Day 74, October 14th 2007 (Bacavi,AZ to Keams Canyon,AZ)

Waking up in the morning at around 7 am, I was ready for the shower that I was told I could take at Jim and Roxane's house. I never knew when my next shower was going to be so when I was offered a place to take one, it was always an opportunity that I didn't want to pass up. I also felt that it would be much more appropriate for me to arrive inside of a church clean rather than dirty. I was able to have an incredible breakfast of eggs and toast to start the morning off and it was great to see everyone moving around on this Sunday morning. I was happy to be able to share this Sunday morning with this family because I could see that they were very moved by the spirit and I was thankful to be in their home. I was able to check a few things on the computer before the service started and to receive a good idea of what the weather was going to be like ahead of me. The weather always seemed to be a surprise to me on the road, but having a computer at my access it was nice to be one step ahead of the weather. When I arrived in the church I could see that it was a smaller congregation and it gave a feeling of being apart of another family for the morning. We were able to sing in both English and in the Hopi native language. The hymns followed with a sermon from Jim and another person in the congregation. It was a great service and I was thankful to have arrived where I had for the day. Following the great service, the congregation offered a potluck for lunch. Apparently they have a potluck every Sunday after the service and it made for a great time to get to know more of the people in the congregation and to have fellowship with them. The food was so good that I couldn't help myself from having a couple of helpings and I ended up staying in town until about 2 pm. I was so happy to have been able to get to know everyone in the congregation and it made it very hard to eventually have to leave. Before I left, the congregation followed me outside and prayed with me before I took off. I was able to have some of the children follow me to the stop sign just before going out of town and it was nice to have some company with me before I hit the road. It was such an incredible day that I had spent in the Hopi nation and I wasn't looking at travelling very far before calling it a night. I was told about a small park about 40 miles up the road and I was looking forward to ending my day there. I started out of town with a nice climb and then just as it was yesterday, back down and then back up and then back down. I was travelling through more mountains and this is what I was going to expect for probably the next week until I reached Texas. When I eventually reached the park and had a great ride with blue skies and fantastic weather, I was starting to get hungry again. I didn't think it was going to be possible to be hungry again after I had left the Bacavi village feast, but I was. I cooked up some pasta and set up camp for the night in the park. The park was directly across the street from market and it was a perfect set-up for getting the things that I needed. My legs had been given a great rest over the course of the day and I was looking forward to putting in some more miles tomorrow.
Daily mileage: 36.7 miles
Average speed: 12.9 mph
Total mileage: 4,363.5 miles

Day 73, October 13th 2007 (Desert View,AZ to Bacavi,AZ)

