March 17, Monday: Happy bumpy saint Patrick's day

78 miles today in beautifully sunny weather from Globe to Safford Arizona along a 2 to 4 Lane Hwy.  We rode on the shoulder a good part of the way. Unfortunately, the shoulder had ridges in it. I counted 30 per 1/10 of a mile so 300 in a mile, and say 30 miles was like that:  over 9000 bumps.  I feel somewhat addled.

WomanTours guide Carol got us in the St. Patrick's Day spirit this morning as we were discussing the route.

Most of us had not brought anything green to wear, so my green backpack had to do.  Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

We rode through the San Carlos Apache Indian reservation, and a town called Geronimo. The vistas were magnificent; closer up however, the sides of the road were littered with bottles and cans of all shapes and sizes. Apparently, they don't have recycling here.

At the 68 mile mark we ended up at this great ice cream place where I ate most of this giant banana split.

We then got a tailwind of about 20 miles an hour and we hammered to our hotel.  Dinner was various Irish food (not corned beef thank goodness).  Note the truck behind our dinner circle!