Feeling better

Blythe, CA to Hope, AZ
59 miles

Remember a couple of days back, when I said that my shoulders felt as if explosions were going off? Well, it doesn't feel like that anymore. Instead, it actually feels better! What a relief! Now if only the rest of my body would feel better...

Yesterday, I was fighting some pretty strong sidewinds, when all of a sudden, before I could realize what was happening, a stong gust of wind swept me off the road. I somehow managed to stay on my bike, although I probably looked like a kid with an out-of-control motorcycle, legs sticking out and all. I looked up to see the remains of a dust storm picking up grass and dust from the field next to me. Whew!

We crossed into Arizona today, but I couldn't find the "Welcome to Arizona" sign, so we don't have a picture of it. This morning, we watched a beautiful sunrise over the Colorado river as we packed up camp. We had bought eggs, so we were excited about having a big breakfast. I went off to brush my teeth, while Dana started cooking the eggs. When I came back, Dana had the most folorn look I had ever seen. I asked him what was wrong, and he pointed to the table... That had half-cooked eggs all over it. Poor Dana had somehow bumped the pan, and you know how camping stoves aren't that stable, and there went our breakfast. Ah well, we had plenty of avocados that we had bought
4 days ago from a local farmer that had finally ripened, so we had those for breakfast. I left earlier than the boys, which seems to be working out well. They catch up with me at about lunchtime, so I eat with them, then they bike ahead and set up camp, so it's ready by the time I arrive. Before they left, Martin and Tracy, who we met last night, gave us some BBQ chicken to bring with us. We ate that for lunch, and it was fan-finger-licking-tastic!

While we were setting up camp in Hope, a man named Doug was driving along the road that we had just biked on. He happened to see a beanie hat on the side of the road, so he pulled over and picked it up. He figured that some bicyclists must be in town, so he pulled into the campground looking for people with bicycles, found us, and sure enough, Ryan hadn't realized that his beanie hat had slipped off his bob trailer! Amazing!

As I was pulling into town at the end of the day, I saw a coyote on the opposite side of the road. I prepared for an attack by trying to get my headlight off so that I could use it as a baton-like weapon, and wouldn't you know, I dropped it! I should put a bit more practice into this. So I picked it up while keeping an eye on him, but he took off, to my relief. In our preparation for this trip, I read all about what to do if I was attacked by a bear, wolf, or dog, but a coyote? I gotta look that one up.