I had the luxury of waking up warm rather than cold this morning. It was something that I had not been used to at this elevation so far on the trip. I went outside and was very surprised to feel how cold it was because I was practically sweating inside of my tent. I had the great experience of meeting two great people last night in this area of the country and it made for a great rest. When I was awake in the morning and out of my tent, Joe and Lilly were also getting up for the morning. We both commented on the elk that had come through the campground last night and then the coyotes that we woke up to in the morning. Even though it was light out, the coyotes were still howling in the distance and it seemed like they were out fairly late today. Joe and Lilly started off the morning by telling me that I wasn't going to make it through the High Sierras without a warmer sleeping bag and they would rather that I take their 0 degree bag compared to my 40 degree bag. It was the best news that I had heard since on the road and I knew that I was going to make it safely across the mountains at this point. We exchanged sleeping bags and at the end of my journey we would mail each others bags back to each other. I was so happy to have a warm sleeping bag by my side for the rest of the journey and couldn't wait to rest in the outdoors at this point. Before when I had experienced the cold weather I was up at Tioga Pass and I woke up wearing every piece of clothing that I had brought with me, but now things had taken a new turn. As if that wasn't enough great news to have for the morning, Joe and Lilly proceeded to fill up a picnic table full of food and say,"take anything you want with you." It was unbelievable. They said it was their last day on their journey and they had no use for any of this anymore so whatever I wanted to take with me was mine. I only had enough room for a few of the many items they had placed in front of me, but it was enough food to probably last a week. They had some hot oatmeal that they prepared for the morning and accompanied that with a hot cup of coffee. By the time I set my parting ways with this amazing couple, I was on cloud 9. Everything had been taken care of for me from the very small things I needed to even the very large things that I needed on my trip. I couldn't have been more thankful to have run into this family and I was really feeling great about the ride ahead. When I started out of the campground I almost instantly started to fly downhill. With some great shots of the canyon on side, I flew down from 7,400 feet to probably about 5,000 feet. It was an incredible drop and I couldn't have started it in any other of a greater fashion. With so much energy, I was able to store it for the ride ahead. I had gone about 30 miles to start the morning before I switched on to another road that was a little busier. I didn't mind the traffic, but I think the traffic was a little annoyed with me. It seemed obvious after the first couple of honks of horns that I received from other drivers, but after a few miles I was on a more less traveled route and the scenery was much better. I was able to see so many red rocks that had some incredible features to them and I was surprised that I wasn't staring at desert like I had expected. It was a very scenic ride and with the traffic being very minimal I was able to enjoy it even more. I didn't stop for my first break until I reached a town called Tuba City and it was about 60 miles into my ride. Besides the incredible drop that I had experienced to start my ride, it was a very flat ride that I had been dealing with all day and it seemed to good to be true. I had some lunch in Tuba City and as I was leaving the town I realized that they had a huge country festival that was going on. Cars were parked everywhere on the sides of the road and people were out and about enjoying the weekend. If I was more of a country fan I might have stayed, but seeing as how I wasn't and still had a lot of daylight ahead of me, I pressed forward. I must have dealt with one of the easier rides of Arizona for the past couple of days because as soon as I left the city I was back to the mountains. Tuba City was at about5,200 feet and upon leaving the town it wasn't long before i read a sign that said "Elevation 6000 feet." Then I was back downhill and then uphill and then downhill and it seemed like that was the course for the rest of the day. Being at the elevation I was at, the temperature was very cool and the sun didn't do too much damage to me on my ride. The wind was changing from a cross wind to a tail wind and I was happy that it wasn't in my face. When I was coming to the end of my ride, the sun was starting to go down and since it was a Saturday I was looking for a church that I could attend the following morning. I pulled off into a small town called Bacavi and saw a large cross on a white building in the distance. I took a dirt road that took me to the doors and it felt great to be in such a secluded area of the village. I thought that this was going to make for a great place to set up camp and as I was circling the building to look for a sign of when the service started, a man came out of his house and asked if he could help me. His name was Jim and he was the assistant pastor of the church. I asked him what time the service started and then if it was okay to put my tent up in the area. He was very helpful and told me to put my tent up anywhere in the area that I would like. It was nice to be able to have someone in the area say it was okay to set up my tent and then after I set up my tent he came out of his house and invited me in for dinner. I couldn't say no to a warm meal and was grateful that he had opened his door up for me. It was a great hot stew and was perfect after I had finished my ride in the cold to get to where i was. Bacavi was at about 6,400 feet and with the sun going down at around 6:15, the cold weather followed shortly after. Jim introduced me to his wife Roxane and I was able to meet the rest of his family as well. He had two girls and two boys and they all seemed to be very well mannered and were great to be able to get to know. Jim and his family had been from Indiana and had just moved to Arizona a little over a year ago. It was a big transition to move to where they were because not only did he and his family move, but he had changed jobs. From a heating and cooling repair man to an assistant pastor, it was something that he felt very strongly in that seemed to me to be working out very well. I found out that I was in the Hopi Tribe's area of Arizona and couldn't wait to experience some of the culture that came with the area. I went to bed on a full stomach and in a warm sleeping bag.
Daily mileage: 103.3 miles
Average speed: 13.9 mph
Total mileage: 4,326.8 miles

Day 72, October 12th 2007 (Williams,AZ to Desert View,AZ)

