The day dawned cloudy, and stayed that way. It even spat a few drops of rain. The temperatures now 20F (11C) lower all around. And finally the winds turned to our back (for the first time on the trip). Now very pleasant riding conditions. The man with the split rim has rejoined the group, but not the lady with the bad back.
Only 25 miles to ride today, starting with a 2000 foot climb up a beautiful red rock canyon on a road with little or no shoulder. We were passed by a semi when going through a tunnel - the guy just wailing on the air horn. That'll make you sweat (if you're not already).
Coming back down from the mountain pass we entered a copper mining area. I explored the town of Miami, AZ which had clearly once been a booming party town, but now just an inhabited ghost town. I loved the faint signs in front of boarded up buildings advertising "Mixed Drinks". A bright white Spanish style church sat sedately on its square while enormous dark mining plants loomed from the hill behind.
Some bikers (of the Harley variety) met on the road had recommended the Drift Inn bar in Globe, our destination town, so we pulled up outside around noon. It had been a brothel when established in 1902 and hasn't changed much since. The Tucson Blondes were cheap so we had a round of those and something to eat before reluctantly setting off for camp early afternoon.
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