you can ride on the shoulder of the interstate highways, which is where he rode today.
Sept 29
66 miles to Alamogordo and the temperature never broke 90. Joe was quite pleased. He rode across the White Sands Missile Range where the first atomic bomb, developed by the Manhattan Project, was exploded in the wee hours of the morning of July 16, 1945. People in Arizona and mid Texas saw the light from the explosion. He visited the White Sands National Monument and wants to point out that the white sand is not really sand, it's gypsum. Hundreds and hundreds of square miles of gypsum. There are a lot of UFO rumors in this area but Joe did not see anybody from outer space. In fact, if anyone reports an alien riding a bicycle in the desert, it was probably Joe.
White Sands.
Sept 30
Joe left Alamogordo and rode 37 miles up into the Sacramento Mountains. He gained 4,300 feet of elevation in 18 miles which makes it one of the steeper climbs of the trip. He camped out near Mayhill. The temperature was 38 degrees, a welcome relief from the oppressive desert heat of the past month.
Oct 1
Although the temperature was 38 degrees in the morning, it was back to 100 when he reached Artesia, 75 miles later. The ride was downhill. This daily narrative often mentions the incredible effort Joe makes to conquer his mountain climbs. Maybe we should take a minute to enjoy the sheer exhilaration of coasting on a bicycle (can you remember the feeling?) for 75 miles- starting on a mountain top and ending in a desert. As Joe would say, "That's awesome!"
Oct 2
Joe is almost across New Mexico, "Land of Enchantment." He pedaled 80 miles to Hobbs and is only a few miles from the Texas border. He is now in oil and gas country. He passed two refineries and at one point stopped his bicycle and counted the oil wells he could see around him. 128.
Oil.