Biking through the Arizona desert was
pleasantly consistent. I knew what weather to expect, how much water
to carry, and could find a place to camp each night. I counted a
grand total of two clouds and had about 35 nose bleeds. The dryness
in Arizona was interesting to deal with. I am a bit susceptible to
bloody noses, so within the first day of two of arriving in Arizona,
my sinuses dried out and blowing my nose became a 15-minute
commitment. What fun.
I crossed the Navajo and Hopi Indian
reservations and found that I prefer these stretches of road to the
mass-franchised sections of route 66. Grocery, gas, and lodging
prices on the reservations where all what the rest of the country
should be. Reasonably low. I
guess when the overhead cost of land rental or purchase is taken
away, everyone benefits.
I made it to New
Mexico and spent two nights and a day in Gallup, camping in an
inexpensive RV park that had showers, a pool, a giant chess board,
and free coffee. The heat was ridiculous, so I had trouble motivating
myself to get going even after the nice break. I am a bit baffled by
people who cross the country in RVs. They spend hours tucked inside
the same four walls, never really seeing the scenery, and from my
observations, hardly venturing out even when parked. I suppose it
would be easy to stay within the luxury of air conditioning,
refrigerated drinks on demand, and private facilities. My philosophy
is that travel is intended to throw individuals into unfamiliar and
at times uncomfortable situations so that they can grow familiar with
the concept of ever-changing surroundings. On a bike, I feel I get
the best of the unfamiliar and uncomfortable. In an RV, I paraphrase
Molly: “...travel the country to visit the Wal-Mart parking lots.”
Wahoo?
Once I got to
Albuquerque, I stayed with Louise and Michael, friends of the family.
It has been excellent to catch up and take a longer break after the
desert. I have seen a few more clouds and even some rain and lighting
in New Mexico. I crossed a fairly obvious natural barrier when
leaving Arizona, which also happens to be the political border
between the two states. New Mexico, albeit still dry, has
considerably more humidity than Arizona. Not a single nose bleed yet!
Jackie, Louise's daughter and I went on an overnight road trip to the
Carlsbad Caverns in southern NM. The formations were surprisingly
untouched considering the number of people who travel through the
caverns each day. The park rangers at both the Grand Canyon and
Carlsbad Caverns are very attentive to and informative for visitors.
The stalagmites were incredibly huge and as Jackie put it, “Freud
would die down here.”
I have spent the
last few days biking around Albuquerque, reading, drinking iced
water, and eating doughnuts. Stephanie Plum novels always make me
crave doughnuts. And I'm withing biking distance of two doughnut
shops! I should get on the road again before my bike begins to
complain under my weight.
Heading east on
route 66 for a couple hundred more miles, then will skirt the
northern edge of Texas, aiming for Shreveport, Louisiana. Lets see
how the mid west treats me.
On a back note:
While
still in Cayucos, California, I got a worrisome e-mail from Molly, my
biking partner with whom I rode the Oregon coast and northern
California. A little over a month ago, after Molly had returned home
to Oregon, she was visiting a friend in Washington, and got into a
fairly nasty bicycle accident while riding an unfamiliar bike. Molly
e-mailed me several days after the accident, after she was released
from the hospital and at her mom's house in Portland. I was five days
from Los Angeles at the time, so I hopped on my bike and covered the
distance in three days. I left my bike and gear with family in LA and
flew back to Portland to visit Molly. She was on the mend and will
eventually recover, but she will not be riding a bicycle for a while.
Her body was certainly not feeling the greatest, but the consensus is
that the helmet that now resembles a shattered eggshell was nothing
short of essential in preventing her head from feeling like her other
unprotected body parts.
I spent a few days
in Portland with Molly, my sister Kari and brother-in-law Elgin
before flying back to LA and continuing south to San Diego.
