Globe AZ to Albuquerque NM (Wrong turns are always better!)

Another early morning since the day is so short. I must say, sleep has not been a problem. They gave me a great big new handicapped room so very spacious (for a Motel 6). I had a couple cups of coffee and no oil check since there is no flat spots on the hillside where this motel is located, but a check later on says it was a little high, but fine. If you want to see a big mine, go to Google Maps, turn on satellite images and look for Globe, AZ. I only saw a small part of it from the road. Actually, if you poke around Arizona, there a lot of mines.
So the plan was to take Rt 60 east and stay on it all day but old Rubberneck Ric missed the turn and ended up taking Rt 70 (only off by 10) and headed south east instead of northeast. It was quite some time time later I discovered this, but it turned out great. I passed the big town of Safford in a large area that appears to grow a lot of cotton? Who knew they grow cotton in Arizona, but there it was, huge cotton fields and those giant tractor trailer sized bales of cotton mechanically picked just like the ones I saw in George a couple years ago. The soil looks pretty black and fertile, which is a surprise, and they appear to have water from somewhere. Jake said New Mexico got a lot of rain this year so maybe these guys did as well. I got to Lordsburg way down on Rt 10 and then ricocheted back up Rt90 back up to Silver City. Now I was expecting the usual tumbleweed town with one tired gas station, but this is a booming little town, full of Prius', yoga stores, art shops, coffe places and most importantly, a Bernie Sanders command center! This town, as the name implies, was built on the silver mines back in the late 1800's and still has a mine nearby (copper I am guessing), but somewhere along the way got popular for what appear to be tree huggers. I stopped for coffee in a local bar / diner and a guy qith a big cowboy hat, boots, etc chatted me up. He lives on his dads ranch which raises beef, but he and his dad are city boys from Los Angeles, so I am guessing they have enough money to make it a hobby. What self respecting calf roper would be sitting in a bar at 11am. I stopped back at the Bernie store and the folks inside were very excited to have someone from Bernies state right there in their campaign center. They said people are curious about him and never say anything bad about him, but just don't know much about him. I bought a Bernie shirt for Jake with red and green chile peppers on it, future collectors item for sure.
They also told me I had to take Rt 152 to Truth or Consequences (it's a town) and they were spot on. That is one twisty road with 10 and 15 mph turns all over the place. What a great ride up through forests and deep canyons. Wow!!
It took a while since there are so many turns, but eventually I stopped at the overlook for a pic and then headed down the other side. I got to the other side of the range and it flattened out a bit, then back to hot and flat. Again the roads are in great shape, but watch out for rocks in the road through the twisties.
Harry Chapin came back but only one all day so not bad..
I was a bit disappointed to get to Rt25 which leads back north to ABQ, but it was time. I checked the map and i was still 150+ miles south of ABQ so crank up the tunes and up the highway I went.

Once more I pulled into ABQ a little after dark, got a motel and stopped by Jakes just as he was getting home from work. We walked across town to find a place with great pizza and beer, then walk back, say goodnight and back to the motel. Another great long day. Tomorrow I may stop at the BMW shop and see if I can get a tuneup now or net spring. The BMW is getting "chatty" so it might be time for some well earned TLC. And maybe another nice long ride..