I wanted to get a head start on the day because I didn't really want to find myself up at 7,300 feet at the Grand Canyon. My sleeping bag was only a 40 degree bag and the temperature up at the Grand Canyon was supposed to be in the high 20's or low 30's. After enjoying the free coffee and donuts at the motel I was off on the road. It was about 8 in the morning and I was only a few miles up the road when I noticed another rider approaching me. He had bags on the front and rear of his bike and it was obvious that he was in for a long trip. We both pulled over and chatted for a little while and I was absolutely amazed by his story. He told me that he had left his home in British Columbia about 2 years ago. He had been around the United States and was now ending his trip on the historic route 66. Today was the last day of his journey and he had planned on being picked up by a plane and taken back to his house. He estimated that he had put in around 10,000 miles over the course of his trip and that he had rested for months at a time in several states along the way. He seemed to me like he was probably in his older 50's and I couldn't believe that he had been on the road so long. It seemed like quite the adventure that he had taken on and although I wanted to hear everyone of his crazy stories along the way, I had to be on my way. I started the first of many miles going north. There was a road that was going to take me straight from where I was to the Grand Canyon. I was fortunate to have the wind going straight from the south to the north for the morning and it was great to be able to cover so many miles at such a quick speed. It was 56 miles to the Grand Canyon and although there was an increase of elevation of about 1,500 feet, it was very gradual and I didn't notice it at all. It seemed like it was a very flat ride all the way to the Grand Canyon and I think that the wind might have made it seem even flatter. When I came to the entrance of the park I wasn't cut any sort of a deal to the entrance and I had to pay the 12 dollars just like everyone else going in the park. For the first 3 miles inside the park I couldn't see anything except for smoke. They had been burning some wood piles going into the park so that if a fire were to happen it wouldn't be as bad. Fire prevention from all of the dry wood in the area I guess. So I wasn't thrilled at the fact that I had payed money to ride through a smoke storm, but as soon as I arrived over the Grand Canyon and looked down everything was worth it. I was amazed at what I was looking at. It was so large and stretched on for miles that it seemed like I was looking at a large painting in front of me. I had been to the Grand Canyon once about six years ago, but seeing it this time felt like it was the first time I had ever seen it. I stared at it for such a long time and cycled up and down the canyon to get multiple views of the area. There were people everywhere enjoying the vast scenery that the canyon offered and everyone had the same reaction. No one could really believe what they were looking at. With the width of the canyon stretching across at 10 miles and the length of the canyon running 270 plus miles, it was overwhelming. It was about a mile down to the Colorado River below and there were trails that you could take down to the bottom and then back to the top. I didn't have the energy to put forth a good 14 mile hike down and back, so after enjoying lunch I was on my way through a desert view side of the canyon. It as a view that stretched on for over 25 miles and about every couple mile you could pull off to get another view of the canyon. It was a beautiful ride and although a little hilly it managed to stay at about the same elevation all the way across. As I was finishing my ride across I stopped at the final looking spot. It was a much larger look out point and was called the Desert View lookout. There was a large tower that looked like a castle and for no charge at all you were able to climb to the top of it. Inside there were Indian drawings and other sorts of artifacts that gave a very interesting touch to the interior. Once at the top of the tower, 4 stories high, you could see everything in every direction. It was the best view that I had seen of the canyon so far and although there were quite a few people, there were much less than when I was at the Grand Canton Village. It was a spectacular sight to see the Colorado River down below the canyon and the only reason I eventually left was because it was starting to get a little cooler outside and the sun was going down. There was a campsite directly off of the viewpoint and it looked like a good place to call it a night. I went into the campground and was looking for a place where they might have someone who worked at the park to tell me what the elevation might be at this point. Like I had said before, I didn't want to get myself stuck at too high of an elevation and then freeze overnight. I saw someone standing on the side of the road inside the campground and so I asked if by chance he knew what the elevation might be. He told me that he had a tool in his car that had the elevation and he wouldn't have a problem showing me. So we went back to his campsite and he told me that it was 7,400 feet where we were at. It seemed like it was going to be fairly chilly at this point, but the sun was going down and I wasn't sure if I was going to find a place much lower if I kept going down the road. After Joe, the man with the elevation tool, and his wife, Lilly, offered me to camp on their site for free I couldn't resist the offer. They said that they were going to walk their dogs for a little while and then when they came back, they were going to prepare dinner and have a campfire. Everything sounded too good and although I was at a high elevation, everything seemed to have worked out okay. I set up my tent and after fiddling with it for a little while I think I mastered how to make it work even though one of the poles was broken. It was nice to know that I wasn't going to have to replace the tent for now and I could continue to get by with it for a little while. When Joe and Lilly returned they made a feast. This was not any ordinary campsite that I had stumbled upon, they came prepared. They had everything that you could imagine to make camping as luxurious as possible. For dinner we had burgers, corn on the cob, and potatoes. I was able to find out that this was the last day of their trip and that they had seen quite a bit. They had been up to Zion National Park in Utah and had made their way down here to the Grand Canyon. They were able to take some hikes in both areas and tomorrow they were headed back to their home in Prescott,AZ. Having just moved from the coast of California it seemed perfect for them to move more inland as to be able to enjoy more of the outdoor feel without having to go very far. I thought it was funny to hear Joe say that he thought I was like Bigfoot, everyone always hears about people like me but no one ever sees them. After enjoying the feast for dinner, one in which was going to be my last good meals for awhile, we had a great fire to keep us warm. It was a great evening to get to meet such great people and when the fire died we were off to bed. Joe and Lilly didn't want me to sleep and possibly freeze overnight in my 40 degree bag and neither did I. So when they said they had an extra sleeping bag that I could use for the evening I had a tough time saying no and jumped at the opportunity to stay warm. It was already fairly cold outside since the sun had gone down and I was exhausted from such a long day. I pulled the bag over me inside the tent and have never felt so warm.
Daily mileage: 84.7 miles
Average speed: 13.7 mph
Total mileage: 4,223.5 miles

