Phoenix, Az - Dallas, TX (3)

And here comes the bike-free section from Phoenix, AZ to Dallas, TX.

As mentioned in the previous blog, I needed to rent a car in Lake Havasu City to make up the delay. This wasn't that easy, The only rental location at the airport was Avis/Budget, and they didn't actually offer cars with a one-way policy. The possibility to rent a car and drop it off same or next day at Phoenix did not exist. The only possible option was to rent a car for six days. These 6 days would allow a transfer to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

Sure, this was not what I intended originally. But I hadn't anticipated the intensity of the weather with my European perspective. So if I drove to Dallas, I would have plenty of time to include future breaks if similar things would happen.. And instead of running the risk of missing the last 1000 or even 2000 km I prefered to skip the long desert part.

And it turned out to be the exact right decision, as the winds had continuously caused sandstorms and twisters all the way to Texas. Severe weather warnings, including tornado warnings, were in effect. It would have been nearly impossible to ride with all the dust and wind in the air. Camping would have been completely impossible as there was only unprotected open land with no shelters.

I rode the route exactly as I would have done on my bike, except for an extra detour to Big Bend National Park.

I had to disassemble my bike to fit it in the trunk. This was another reason why I didn't use it even once. It was simply to time-consuming and enoying to reassemble it when there was a possibility to ride. Also I would have not made any progress as I needed to return to the car. So I took advantage of incorporating some running sessions whenever appropriate. It was not easy to find places for running as the weather and the territory did not really encourage for it.

Only on the way did I realize that my path led through all the deserts. My goal was to travel as south as possible to largely avoid the long climbs of the Rocky Mountains

Furthermore, I realized on the car ride that the journey would have been pretty boring, considering that I would have been riding through nothing for 3 weeks time.

A highlight along the way was Picachio Peak. These cacti are truly only found in Arizona, and only in hilly areas. They apparently don't thrive in flat areas.

In the middle of nowhere lies the town of Sierra Vista. As I drove by, I suddenly spotted this public running track and immediately took advantage of it and did a few runs. The first few laps after all that cycling were extremely difficult. But then I got better. So, I've decided to incorporate at least two runs per week from now on.

The town of Tombstone in southern Arizona does indeed thrive on nostalgia. However, hardly any foreign visitors find their way here

A very unique and nice town in Arizona: Bisbee.

Entrance into New Mexico. indeed there is until Texas absolutely nothing. Really nothing. The only good thing: the Gasoline was half price from what it was in California :-). So I took advantage and filled up. Later it turned out that Texas is even cheaper.

When I crossed the continental divide, I expected to be in the mountains. But no, it's flat. From then on, it's just a steady downhill ride, without you really noticing. And it was not even the highest point of the journey. Its just that all water from now on will not flow into the Pacific any more, but into the former Gulf of Mexico

You may imagine the amount of dust in the air. Sometimes you can hardly see.

In El Paso people wear masks to protect from the sand in the air. Bicycle riding would have been extremely annoying. I would have ended up having cement in my nose.

In some ways, I was tempted to cross the border into Ciudad Juarez when I was in El Paso. But not only is it the most dangerous city in Mexico, the risk of re-entering the US would have been too big. On the drive along the mexican border, I was stopped twice by US border control and had to show my ID and visa.

And this wind continued, which caused larger twisters. Some hit the car. It was even hard to keep the car on track.

When I arrived at Big Bend NP there was no storm any more. Instead we had 37 degree (99 Fahrenheit)

Amazing, this valley of Rio Grande.

Interesting atmosphere on the local campground

Finally I made it to Dallas.

11 km run in Arlington's River Legacy Park's. What a relief to have green trees and moderate temperatures around again. The rain has also cleaned the air.. Finally, I can breathe again.

But again, Tornado warnings and thunderstorms. Tomorrow it is supposed to become a bit calmer. So I will drop the car, and continue by bike. Trying to get away from this turbulent area.

Just before starting tomorrow morning I needed to get a rich dinner -This Saltgrass Steakhouse is well known in the area and it is really excellent.

The next big city will be New Orleans, Louisiana. It is some 900 km away.