One state Down and the Kindness of Strangers.

Just after I finished writing my last blog update, something really wonderful happened. I began chatting with the woman, Rosa who owned the internet cafe where I had used the computer. When I told her where I planned to camp she warned me about gang activity in the area, and after a few minutes invited me to stay at her home with her family. She told me stories of having taken in young travelers before and made me feel so welcome and at ease (and thrilled by the prospect of a shower!) that I accepted without hesitation. Rosa and  her whole family welcomed me into their home and made me very comfortable (even giving up a bedroom against my protestation, and cooking me a vegan breakfast!). I had a restful afternoon, a great sleep and a good start for my next ride which was going to be 84 miles--over two times what I had done at that point.

Much to my surprise, I made it just fine in plenty of time to find a campsite and eat before dark. It was a long ride through total desert--I even rode through the Imperial Sand Dunes where Star Wars was filmed (you can imagine what I heard in my head for that 15 miles!) The next day I pushed on from Palo Verde across the CA-AZ state line (!woo hoo! I am getting somwhere!) to Brenda, AZ. On the map this town is portrayed as a full-service stop of 400 residents with a store, motel and campgrounds available year-round. In reality, it was a near complete ghost town where only 2 or three buildings weren't on wheels or some-which way of the 'mobile' variety. To boot most of these were in fact deserted already for the summer--a symptom of the "snow bird" phenomenon that makes Brenda (and many other little spots I passed the next day) a place at all. So, super tired and unable to push on 15 miles to the next place (which I later found out would have brought me to a similarly abandoned transient oasis) I finally found a living soul who told me it shouldn't bother anyone if I just set up camp in the RV park someplace. I found a concrete slab near a picnic table and waited for one of two inevitable things to happen--I'd be kicked out by a hardcore 100 degree plus survivor with a suspicious attitude towards people dressed like aliens arriving on bicycles to the middle of absolutely nowhere; or the wind to just blow me entirely away (which I suspected may have relieved Brenda of some of it's alleged 400 member populous already). Thankfully, neither fate befell me, and I ended up meeting a really sweet woman who summers in Homer, AK  (in my neck of the woods : ) after a night dreaming of Alaska.

Yesterday was tough--flat, lackluster, hot, and desolate. I've been ready for a rest day for a couple of days now, which I'm happy to finally have here in Wickenburg, AZ. However, so far Arizona has offered some of the most incredible land and skyscapes I have ever seen; so vast and beautiful in their simplicity--sky, rock, and sand, that they arrest all of my faculties for moments at a time. The horizon is everywhere, sometimes in every direction, and at times you can see so far it looks as though you're seeing into the past--like starlight that travels so far it's sending it's image but, should you ever get there, it's source would be long gone. My other deepest impression from the last few days has to do with the repeated kindness I have received from complete strangers. I have met so many wonderfully helpful people that I can't help but wonder this: do we love to dwell on and re-tell stories of hardship, misfortune and failed trust in others not because of their actual frequency, but because remembering those risks somehow makes it OK for us not to go out and do new, challenging, things? Anyhow, I have so many thanks to everyone for their encouragement and good thoughts, and especially Rosa (as beautiful as she is kind), Kerry and their family. PS: Thanks for the pepper spray, too, Rosa : ) Tomorrow I'll be back on the road headed towards the Grand Canyon via Prescott! I really can't wait for those vistas!