Day 71, October 11th 2007 (Peach Springs,AZ to Williams,AZ)

Waking up was very nice in a warm bed. I couldn't thank Margaret enough for how she had pulled me, a stranger, in off of the road and then treated me so well. Over a nice hot cup of coffee I was able to chat with Margaret a little more before she took off for work. It was about 7 am and I still had a lot of things to do for the morning. There was plenty of cereal for me to choose from for breakfast and I was also able to take yet another shower. After it was all said and done, I was on the road around 8. The morning started with a good climb. I was at about 3,600 ft. in Peach Springs and to get to the next town was a climb up to around 5,300 ft. It was early enough in the morning that it wasn't very hot outside and as I climbed up to a higher elevation it became even cooler. I was able to look back after I had climbed the hill and see an incredible view of canyons throughout the distance. It was then that it became more apparent to me what I had been riding through. It was a great site, but I knew that the canyons were going to get much more grand ahead. I pulled over after about 30 miles into the ride and was able to have a great lunch just on the side of the road. It was around noon and since it wasn't unbearably warm, it made for a good spot in the sun. Margaret had sent me away with some of the roast that she had prepared for dinner the evening before and it made for a great sandwich. I continued to ride forward and it wasn't until I reached the next town that I realized the true importance of the historic route 66. It made me feel pretty dumb that I had no idea what this road was about and everyone else who was on it did, but I guess it is all a learning experience while I'm out on the road. The buildings were covered in the front with route 66 signs and manikins. Everything was from the 50's it seemed and it was interesting to find out that this was the first road to run to the west coast. It was called the Mother Road and was built in 1926. Running clear out to Los Angeles it was the most commonly used road going west for some time until the new Interstate Highway System. Each town along the route had probably lost an extremely large amount of business when the interstate first came about, but after some years it came back to be a historic route. Now a lot of travelers will go out of their way to be on route 66. Although a lot of people will go on route 66, I didn't have to see very many of them. It seemed like this wasn't the time for as many tourists to stream on by and I was thankful that the traffic was as small as it was. I stayed in the town for a little while to take a break and prepare myself for the final 40 miles to get to Williams. There were supposed to be a couple of campgrounds in the area and I was looking forward to finding one of them to set up camp. by the time I left it was around 2:45 and I knew I was going to be cutting it close with the sun. Being at about 5,400 feet now, I had to go up to get to where I was going. I started on a gradual climb uphill for quite some time when I left the town I was in and before I knew it I was at 6,000 feet. No sooner had I reached that elevation before I started to travel downhill. I must ave gone at least another 500 feet downhill and then the road started to flatten out. I was making some good time, but the wind didn't seem to be helping me very much. I had a fairly strong crosswind and it made it more difficult to stabalize my bike when flying down a hill. I went about 30 miles and then I was off of the highway with very little traffic and onto the interstate. I had a nice shoulder to ride on the interstate, which always seemed to be a gamble. It was the only way I could get myself to Williams so I plunged forward. I didn't go very long before I left the desert that I was in and was then in a National Forest. It was new to me to see so many trees and so much green around me. With the forest came the mountains though. I was continually going uphill and then downhill and took myself up to 6,300 feet for the evening. It was pitch black for the remainder of the 5 miles that I went into town and it was cold. The temperature seemed to drop just as fast as the sun did. It was not my favorite thing to do, riding on an interstate at night, but at this point I was so close. the sun had gone down a lot earlier than I had expected and that's why I was in the predicament that I was in. I had seen it go down around 7 pm, but tonight it went down around 6:30. It was not what I expected and lead to what I didn't plan on doing. I didn't want to deal with my tent at this point because of the issues it had been giving me with the broken pole and so I figured I would see what the hotels had to offer first. It was amazing. I explained my situation to the second hotel that I stopped at and was cut a great deal. For a little over 30 dollars I had a room, free breakfast, a hot tub, and a heated pool. I snatched the deal and then continued to go to my room and fix an enormous pasta. The hot food with the hot shower I was able to take was a great combination at this point in my evening. I went to the hot tub and spent most of my evening chatting with a couple of guys from Switzerland. they hand flown into New York and were now on a road trip. For 30 days they would be in the United States and then for the following two months they were headed to South America. They had been on the road for almost 20 days and it was great to exchange stories on what we had seen so far on our journeys. It was no mistake that we had run into eachother on our trips and it made for an eventful evening before I decided to call it a night and get some sleep.
Daily mileage: 79.7 miles
Average speed: 10.7 mph
Total mileage: 4,138.8 miles

