9/19/17 – Wickenburg to Tempe (for me, Phoenix)

I was so excited to be coming through Phoenix on my route across the US.  After sleeping on the ground in a tent, for several days, my bed was going to be heavenly.  As I rode along, today, I was too distracted by daydreams of lounging around my home and pool to even take photos.  I didn’t take a photo of the Hassayampa River as we left Wickenburg.  No picture of the sign entering Morristown.  No photo of Whitman.  No photo of the people gathered at the McDonalds as we entered Surprise.  No photos of the Arizona Canal, which we rode on from 91st Avenue in Surprise to 68th Street in Scottsdale.  No photos of the Arizona Biltmore.  No photos of the spectacular desert around the Desert Botanical Gardens.  No photos of the team efforts to fix four flat tires on two of the bikes or the heroic late afternoon hydration run by Tom R.  I didn’t even get a group photo of the friends who met me at Cafe Rio for Taco Tuesday this evening:  Catherine, Jean, Jerry, Geri, Ally, Kimberly and Christina.   I really fell down on the job!

So lets talk about the photos I did get.  While we were riding along the Arizona Canal, just as we were overheating and needing a break, we bumped into a good sized group of fellow riders talking to a cycling enthusiast who was willing to shoot some photos, so we scored a few people photos.

When we arrived Tempe, my ex-husband Jerry brought our pickup trip to the Motel to pick me and Erwin up.  Erwin had an overnight visit planned with friends in town, and you already know what I had planned.  After dropping Erwin off in Mountain Park Ranch, Jerry dropped me off at my house, where, as I walked in the front door, I was greeted by dank air and the sound of water spraying.  Moving closer to the sound, I noticed that the carpet in the living room was wet and sloshy.  A few more steps, and I could see that there was water on the floor of the kitchen and the master bedroom. The leak was coming from the supply line connection to the master bath toilet.  The cabinets, counters, mirrors, closets and floors were soaked with water.

Of course, I called the insurance company, and they sent a water extraction team to start tearing things up and drying the house out, leaving behind 15 fans and one heavy duty device that extracts water from the air.  Tomorrow, they will return to pack out my bedroom, bathrooms and closets, because some drywall work and new cabinetry are going to be required. So this is what I took photos of.  Hope you enjoy them.  Tomorrow, I had big plans for seeing my grand babies, but now I have this insurance issue to deal with on top of everything else I was hoping to do.