07/13/2025
What a day! Went off the agenda and headed to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum inside Tuscan National Park. Cactuses! So neat to see the beauty of the desert here. Loved seeing and hearing the birds around me as I walked through the park. Those Mexican grey wolves were just beautiful. Afterwards, I discovered the San Xavier del Bac Mission, which is on the San Xavier Indian Reservation. Such a peaceful energy walking through the grounds.
Now, the most challenging part of my trip happened coming into New Mexico. About 20 miles in, I saw in the distance on both sides of me these skinny-looking tornadoes. I’m like, what is that? Then, a mile up, all these signs started appearing, advising drivers that they were in a dust storm zone and what to do when it comes. 😱 The area opened up to all these mountains to ride through, and then, up further ahead and to the right of me, I noticed what looked like smoke coming from a fire behind a mountain. I don’t recall Google Maps indicating wildfires in the area. Well, it turns out it wasn’t. It was a massive dust storm that I ended up riding through for under two hours. Keeping the bike steady and trying not to breathe in that dust was definitely a challenge. I finally arrived in El Paso. I took a stop for gas, a long break, and then a rainstorm came down as I was about to leave. So, I had to shift my plans and find a place nearby to stay. I found a place to eat to wait out some of the storm, and decided this was a perfectly well-deserved day to end with a big piece of chocolate silk pie! Three states, three attractions, and two major weather experiences, oye!