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.