May 16, 2018 Tucson to Benson, Arizona

43.73 miles....Now that was more like it!!!! I'm not losing it!!!! I got up at pre six a.m., and headed out the door while it was still relatively cool. It was in the sixties for a little bit, and it rose into the 90's by 9:30 am. I was 2/3 rds the the way to Benson, by then, instead of just starting out. My climb out of the Valley of the Sun continued into a third day, but I'm finally out of there. Ended the day in the 'high' desert. The Julian Wash trail led me out of Tucson, with it's gradual climb, about 60 ft a mile. After about ten miles, the trail ended, but I picked up Interstate 10 for the rest of the day. It was the perfect medicine. Even though I continued to climb to over 4200 ft, (from1300 ft in Mesa), I finally got into some rolling mountains after peaking the pass, and rolled about five miles down hill into the San Pedro River valley, and Benson. Riding on the interstate is so easy on the legs, because of the slipstream created by the 18 wheelers. I also had a tailwind, which I haven't experienced yet, on this trip.  The 8-10 ft shoulders were smooth and relatively clean of road Gators.( That's bike talk for steel belts from all the retread and tire blowouts) I love riding  on the interstate!, And there is more tommorow, because there are no other roads in this desolate area.
I beat Pam to the new campground, which was basically a field with water and electric. I sat there for about 15 minutes and Pam came rolling in about noon. If I was in shape, I would have gone on to the next town, but with this heat and the cramping issues, I am happy to get this far in good shape. We took the Jeep off the towbar and went to Karchner Cavern State Park. We toured the Cavern, which was 72 degrees and very humid, not exactly what you expect in a cave. It was an interesting tour, we learned a lot and saw beautiful formations, but weren't aloud to take pictures. We killed the afternoon doing that, hit a Denny's for supper, and I was under the covers before seven o'clock.