Hope, Arizona

I woke up at 3:00 AM this morning and decided to write a post. There isn't much else to do in Hope, an RV park abandoned by snowbirds (retired people with RVs escaping the cold) in search of cooler climate! I've been travelling the last two days with Jesse from New York, which has been a pleasent change of pace from riding alone. I crossed over the Colorado River into Arizona today, moving across the desert at a solid clip. Yesterday I rode through the Algodones sand dunes and the equally barren Chocolate Mountains. "The House of the Rising Sun" came to mind, and by the end of the day my brain felt a little fried from the sun despite having plenty of food and water; I started talking to myself, and when I finally came to the Colorado River late in the afternoon I exclaimed out loud "Shit, it's the Colorado!" to no one in particular. At this point I opted out of the addtional 20 miles I was considering.

The temperature at its zenith has been around 94 degrees, and I've started to wear a long sleeve semi reflective shirt and large brimmed hat to keep the sun off me. It looks like an outfit my Dad picked out; needless to say I look like a dweeb but I'm not getting burned!

I'm finding it harder and harder to continue on not because it is physically challenging, but because there is so much going on in Reno I look forward to. I passed highway 95 today, the most direct route back to Reno. I will fight another day under this sun.

Also, the Eddie Vedder song "Hard Sun" is great to listen to while sitting in a comfy chair in a cool room reminiscing over time spent toiling in the desert, but listening to it in the middle of the afternoon while riding through a sand dune might have killed a piece of my soul. More soon, possibly from Phoenix!


Doesn't this look inviting?


Dweeb Garb