Arizona Moto-Camping Adventure - Day 4 - Part 1
My plan for this entire trip went out the window after day one thanks to the weather so each day after that ended the same way - with me studying maps & weather forecasts and plotting the next day's ride.
The weather was still cold and snowy in northern Arizona and I found there was a lot to do around Tucson so I stopped by the hotel's front desk in the morning and extended my stay one more night. It meant it would be the only day of my trip that I wouldn't have to load the bike with all my gear and luggage. Then I headed back to Sunny Daze Cafe for breakfast (since my dinner there was so good) and had a tasty California-style omelette.
I took I-19 south towards Nogales, AZ, which is a border town with Nogales, Mexico. Since I was clearly in the United States (where we take an oddly patriotic pride for being 1 of only 3 countries in the entire world to not use the metric system), I found it strange that all the highway signs listed distances in kilometers, not miles. Regardless, the ride south was nice.
I have never been to Mexico and I have never seen Mexico but the latter changed when I arrived in Nogales. I could actually see Mexico across the wall and fence. The wall and fence were a striking feature against the hilly landscape. I parked the bike and walked around a bit. Most people were speaking Spanish and many signs were in Spanish too. I talked to a Border Patrol agent. I asked him where to find a cup of coffee but the conversation drifted towards bikes, the off-roading he does with his dual-sport, my rental bike, and my trip. He seemed like a really nice guy and he pointed me in the right direction for coffee.
I ended up getting trapped near the shopping area by a long freight train entering Mexico that blocked my path back to my bike but I had my coffee and walked around to kill time before the train finally passed.
Instead of heading back up I-19 north, I took AZ-82 and AZ-83 instead. It was a really beautiful ride and I even clipped Coronado National Forest. However, it got cold and started to rain. Once again I got hit with tiny hail for a brief amount of time. I brought 3 pairs of gloves for the trip including my lightweight Biltwell gloves, a well-worn pair of leather gloves and liners (which I used most of the time), and a pair of snowmobile gloves in case the weather got really nasty. Well, I finally busted out the snowmobile gloves for this stretch of road.
I continued north, back towards Tucson. My next stop was Saguaro National Park.
The weather was still cold and snowy in northern Arizona and I found there was a lot to do around Tucson so I stopped by the hotel's front desk in the morning and extended my stay one more night. It meant it would be the only day of my trip that I wouldn't have to load the bike with all my gear and luggage. Then I headed back to Sunny Daze Cafe for breakfast (since my dinner there was so good) and had a tasty California-style omelette.
I took I-19 south towards Nogales, AZ, which is a border town with Nogales, Mexico. Since I was clearly in the United States (where we take an oddly patriotic pride for being 1 of only 3 countries in the entire world to not use the metric system), I found it strange that all the highway signs listed distances in kilometers, not miles. Regardless, the ride south was nice.
I have never been to Mexico and I have never seen Mexico but the latter changed when I arrived in Nogales. I could actually see Mexico across the wall and fence. The wall and fence were a striking feature against the hilly landscape. I parked the bike and walked around a bit. Most people were speaking Spanish and many signs were in Spanish too. I talked to a Border Patrol agent. I asked him where to find a cup of coffee but the conversation drifted towards bikes, the off-roading he does with his dual-sport, my rental bike, and my trip. He seemed like a really nice guy and he pointed me in the right direction for coffee.
I ended up getting trapped near the shopping area by a long freight train entering Mexico that blocked my path back to my bike but I had my coffee and walked around to kill time before the train finally passed.
Instead of heading back up I-19 north, I took AZ-82 and AZ-83 instead. It was a really beautiful ride and I even clipped Coronado National Forest. However, it got cold and started to rain. Once again I got hit with tiny hail for a brief amount of time. I brought 3 pairs of gloves for the trip including my lightweight Biltwell gloves, a well-worn pair of leather gloves and liners (which I used most of the time), and a pair of snowmobile gloves in case the weather got really nasty. Well, I finally busted out the snowmobile gloves for this stretch of road.
I continued north, back towards Tucson. My next stop was Saguaro National Park.