Bike Tour 2008 #01

Tomorrow morning I head out on my first bike tour of the year. I have my bike (mostly) loaded up and it's going to be like hauling a tank around southern Arizona. It's supposed to be windy tomorrow and I'm a bit concerned about that. It's bad enough that my first day is almost all uphill, but to be grinding uphill with a fully loaded touring bike against a heavy wind? That's going to take some of the fun out of the whole thing. Here's my proposed itinerary:

Day 1: I'm driving to my friend Bob's house and leaving my car there. That cuts about 35 miles off my first and last days, which is good, because otherwise those days would be over a hundred miles! As it is, the first day will be about 65 miles. I will head south on Houghton Road, turn left on Mary Ann Cleveland Way, and take that out to Colossal Cave Road. Heading south, Colossal Cave turns into Wentworth south of the I-10 Freeway. I'll take that down to Sahuarita Rd, turn east, and hook up to AZ-83. I'll take 83 south to Sonoit where 83 meets 82. Taking 82 to the southwest, I'll head toward Patagonia and to the Patagonia State Park where I will camp for the first night.

Day 2: I'll more or less reverse directions back to Sonoita, continuing on 82 to the east so that I can visit the historic ghost town of Fairbank, AZ. There is also a Presidio in the area that I am playing by ear--if the road is gravel, etc., I will probably pass on that side trip and stick with visiting Fairbank. From Fairbank I continue on to Tombstone with a night at the Stampede RV park.

Day 3: I plan on kicking around Tombstone a bit in the morning. Once I'm back on the road it is up highway 80 to the thriving metropolis of Benson, AZ. Dinner at Ruiz Mexican Restaurant and a night at the Benson KOA.

Day 4: The upside is I only have about 30 miles to ride today. The downside is that most of it is going to be along I-10! I'm not looking forward to that. I should be able to get onto the frontage road at the junction of 83, but until then I know of no route but the highway. Cross your fingers! Back to Bob's and loading it all back into the car and heading home.

Look for an update with some photos when I get home!

My Square Foot Garden

Square Foot Gardening was first developed in 1976 by Mel Bartholomew. He turned this simple concept, first into a very successful retirement and, unwittingly, an extremely successful second career with many social projects thrown in. He developed a television program that became the longest running gardening show on television and one of the longest running shows on PBS period.

After many mediocre attempts at gardening here in Tucson, I have decided to give Mel's method a try. What makes it different is that everything is arranged in one foot squares (hence the name) of six inches of a special soil mixture. It was fun piecing the box together and coming up with my "greenhouse" topper, too.

So, in a four foot square, six inch high, weed-free space I am (hopefully) going to grow and harvest tomatoes, beans, chiles, herbs, greens, mesclun, and even nasturtiums (Did you know they're good in salads?). I'll keep you posted on the progress of my experiment.

For my crop choices I tried to pick a lot of heritage plants from the southwest. I went down to The Native Seed Search (they're slogan is "Ancient Seeds for Modern Needs") to see what I could find. I found exactly what I was looking for! I picked some native herbs, a regional low-moisture tomato, and two varieties of chile. I also picked their favorite lemon basil. I'm looking forward to growing these out. The tomatoes sound especially good and are supposed to yield "hundreds" of fruits. Yum!

No Gum on the Bus!!!

There is a school bus stop not far from my house. This is the back of the sign where the kids wait to get picked up.

I'm glad to see the kids are following the rules by not chewing gum on the bus.

I suppose some folks might not like the idea of sticking gum on the back of the sign. I guess some curmudgeon (Surprise! It's not me!) might consider it vandalism of sorts, at the worst, or, at least some bizarre form of littering. Personally, I think the kids have created a bit of an art piece.

I just hope the kid who started this isn't some unlikeable little puke who needs a swift kick in the ass.

Either way, it's a cool piece of found art and I like the end result. Don't you?

Snack Time

I made up a batch of snack critters to take to class. I had asked my students how many of them were willing to try something new and at least half the class raised a hand. I was curious how many of them actually meant it!

I wasn't too surprised to find that many of those who had raised a hand would have nothing to do with our crispy, tasty fare.

Several students, however, did have a go and most of them thought they were OK. I'm not going to lie and say anyone was so hooked they wanted to eat like this every day, but they did like them enough to try a second.

A couple of people wanted to take a couple with them so they could get a friend or family member to give them a try.

What we had here was a combination of superworms and wax moth larvae. The waxworms were actually quite tasty. After frying them I had sprinkled them with a dash of maple pepper so they had a tangy little bite to them.

I highly recommend entomophagy--the eating of insects. Tasty, high in protein, and nowhere near as damaging to the environment as the farming of meat animals! Give them a try.

10,000 B.C. ... Give Or Take 6000 Years.

I just saw a preview for the movie 10,000 Years B.C. As long as you don't place any significance whatsoever on historical accuracy or anything like that, it looks like quite the thrill ride. Mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, warriors on elephants, action packed, baby, action packed.

But pyramids? Egyptian pyramids? 10,000 B.C.? Um. No. Not for another 6000 years or more, I'm afraid. Escapism at its best I guess--as long as you take it with a heavy dose of willing suspension of disbelief!

American Idol Winner Gets A Gig!

I see Jordin Sparks is singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. You probably don't know who she is--she's last year's American Idol winner. I see that since the Super Bowl is in her hometown they were finally able to find a venue where people would actually come to hear her sing. Go Jordin!

Says a lot for the whole "American Idol" franchise, doesn't it? Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood are the only winners to really make a show of it. Clay Aiken and Daughtry have a lot of success, but they didn't win. They were American Idol "Losers."

If you're Tayler Hicks and Ruben Stoddard, Fantasia (seriously...Fantasia?), and, well, I can't think of the other winners and had to look these three up, but if you're one of these people--how do you mount a come back tour when you never went anywhere in the first place?

One Mystery of Male Female Relations Explained

While feeding my grandson today I had a realization that explains the eternal mystery of why men are seemingly incapable of understanding women. In some ways that Freudian maxim about everything going back to your mother may be pretty accurate after all. At least where my theory is concerned. No. No. No. It has nothing to do with potty training. That's a whole new list of issues that I won't dwell on here.

It happens like this: For the first few years of our lives women pat us on our backs and encourage us to belch after we eat. They even praise us for it when we do. Good, baby! Good burpies!

And then, all of a sudden, for the rest of our lives they berate us whenever we belch and call us ill-mannered pigs.

Is it any wonder we spend our lives conflicted and unsure of where we stand with the opposite sex?