Day 70, October 10th 2007 (Dolan Springs,AZ to Peach Springs,AZ)

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

Day 69, October 9th 2007 (Las Vegas,NV to Dolan Springs,AZ))

I managed to make it out of Vegas with all of my possessions still rightfully mine. I was now going somewhere, and then hopefully on my way to the Grand Canyon. It was my last day to be able to make some great eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast and it tasted great. I made it a little ways out of Vegas, but everything felt different. I wasn't used to pedalling and it took me a few miles to remember how to do what I needed to. The traffic was busy just as it was when I was coming in to Vegas. There were only a couple of roads going in and out of Vegas and so they were all interstate traffic. I was on a road that had a nice big shoulder for a little while, but after a few miles the shoulder went away. I was left with a divided highway that was being overrun with traffic. I didn't want to get hit and it seemed like most of the cars were slowing down and then passing me when they had the opportunity. I was getting closer and closer to my first big stop for the day. the Hoover Dam was only about 30 miles away from Vegas and it was extraordinary. The size of it absolutely blew me away. It was incredible to see how everything was set up in the area to make sure that it was running for everyone in the area. There were a lot of cars and people in the area for the afternoon and everyone wanted to see everything. It seemed like quite the tourist trap directly in between Nevada and Arizona. As soon as I made it over the Hoover Dam I was in Arizona and was starting to climb up some hills. I had gone down to a little over 1,200 feet to get to the Hoover Dam and now I was going up hill it seemed for quite a ways. It was about mid-afternoon at this point and the heat was starting to get to its' hottest point. I didn't enjoy riding in such incredibly hot temperatures, but I was in the desert and I couldn't expect anything less. The only thing that continued to cool me down as I pushed forward was the wind that seemed to be blowing from the south to the north. I was headed southeast so I was getting a majority of the wind. As I pulled out of the Hoover Dam the road I was on split into a divided road. There were two lanes of traffic going each direction with a patch of land dividing the two sets of roads. The shoulder was in horrible condition and so it left me to ride on the road. I'm pretty sure that it was considered a freeway and it made for an interesting 70 miles ahead of me. Not very many cars were driving on the road, but when they were they seemed to come down the road in groups. Four or five cars at a time and all that I could do was hold on tight and hope that I didn't feel any sort of an impact. It was very interesting riding. I pushed against the wind like this for a good portion of the day and after making it through the afternoon I was exhausted. I learned that when in a desert, looking for water was just about as easy to find as shade. When you found one you could find the other, but it seemed like it could almost take forever to find one. I had gone about 30 miles without finding any water and I was starting to rely on some Gatorade that I had packed with just in case. I wanted to save a little water for the evening because I wanted to be able to use the little stove that I had recently purchased and have some spaghetti. As the night approached and I was feeling too tired to push forward I saw a sign for a small town on my left. There couldn't have been more than 50 people that lived in the small town and I started to hunt for any nice patch of land to put my tent down. I looked and found a small little gated area with two picnic tables on a desert ground. I think it was a park, but it was unlike any park that I have ever seen. There was no green grass or anything living nearby. Only two picnic tables and dirt surrounded by a fence. It looked strange, but it was exactly what I needed. I unloaded all of my stuff on the picnic table and started to prepare a meal. The stove was able to cook my pasta in only a few minutes and it was an incredible addition to have while on the road. I was so happy to have a nice hot pasta at the end of the day and to be able to change the routine of the peanut butter sandwiches. I set up my tent and had a little trouble sticking the stakes in the ground, but I eventually was able to get them in. Since one of my poles had broken in half on my tent it was a little difficult to get it to stand upright, but it worked for the time being. I wasn't able to ever find the right pole for the tent I was using and I was thinking at this point that the only thing I could do was buy a new tent. I went to bed fairly early since the sun had gone down at about 7:30 and the light was my sense of time at this point.
Daily mileage: 72.6 miles
Average speed: 10.8 mph

