Skip to main content

Day 2- Ocatilla

 The most amazing thing today was the change in the landscape over the course of 61 miles. We left Alpine early, around 7 o’clock, due to the prediction of extreme heat for the day. We started out with bare rocky hills, transition to bushy rocky hills, and ended with huge piles of sandstone.





The Hills were substantial, but not too steep. Some took more out of me than others. One in the middle made me question my fitness, but at the end of the day I am actually 

One new thing I did today was to ride on the interstate. Last night at our map meeting we were told that we would be riding along I8. Which is an actual interstate in the state of California. I was amazed as I did not think that this was legal but apparently in California it is. I was nervous but it turned out that it was almost easier to ride on the interstate because of the large shoulder then it was on the side roads. The rest of our ride ran mainly along Historic Route 80.


Towards the end of the day we passed into Jacumba Hot Springs where we had a great view of the border wall in the hills in Mexico. The wall is much bigger than I expected and cuts through the mountains like a railroad trail. I don’t think many people are getting through it, as it is substantial and a bit daunting.


 


And lastly once we finished our last hill we had about a 13 mile downhill, through a mountain pass. You could see the valley from the top. It was an amazing view of pink mountains in every direction and the desert below. There was a 10 mile downhill at a 6% grade and the rise in temperature was palpable as we descended. We are now happily ensconced at the Jacksons Hideaway RV park where we are camping under a portico. There’s curry for dinner and it will be amazing.



Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2022 at 6:20 PM

    Smiling on day 2! Looking forward to the days to come! Looks beautiful Lydia; enjoy :-) Pauline

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2022 at 6:56 PM

    Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2022 at 2:08 PM

    Wow. There is so much with each day of the trip. Great pictures. Debbie.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mary DeRomeSeptember 27, 2022 at 4:47 PM

    Go Lydia! Your blog is amazing, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 58- St.Augustine FL

 To our utter surprise we woke up to dry skies with the sun peeking through the clouds. No rain in the forecast — what a gift! We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and set off around 9 o’clock. Family and friends had been given an arrival time between 1130 and 12 so the pace was leisurely.  We rode mainly bike paths. No spectacular scenery, just quiet miles with lots of introspection. As we neared Saint Augustine I started to feel the excitement grow. I was ready for the ride to be done, to see Greg and Gemma and the rest that would be there to join me. It wasn’t quite time to stop paying attention, however, because our route took us right through downtown Saint Augustine’s narrow streets and traffic was both heavy and unforgiving. It wasn’t till I turned into the state park that I got a little emotional. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the realization that this adventure is truly over. I rode in and spotted Greg’s truck right away - and next saw Sarah and Walt and Gemma with a b
5 comments
Read more

Day 33 Smithville Texas 53 miles

 If you had asked me at the beginning of the trip which state would have had the steepest climbs, I would not have guessed Texas; however, that seems to be the case. Today I felt right at home. We had our map meeting this morning at breakfast and all seemed doable. I did one last check with the front desk to see if my absentee ballot had caught up with me. It had not. Greg, your vote will not be canceled by me this year! We headed out through sidestreets to leave Austin, a city I can highly recommend. We traveled bike lanes and bike paths  out to some rural roads.  Of course we had to stop for second breakfast burritos! We were riding in a group of about six when we came up on a stretch of road that had house after house with loose dogs. All of them ran at us. We must’ve made a crazy sounding group. Some of us hollered. Some blasted air horns. Several of us have “dog dazers“ which is a little clicker device that is supposed to repel dogs. I’m not sure how well it really works but no on
6 comments
Read more

Day 51- Eastpoint FL

 I would never have guessed our coldest night would have been in Florida! I woke up this morning to 38°. In a tent. And pretty comfy inside two sleeping bags. I’ve been hoping for a little adversity. Florida certainly stepped up! It warmed up pretty quickly and I was on the road by nine. It was supposed to be a rest day, but tomorrow is looking wet and thundery so we broke up that 75 miles and will do 45 today, stopping just over the Apalachicola River in Eastpointe. Since it was a short day I took it pretty easy, enjoying a bike path it took us along the beach in WindMark. We wandered along until we hit Port Saint Joe where some stopped for a second breakfast. After Port Saint Joe we had a straight 19 miles which gave me a long time to think and get philosophical. What rolled around in my head is that we spend lots of time anticipating and working towards milestones; births, graduations, new jobs, marriages, retirement. And while those milestones are exciting, what we really cherish i
4 comments
Read more