(January 31)

Day 37 - Lordsburg NM to Duncan AZ

Deliverance Part II

 

 New Mexico behind, California ahead!

I had a particular interest in Duncan because there was supposed to be a package here waiting for me to pick up at this post office. You all know THAT didn't happen.

I wasn't planning to stay overnight in Duncan, but when I learned my package was still on its way here, my first stop was Hilda's Restaurant & Meat Market for lunch. In the spirit of Meat, I ordered curly fries with Green Chile Meat. I'd never heard of, nor had a clue about, Green Chile Meat, so I took the plunge.

 

Following lunch, I checked in to this cute little bed & breakfast across from the post office. I figured my looming presence across the street would get my package delivered to tomorrow without fail.

 My server at lunch told me this place, "Humble Pie" served the tastiest pizza she's ever had in her life. With that kind of reco, I look forward to walking across the street later this evening for dinner!

The main thoroughfare of bustling Duncan AZ

The bridge you can see if you zoom in crosses the Gila River, a major tributary of the Colorado and source of water for the state. In the distance is pretty much trackless wilderness.

 

 

I was so ready. I set my alarm for 5:30am to ensure I had plenty of time to be out of my hotel room and over to McDonald's for breakfast well before dawn. I rushed breakfast (I usually like a bit of leisure to enjoy the always-decent WiFi) and was on my bike headed toward a rendezvous with my home state in another 36 miles just as dawn hit Lordsburg.

 

With a relatively flat-to-slightly downhill route this morning, I made it to Duncan by 10:30am. My plan was to make a quick package-grab at the post office and then get back on the road immediately toward Safford, 41 miles further down the road. I'd conserved a bit of energy, kept myself topped up with water and electrolytes and was ready for what was planned to be a 77-mile day...a distance that is a real challenge for me with my rig.

 

So, if you were gamblers, what would you put the odds at for this terrifically planned and executed strategy working as intended? How much would you bet that my carefully crafted plan would come off exactly as I'd envisioned it?

 

If you've read any of this journal you know that pretty much NONE of my plans turn out as I envision them no matter how great or careful or meticulous either my planning or my execution is.

Why? Well, this time I'm blaming Obama.

 

I mean, why not? The package was, I believe, actually shipped when he was President. It was HIS policies that led the U.S. Postal Service to send the package not to Duncan AZ for delivery yesterday, Monday, Jan. 30, but rather to FLORIDA yesterday and then, at some point...who knows...eventually to Duncan AZ for Deliverance to me.

 

So, here I am again. The Oberlin Shipping Saga playing out AGAIN in all its sad inevitability. Like watching a car that has hit a patch of ice seem alright at first, but then start spinning wildly out of control, I am once again at the mercy of unseen forces that completely control my life, don't realize that I exist and could less.  Again, I find myself waiting in a tiny little town for a package that might arrive tomorrow. Or the next day. Or...well, who knows really. Certainly not the Post Office. They opined that if it could JUST MAKE IT TO PHOENIX it would definitely get here to Duncan.

 

But when would it get to Phoenix? Blank stare. A hint of hunched shoulders as if to say "If I knew that, I would probably be President right now instead of Trump."

 

Now, you all don't realize this, but I know EXACTLY WHY this happened. No, it wasn't because I'm not living right...I mean, how much trouble could I really get up to while icing down my knee for two days? No, this latest shipping debacle is because I BOUGHT A TRAIN TICKET HOME from San Diego yesterday. I spent quite a bit of time planning out when I thought I could get to San Diego along with the various options for getting to New Orleans from San Diego and decided that I had to, without fail, depart San Diego on Feb. 15. If I miss that train to NOLA, I'd have to wait many more days before another direct train was available. Sure, I could get to NOLA by way of St. Louis, Chicago, Charlotte Virginia and THEN back to NOLA, but I don't like train travel that much.

 

The universe watched me all afternoon yesterday. Gleefully. Rubbing-its-hands-together-in-delight style watching. Knowing that it now had a perfect opportunity to teach me, once again, that plans are for suckers. Fools who didn't learn the first several times.

 

Because, yes, my plan to make it to SD in time to catch my train definitely did not...indeed CAN NOT...include spending a night anywhere I didn't plan to. I'm already now going to be pressed to the limit for time.

 

Which means, FOR SURE, that damn package won't arrive until Thursday.