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Day 5- Dateland Arizona


 I got up with a new attitude this morning, determined not to whine about the horrible pavement that would be ahead of us as we rode out of eastern California and into western Arizona. I was pleasantly surprised to find that things improved exponentially as soon as we turned left out of the driveway. It stayed lovely past a fish ladder, fields of broccoli, and even up to the Yuma proving Ground. Overall a much better experience than yesterday.



We eventually got on “historic route 80” and spread ourselves out. The landscape had changed to desert again. I fwt as though I spent hours looking at one mountain in particular that absolutely mocked me. I would swear it kept moving farther away. It was a grind to say the least, but today I had a hydration plan that put me in much better shape than yesterday. I set my interval timer to go off every 15 minutes, and when I heard it I took a good long drink of my electrolyte mix. This proved to be a very important part of making this day better than yesterday, and it’s something I’ll keep doing

I eventually made it to the rest stop on I8 (I am beginning to enjoy interstate riding) where I reconnected with Sue, Adam, and Kelly. It was getting pretty late when we took off for the last 10 miles. Sue and I were a worried about losing daylight and sprinted at about 16 mph. We should have taken the rainbow we saw as a good omen and a sign that we would be fine. To say I was ragged when I got to the campground is putting it mildly.


And the campground was actually an RV park, just barely. Very sandy roads, and a long walk to the bathrooms and showers. I pitched my tent under some trees and far from the school bus that was parked nearby in hopes that it would not be firing up at 5:30 AM. As I lay down to go to sleep I heard a train that sounded like it might go right through the middle of my tent. The good thing about wearing yourself out and putting in Earplugs is that train noise no longer becomes a problem. Apparently I slept through all the nighttime trains, the man that was wandering through the campsite, and the couple who were fighting first thing this morning.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 1, 2022 at 4:58 AM

    I didn't even know what a fish ladder is or what the Yuma Proving Ground is. Fascinating. I am learning a lot. I found out that there are even fish canons! Glad you had a better day. Debbie

    ReplyDelete

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