We set at from Show Low this am at the City Park and happily rode on a trail/sidewalk for the first two miles. As that came to an end we were very pleased to find that Rt 260 had a decent shoulder to ride on as the traffic was continuous and the cars and trucks were going about 65 mph. Thankfully, it was a relatively uneventful day of biking with reasonable winds, manageable hills and a shoulder. The terrain has changed from open dry grass lands to mixed pine forest and more residential. We enjoyed the change of scenery. We spotted some wildlife today: prairie dogs popping up and running across a field and a 3.5 foot snake that we had to bike around and later realized was dead. Dale went back and took a picture from a safe distance and identified it as a prairie rattler. We stopped for lunch at the Wild Women Saloon after 30 miles and as we entered Overgaard and had a really good lunch. The area is a resort town as it is cooler in the mountains and is a draw for many living in desert areas. The Saloon was part of a large resort complex. A couple of locals were talking to Marie and Dale while I was in the ladies room. They were talking about our bike trip and the danger of some of the route ahead due to lack of shoulder on narrow windy roads and lots of traffic. Then we biked the last 8 miles to our hotel and treated ourselves to pizza dinner and talked about the highlights of the last 9 weeks knowing we are only biking another day to two.

Tomorrow will be an interesting ride to Paysen, AZ as we will descend about 1500 feet in elevation over 47 miles. More to come 😀