I woke up once in the middle of the night and it was to dogs barking. I wasn't sure how far away they were so I peeked outside my tent and I couldn't see much. It was dark, but in one lit area I was able to see something else that wasn't a dog. I don't think that it would have harmed me if I were outside of the gated park, but still it felt safer knowing that this coyote was separated from me and couldn't come near. I went back to sleep and I didn't want to get back up. I had been so exhausted after being in the sun on yesterday's ride that I didn't wake up until the sun came up. It was 7:30 and I was waking up and doing the morning routine again. Putting everything away and making sure that I was packed and ready to hit the road. I started off dead against the wind. Just as yesterday had been, today continued. I spent the first 3 and a half hours of my morning going dead in to a strong wind and watched as it continually grew hotter outside. I managed to make it to the first town that I had seen in the past 60 miles where I was able to restock my water and get the supplies that I needed to continue my trip. I thought that I was going to be going in to a desert for quite a while longer without any places along the way. So when I noticed a Chinese buffet on the side of the road for only $6.50 I jumped at it. I don't think that the people working there realized that someone could eat so much food. I was on my third full plate of food and had stayed there longer than anyone else had stayed in the restaurant. It felt good to be able to stuff myself until I stopped eating. Then it was hard to move and I was still planning on putting in quite a few miles ahead of me. I went on the route that I had planned ahead and saw that this was a historic route. There were quite a few stops along the way and my furthest distance between towns was 25 miles. It seemed to be going a lot better than I had thought already. On top of that I was riding to the northeast and I had the wind straight at my back at this point. It was a good feeling to be able to pedal a little harder and to be going somewhere, unlike the beginning of my day. The route I was on was supposedly historic because of the attractions along the route. It was Indian land all through the area and it was nice to be able to see a touch from each tribe as I passed through the areas of land. I didn't know how far I was going to get for the day, but I was riding fairly strong at about 30 miles into the ride on route 66. I wanted to take the wind while I had it and the only thing that I felt could stop me was the sun going down. One thing that helped significantly with the heat was the fact that I had climbed to a little over 3,000 feet at this point and so the sun didn't seem to be as hot. Yesterday when I was down around 1,000 feet made a significant difference in the dead heat of the afternoon. It was great having stops along the way and knowing when they were going to come so I could fill up with water. I never ran low on water and had a great rest of the ride for the day. When it started to get a little late in the day I pulled over in a town called Peach Springs. Out of all of the towns that I had passed in the afternoon this town seemed to be the largest on the route so far. They even had a supermarket, pretty rare in this area. I started to look for a place to put up my tent and was happy to see a school playground in the distance. The director of the school seemed to still be at the school because the door was wide open to the building. I figured that it would be best to let her know what I was doing and to get things squared away before I threw my tent down for the night. I was given permission from the director of the building and it felt good to have that reassurance that I could stay there. I had just put my tent down and was about to put it together when a lady drove up. She seemed surprised that I was setting up camp on a playground asked what I was doing. After I told her about my trip and how I planned on staying here for the night it was enough to get her involved. She told me that across the street there were a couple of dangerous houses and I could have some trouble if I stayed here for the night. She then asked me two questions. Where was I from and what religion was I. When I replied to both of her questions she motioned for me to come with her. Her name was Margaret and she only lived about two blocks away. I'm not sure what would have happened if I would have stayed where I was for the night, but I do know that Margaret was like an angel sent down to help those in need. She opened up her home to me with a nice bed to sleep in and told me that she had a meeting to go to, but she would be back around 8 pm with dinner ready. I was able to shower for the first time in a couple of days and then was able to sit on a nice comfy couch and wait until she returned. She had also mentioned before she left that her brother, Ted, might come home and that all I had to do was say I was a friend of Margarets and it would be okay. Well, Ted did come home and everything seemed to go over very well. He was about 6 foot 5 and was very intimidating with his tall stature, but as we talked he seemed to be just as much of a nice human being as Margaret was. When she returned home after her meeting with the Head Start program we were able to consume the incredible roast that I had smelt in the oven. (Head Start was where she worked and was an organization to help three year olds to get prepared for their years ahead.) The roast was served with potatoes, peas, Hawaiian jam and bread, and even some sauteed onions on the side. It was an incredible meal and one that I had not planned on seeing for quite a while down the road. I couldn't have been happier with how the entire evening had unfolded and I was truly thankful for everyone and everything at this point. It was great to learn about the Hualapai Tribe and their distinctions from others in the area. Margaret went on to show me all sorts of very cool things that she had gathered over the years as being part of the Hualapai Tribe. It was incredible to hear of some of the stories that she said about her mom and dad going on 3 month trips because they were hunter gatherers in the area. It was also very cool to hear about one of the things that the Hualapai Tribes had that the others did not. It was a trip that you could take down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and then once you reached the end of your trip, they would send a helicopter down to pick you up. It seemed fascinating and I was put aback to hear that Ted was involved with working on the site. It seemed like a great job to be able to be apart of. After learning as much as I could soak in for one night, it was time to go to bed. I was tired from another day on the road and couldn't wait to feel what a mattress was like underneath my body.
Daily mileage: 83.7 miles
Average speed: 11.2 mph
Total mileage: 4,059.1 miles
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