Globe to Safford AZ.
Today was with out a doubt the most enjoyable day on the road yet. I got a late start...My tent was very wet again--I still haven't figured out how to stop the condensation. It is a work in progress.
Once I got on the road at about 9:30 I saw someone ahead of me on a bike that was loaded up. I went like hell to catch up. Companionship! It took me about half an hour of hard core pedaling to catch up but I made it. Turns out he is going to Florida as well but he STARTED in Florida six months ago. His name is Dominic and he is from Manchester England.
He started in FL and went up the Atlantic coast to Canada to the Pacific, down to San Francisco , and now back towards FL. He plans on touring the world over the course of the next 5 years or so..
Dominic is a great conversationalist and we talked all day long about biking and war and the condition of the Native Americans. There were many other topics too.
It was all I could do to keep up with him...He doesn't really stop pumping his legs.
He had a lot of the British idioms like the last Brit had but his accent was much more subdued. Also, he understood "American" very well. At one point we met with a guy named Bob. Dominic had stopped to help Bob back in Globe and so they knew each other. He mentioned his wife Candy at this point. Is what had happened was, he hitched a ride from Globe to the small town we were now in. Later on, Dominic asked if I would "ever do what Bob and Candy did by hitching a ride." I heard, "Would you ever do a Bob and Candy?" I assumed it was Brit speak for catching a ride. (I really wasn't a part of the conversation between Dom and Bob--Just overheard a few things) I started laughing and asked what a Bob and Candy was. He was like, "No, would you ever catch a lift like Bob and Candy did?" I guess you had to be there but it was pretty funny.
Observations on the British: They put the sound "r" in places they don't belong. Such as "idear" and "sawr", among many others.
I could go on but this was actually two days ago and it is a little foggy. Again, it was just a great ride over flats and hills and some good rolling hills. A good rolling hill is the kind that is like a roller coaster. You can bomb down one side and coast up to the top of the next and do it all over again--NOT a bad time at all.
At one point a dog came out of his yard and chased us for a couple hundred feet. He didn't put much effort into it though. When he gave up the chase he turned and started back to his yard only to almost be smushed by an SUV...Like, super duper almost got smashed. The Suv locked em up, but if the dog hadn't stopped when he did it would have been curtains.
When we got to Safford, Dom stopped at the info place and I went to the bike shop to get something fixed. (I will insert the name of the shop soon---cant remember right now) The owner fixed the broken part for free because I was a vet as was he. Thanks to you Sir.
I ate dinner at Casa Manana. I just asked for the biggest meal they had. And it was glorious! (Glorious is another term the Brits use a lot.)
Mons Larsen is a host on Warmshowers.com. We both ended up staying at his place and the generosity was out of this world! I will come back and add to this part later....But if you are ever in Safford, look him up.
One last thing--The second high speed chase occurred while I was looking for the bike shop. This little dog was persistent! For two blocks he tried to eat Dills. I was laughing about it the whole time--But he was Johnny on the Spot and wouldn't let up. I am sure he would have left a dent.
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