Globe AZ was where we spent our first night. After a laborious trip out there, stopping and starting because of heat exhaustion, we made it to Casa Grande and the smiling faces of the Desert Diamonds - the Phoenix chapter of WITW. They met us behind a carwash - which sounds wacky but guess what - they chose the one place I can think of that had a huge sink we could dunk our heads in. That my friends, is brilliance. We chatted, cooled down, and then set off behind them for Globe. Thank goodness they were leading - I was so tapped out by that time, I just wanted a shower and a hotel bed. Not necessarily in that order. Riding in high temperatures just messes with you! We pulled in to the Days Inn by around 9 or so I think, and then had to figure out where to get dinner in such a small town. The DDs threw us into the back of their massive pickup trucks and carted our tired and dirty asses over to the Country Kitchen or something like that, where our arrival thrilled the "I wanna be a biker too" young waitress, but disturbed the stoned and befuddled night manager. I don't even remember what I ate, I was that wiped. I just remember calling home and telling Nigel, "It was f*&ing hot, I made it, I can't believe I'm here...oh, and did I mention it was f*&ing hot??!"
You know, I should mention the most amazing thing that happened earlier that day. We were in Dateland, eating lunch and laughing about nothing and everything. Up came a woman, who introduced herself and told us that she really admired us. Turns out that she used to ride, but was t-boned last fall. They didn't think she'd walk or talk, much less live, but here she was, chatting with us as if nothing had ever happened. Then her husband Bernie came up, and it turns out his dad was a musician and used to know Elvis. Bernie and Lynette "Rockabilly" had a moment reminiscing about all the music - I think that connection was one of the high points for her. You know, I didn't really know Lynette until this trip. I mean, I knew that she was nice, and a technical writer, and she rode a rockin red bike, but I didn't really know the essence of her. As it turns out, she was the sunshine on the trip for me. She was independent, focused, and yet willing to go with the flow. I have this vision of her sitting in some random fast food joint, eating a burger like it was the best thing in the world, swinging her leg and chilling like a happy 8 year old. And her pride in showing off the beauty of Oklahoma's countryside, and hearing her say, "I love my peeps" after spending time with Skatin' Kate and Jack at the roadside waterpipe...well that defined "Heartland" for me.
Rockabilly in Colorado
(Rockabilly sandbagging us at poker)
Bernie and his wife Betsy, after chatting with us for awhile at the Dateland cafe, surprised us by asking if they could contribute to our ride. I explained that we had collected toys and clothing etc. for the kids at the Presley Place homeless shelter, but we were also collecting cash for a donation straight to the center. He pulled out his checkbook, and bless his heart, said, "Will $100 help out?" Would it ever! Because of his donation, we contributed nearly $600 to the center - who will put it to good use I'm sure.
So despite the arduous ride through the hellish heat of the desert, we ended on a good note: $100 in the till for the shelter, and hanging with our sisters the Desert Diamonds in fab Globe AZ!
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