Today was a pleasant rest day spent at Jim and Ruth Graham's home near Cochise AZ.

After a wonderful evening meal of grilled pork and chicken, accompanied by sampling several of Jim and Ruth's Golden Rule wines, there was no particular need to rise early in the morning.  But habits learned on the road are not easy to break, so I was awake at 5 am, and as the pre-dawn light began to filter into my bedroom, I chose to get up and see the sunrise firsthand.

 Barb was up shortly after and we enjoyed a fine breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, yogurt, and coffee.  Afterwards, we got an up close look at the solar heat collection system installed in their home. Then Jim took us out to tour the vineyard and pistachio orchards.

We got quite an education about growing grapes and harvesting pistachios that included several videos in the farm office that showed the pistachio harvest in detail.

After Ruth showed us the interior of their lovely home, we headed into Wilcox for lunch at Big Tex BBQ, a restaurant partially housed in a retired rail dining car.

Then we headed for the Arizona countryside, as we drove the basin surrounded by mountains before arriving at the Chiricahua National Monument.  The monument is an isolated mountain range formed by volcanic ash that fused under pressure and was subsequently fractured and eroded to form a myriad of rock columns.

Afterward we returned to the basin and completed a circuit that lead us past grasslands, vineyards, and nut orchards,  until we returned to Jim and Ruth's home.

It was soon time for Barb and I to return to Safford to pick up our bikes.  So we thanked the Graham's for their gracious hospitality, grabbed a few more photos and were soon on our way.  It was a day we will long remember.

Barb and I have retrieved our bikes, returned the rental car, and are now in a hotel in Safford preparing for tomorrow's ride.