The high winds were projected to hit Eastern Arizona early afternoon so we got an early start and drove 30 miles toward Show Low, where we stopped to bike, again with the wind, back to Springerville. It was a cool morning, with a steady wind already blowing. We decided we'd do these 30 miles and if things were going well we'd drive all the way back to Show Low and bike back the last 13 miles towards Springerville since we were staying in Show Low tonight. The plan was to then take the rest day we skipped on Sunday tomorrow (Tuesday) and start off going West on Wednesday when the wind is supposed to be back to "normal".

Since we'd just driven the road from the other direction we knew there were several steep hills up and down and we were a little dismayed because for the first part of this trip there was no shoulder at all; in fact the road dropped down several inches right after the white line into rocks and ditch. But the traffic didn't seem to bad so we decided we'd be able to share the road.

We started out and we hadn't gone more than 300 yards up an incline when a semi-truck came screaming up beside us at the exact same time a car was coming down the hill in the other lane toward us. The semi driver blasted his horn when he was dead even with us and we both abruptly pulled over into the ditch. 

We paused for a few minutes and gathered our wits but only made it another 6 miles before we gave up for the day. The close traffic (mostly camper trailers, horse and livestock trailers, ranch trucks and some semis) was unsettling and combined with the wind which made it hard to hear and with gusts that kept pushing us further into the travel lane which we were already sharing just didn't feel safe. I think as we get older our risk tolerance lowers and today I felt that it was a sign of wisdom to stop and Dale agreed. So we called Marie who once again rescued us and we stopped for the day.

We drove back into Springerville and visited a couple antique shops before taking a different, but longer, route to Show Low, just in case that road had a good shoulder and we could do that route instead. It didn't, but we enjoyed the 50 mile drive on windy roads through Apache National Forest and miles of Ponderosa Pine trees other scenic views, including snow drifts scattered along the road in places the Southern sun wasn't hitting directly. It made us realize that we were at a pretty high elevation.

The truck instrument panel had indicated the need for an oil change earlier today (to be expected considering we'd put 7000 miles on it already during this trip) and Show Low is a big enough town that it had several automotive shops so we dropped it off and had pizza for lunch while the truck was serviced for continued travel.

We then checked into our hotel where we knew we'd be settled in for the next two days; knowing we wouldn't be going anywhere until Wednesday because of the high winds forecast. 

Dale and I went for a hike today on a nature trail, in spite of the wind. 

We also discussed how we were going to tackle that section of road between Show Low and Springerville, (we'll skip that several mile section where the narrow road and dangerous windy hills are located) and the other part of the road would be more safely navigated on Wednesday when the winds aren't as strong. Then we'll direct our energy back going West where the road will take us towards Prescott, AZ. Meanwhile, we look forward to a full rest day tomorrow and a chance to explore further trip options.