Phoenix to Nogales

   We road about 60 miles from Camp Verde (http://www.cvaz.org) to the Happy Valley area (about 30 miles North of Phoenix) last Sunday, March 31st.  We stopped off to grab some dinner and catch the  rail into Phoenix on this exit.  The group met at Red Robin for a delicious donated dinner.  We were collectively looking on our smart phones for the light rail going into the city.  Defeated, we asked our waitress, who didn't seem to have much of a clue, either...  At this point,  the light rail we were looking for did not exist.  We collectively decided it would be better to split off into smaller groups for the night.      Ryan made it to Phoenix earlier in the day; Ashley and Julie got a hotel room; Elijah, Matt, and Victor found camp a couple of exits down; Martin, Monica and I hopped back on the highway right before the sun set to attempt to hitch a ride.  We were inconveniently posted up beside a jail, but some how we managed to squeeze our bikes and the three of us into John's home/van after about 10 minutes of waiting.  John was on his way to the last leg of The McDowell Mountain Music Festival with his friend and three dogs.  About an hour later we were dropped off in downtown, outside of the festival.  Marty discovered the light rail we had been looking for.  He was on his way to go visit a friend at Arizona State University.  Monica and I were going to find a place to camp (sleep on the street), and decided we should probably grab a beer first.  A guy at the CVS suggested the Crescent Ballroom on N 2nd Ave. and W Van Buren St.  On a side note, (something that took us a few days to get used to) Phoenix has a road called Central.  On the East side of Central, are streets, while the West side of Central are Avenues or Drives, fyi, if you ever decide to check Phoenix out.   When we arrived to the Crescent Ballroom, Tim, a fellow Philanthropistic soul, noticed the heavy load Monica and I were pedaling with.  He invited us to chat at his friends table so we could explain ourselves.  In the end Monica and I enjoyed a Grateful Dead cover band and had a couple of beers, thanks to Tim's generosity.  The two of us originally planned on picking a spot somewhere downtown to crash for the night.  Ryan, again, was already in the city.  We were talking to him while we were at the bar about where he was staying and what his plan was.  The couple he had found on warmshowers.com invited Monica and myself to stay for the night as well.  So, the two of us were pleasantly surprised to see that the couple was just down the road from the bar we were at.  There is nothing like a night ride in a warm, quiet(ish) city, but we were tired from a long day, and ready for bed.  We arrived at some lofts with a great view of the city and the Diamondback field, such a great end to the day.
  I met Susan and Silvario the next morning while they made us breakfast.  Our immediate connection with Silvario was when he told us about his touring experience from Saint Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California.  He was the type of rider that wanted to take his time and enjoy the views and people at whatever pace he wanted.  While his friend, Robert, that joined him (who we met later) wanted to keep the pedal to the pavement. As we wrapped up breakfast, Susan and Ryan had talked about some volunteer work we could do at the local Community Center she supports.  Silvario walked Monica, Ryan, and I through the neighborhood to the community center.  We helped distribute and restock some food for the pantry that serves families in the neighborhood.  At 3:30 the kids came in for the extended school day.  Helping them with homework, reading, and doing some arts/crafts and games while waiting for their parents to pick them up.  It reminded me of when I went to ESD in elementary at Prairie Trail, back in Flower Mound.  I can appreciate how this ride has sent me back to my past from moments we ("adults") tend to forget about.  Anyway, after a not so long, successful day with the kids, we made some enchiladas for dinner and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
  As you can imagine, 9 smelly cyclists/bikes, and 2 experienced parents, crammed into a decent sized loft, wouldn't be so comfortable (for most people)...so we decided to stay at another warm showers profile for a couple of nights to lighten the load on Sues and Sil while we stayed in town.  Marty was still at the University, so Matt went ahead and joined him down there for a couple of days.  Ryan, Monica, Elijah, Victor, Julie, and I made our way across town to stay in Blaise's warehouse, behind his house.  He trekked from San Francisco to Seattle on a Penny-farthing!! (Much respect)

  After hanging out at Blaise's for two days, we headed back to the city.  I hung out at a coffee shop all day looking for jobs at summer camps and ski resorts.  At 4 we went to check in at the Renaissance.  I was able to get a room donated for the night.  At 5 we went to Bike Labs (bike shop) to get our bikes worked on and hang out with Robert.
  Robert is a good friend of Sil and Sues, and founder of We-Cycle.  We-Cycle is a non-profit organization that collects recycled bicycle parts and either builds bikes from scratch or donates parts to people that cannot afford new parts.  We-Cycle doesn't only sell/donate bikes to homeless people or people that don't have a means to get to work, but they also educate these folks on how to maintain the condition of their bikes.
(Check them out on Facebook or  www.We-cycle.org  <<very impressive site!)
  I left early to go check out a potential partner for The YP.  I found a yoga studio down the road I wanted to take a class at.  They incorporate hammocks into the practice.  I didn't make it in time for the class, but was still able to talk to the guy that started the donation based classes.  He also created a clothes making business.  Currently he has 120 employees that were jobless, and most didn't have any skills to get a job.  They make shoes, clothes, boots, belts, jewelry.  He donates the children's clothes to other organizations/non-profits.  I am hoping we will be able to get some of those clothes to Casa De Lus in Honduras.
(Whether your into yoga: http://ra-yoga.com or clothes: http://ra-apparel.com check it out and get in touch with Roman!)
  It was quite a blessing to have met Sil and Sues.  Through them we had met so many lovely people willing to give back to the community.  They also gave us more opportunities to fulfill our goal in volunteering on our journey, something we haven't had much luck with for the past 3 months.  When they invited us to join them in Nogales, Mexico to help make some repairs on a school for the deaf community, it was hard to say no!  We left the Renaissance the next afternoon and headed back to Sues and Sil's.  Monday morning we were packed, loaded, and about 4 hours from the boarder.