Total mileage: 3,975.4 miles

Day 68, October 8th 2007 (Las Vegas,NV to Las Vegas,NV)

Well, like I said, I was spending the last day in Vegas today. Being as how I've been here so long it was starting to seem questionable that I was ever going to leave. I was able to see the sun come up and my body had adjusted back to the appropriate hours of the day. I was counting down on the good home-made breakfasts that I was going to be able to have for awhile and each one tasted better than the previous. For lunch I was able to have some of the extra spaghetti that was left over from last night and I continued to enjoy my last day. I went up the street to where there was a grocery store and I picked up a couple more things that I was going to need on the road. Everything was packed throughout the afternoon and I had taken care of everything that I had wanted to before continuing my journey. James was off of work around 6 and had picked up some dinner on the way home. He figured since it was my last night that things needed to be good for dinner. He had picked up some ribs, corn on the cob, and some baked beans. It was an incredible feast to look at before the meal. The ribs were enormous and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my time in Nevada. This was my one stop in the state and it had been a blast. I was truly in debt to everything that James had given me while showing up and staying and I couldn't believe that my luck had continued for as long as it had. I was completely thankful and in debt to so many others throughout the trip, but here I was able to live in Vegas with my own room and bed for a good few days while on the road. It was a fun experience and to be able to end it over some incredible ribs was superb. We spent a good amount of time marinating the ribs to start off and making some pristine BBQ sauce. I tried to remember as much of the recipe of the ribs that I had been involved with at my cousins, but I just didn't think it was possible to make them as good. I even went ahead and called my cousin to know exactly what the recipe was. The ribs were just too good back in San Francisco and I had to do whatever was possible to make these ribs the same. We spent our time putting everything together and the food was amazing. Everything went together perfect and they were some great ribs. I think with some more practice these ribs might be as good as the ribs my cousin made. He has been around the recipe for awhile and he obviously has it down at this point. These ribs were great, but they still might have some work left for perfection. After eating the meal we both couldn't move. The food had knocked us out. I still wanted to have more ribs because they looked so good, but my body wouldn't allow any more to enter. I was stuffed. It was easy sleeping well after such an incredible meal and this was going to be a tough night to compete with down the road.
Daily mileage: 0.0 miles
Total mileage: 3,902.8 miles