Checkin' in from the road-day 10.. >>
Posted By: Ricky
Lee McBroom
Date: Tuesday, 28 June 2005, at 6:17 a.m.
Day 10 (June 27); San Diego, CA > Tucson, AZ
Refreshed from our day off, we said our goodbyes to the family and hit the road at 09:00. Just a few clouds, with temps in the mid-70's dictating that we wear our jackets.
View from the saddle, just east of San Diego Beautiful country!
View from the saddle, east of San Diego Quite a bit more rugged than I'd realized...
Rough country, exiting the highlands east of San Diego This stretch of I-8 runs right along the border with Mexico, and the Border Patrol has a huge precense here.
Border parol checkpoint, near CA-AZ border Luckily we didn't have to show our green cards..
Just east of Yuma, AZ Once into the desert the temps went way, way up, and we traded the jackets for ice-filled bandanas. We started to see lots of these guys;
Saguarro cactus near Gila Bend, AZ During this leg of the trip the temps went from hot to blazing hot to downright dangerously hot. The thermometer at our rest stop just west of Gila Bend registered 110F.. in the shade! Just ridiculously hot.
Flirting with heatstroke, Casa Grande, AZ By the time we cleared Casa Grande the temps, mercifully, dropped a little. Down to a mere 100F. But that was enough, and we rolled into Tucson at 19:30. Civilization! Cold beer and air conditioning! Denny's! Ahhhhhh...
-Ricky