Palo Verde, CA to Thatcher, AZ

Alright, we've gotten quite behind on this blog, and I have less than an hour at the library in Silver City, NM to catch up. So here we go ....

Day #4, April 7: Palo Verde, CA to Hope, AZ, 78 miles

We met a father/son pair of Canadians (Ian and Taran) at the camp ground in Palo Verde who have ridden down the west coast from BC to San Diego and are now ridding east to Houston, TX. We crossed the state line from CA to AZ - and had to take a CA jumping picture because we didn't get one in San Diego. We stayed at a LOVELY RV park in Hope, AZ with the cleanest showers I've seen so far - so nice, I'd consider retiring there .... Kon had sweet hair from his bike helmet when we stopped for dinner at Kofa Cafe, outside of Hope.

Day #5, April 8: Hope, AZ to Surprise, AZ, 98 miles

We had a LONG day of riding. Ate dinner at the Golden Corral in Surprise, and slept in the corner of an RV park on gravel. Road through the town of Wickenburg which was quite nice with an old-fashioned downtown and a homemade ice cream shop.

Day #6, April 9: Surprise, AZ to Chandler, AZ, 35 miles

Rest Day, April 10 and 11 in Chandler AZ

Stayed with my Aunt Kathy, Uncle Bill and cousins, Kyle and Collin for a day, then Kon's friends Jarid and Staci with their children, Ben (4) and Kaiya (2) for two nights. Enjoyed catching up with everyone, eating good food, and resting our sore bottoms.

Day #7, April 12: Chandler, AZ to Mesa, AZ, 27 miles

Biked out to Mesa against a strong headwind to spend a day with Kon's cousin Tucker and wife Tauni. Have pictures to post of us jumping at a Diamondbacks game where the D-backs beat the Rockies 10-3, but the pictures are vertical and I can't get them to turn rightside up on this computer -- so that will have to wait for another day!

Day#8, April 13: Mesa, AZ to Globe, AZ, 60 miles

This was by far my hardest day. We had a strong head wind leaving Mesa so it was really slow going. We had to pedal hard to go downhill. Stopped in the small town of Superior for lunch and ice cream. Then biked over a steep pass (4500 ft or so) on a narrow road with no shoulder, but 2 lanes for uphill traffic. It wouldn't have been too bad, except we had a number of unkind drivers (some in big RVs pulling trailers) that didn't give us any room, even when they had an extra lane. Needless to say, I was quite shaken up - and to make matters worse a strong wing blew me into the guardrail. After some tears, Kon helped me pull it together and we had a nice evening in Globe, where the RV park owner let us shower in her home, and Dan, a kind retired man, took us out to breakfast the next morning -- both of which made a bad day, look much better!

Day #9, April 14: Globe, AZ to Thatcher, AZ, 75 miles

We biked through the San Carlos Apache Reservation, which is BEAUTIFUL with mountains all around and pretty hills and valleys. We had a strong head wind again, which made us work for each mile. We met up with Ian and Taran again today and rode with them for a stretch of the day. They let us crash their campsite in the evening at the RV park in Thatcher, and we set up our tent right next to theirs. It is great fun to meet and share stories with other riders!

Well, I have 5 minutes left, but that does a decent job of catching up our blog.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers. We are having a great time, seeing some beautiful places, and meeting some awesome people!