I had taken the day after Thanksgiving off. A co-worker and I had wanted to drive down to the town of Sonoita, southeast of Tucson. Tucson had it's first winter freeze that morning so I didn't start out from the house until around noon. After filling up at the local gas station I decided to jump on the freeway to make some time. My other option was to take a series of rather long side roads just to avoid the freeway. Unfortunately I found myself riding into a very strong head wind which made me feel like a rag doll. I decided to get off at Wilmot and head south to Sahuarita road. Poor decision, as I found out Wilmot turns into a dirt road once you get past the Federal and State prisons. U-turn and back to the freeway. Time to feel like a rag doll again. I finally make it to Houghton and Sahuarita which has a gas station were Jacob and I were going to meet. I fill up again and park the bike.
As there's not much out here on the edge of town this gas station happened to have a grill. I would have ordered a western bacon burger but was concerned about time. So I ordered a hotdog. It was pretty good. It would have been even better Sonoran style.
Meet Jacob. Fellow co-worker. All around decent guy.
Woah, not a great picture.
Jacob drives a Honda dual sport XR650L. Apparently the XR's are commonly referred to as "Big Red Pig's".
We've made it to the town of Sonoita. Not much to see, everything is very spread out. Jacob and I park at the corner gas station to decide where we're going to head next. The Steak Out is a pretty well known steak place down here. I've only eaten there once.
Looking east from The Steak Out parking lot.
This is looking west. Down in these parts you don't drive very far without seeing border patrol. We even passed a check point going to Sonoita. On the way home, when we went through it, they asked if Jacob and I were American citizens and let us pass.
From Sonoita we ended up driving to the town of Patagonia, about 13 miles to the southwest. The air seemed to warm up a bit and it was perfect walking around weather. Patagonia had an arts and craft fair going on so it was cool to stroll and watch the people.
Jacob locking his helmet to the bike. I don't have a helmet lock yet so I carried mine around.
Quite a few art shops and tents were selling local arts and crafts. People were walking up and down the street. They even had someone dressed up as Santa handing out toys to kids.
This is a historic train depot for the trains that used to run through town. The tracks are no longer there but the depot looks like it was built yesterday.
Jacob and I grabbed some coffee from a local shop and then headed back to Tucson. Overall it was a very nice ride. It ended up being 146 miles round trip from my house. The Bonnie now has 1106 miles total!
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