We;re tired. See what I mean. We are currently in the bustling metropolis of Hope, AZ. We were planning to do more miles today, but we decided to take it easy this afternoon. We stopped into Ramblin' Roads RV park so Eric wouldn't have to dig a hole, but the allure of warm water, a shower and free wi-fi proved to be irresistible. We were planning to indulge in our first restaurant outing of the trip, mostly because I was craving pie and coffee :c), but as we were exploring the RV park we were welcomed into the rec room for cake, ice cream and coffee! A monthly anniversary/birthday celebration had just ended, but there were leftovers - yum! BJ and Norma just told us to shut the door when we were done and to help ourselves to more if we'd like. Between the two of us we ate 4 pieces of cake, 5 dishes of ice cream and two cups of joe. I mean really, what did they expect leaving two road weary bikers alone with the fridge. Anyway, now we are all squeaky clean and happily lethargic, at least until tomorrow. We'll leave you all with some photos of last night's sunset, our ride through the dunes, and a rad video of the ever-elusive desert randonneur.

El Centro, California

So we have made it through the mountains out of San Diego, and are now into the lovely desert. El Centro is a nice town on a Navy Base with lots of jets wooo! Really the best part are that there are tons of oranges and grapefruits and avocados for cheap!

UPDATE! Merilee has freckly calves from one day in the sun!

UPDATE! Eric has two burned circles on the top of his hands from his biking gloves!

We are heading into the desert for real today, only 1 town the next 100 miles and lots of sand and sand dunes and rocks and the occasional shrubbery. Which you could make hedgerows. E

In other news, Eric turned 24 on the 15th! I've attached some photos from that day - Eric with his birthday kiwi with a match in it (yeah, I'm good), and a huge hot fudge birthday sundae from Frosty Burger in Pine Valley.

I must admit that it is hard to blog. So much of my attention is focused on just getting the damned bike up the hills in blistering headwinds that it's hard to switch gears (bad, unintended pun). We also have an entire day of riding ahead of us, so I'm also distracted by that. So far I am enjoying the journey, but it will still take me more time to acclimatize myself to the difference in lifestyle. I'm fine with the whole no shower thing, but it's a completely new feeling to never know where I'm going to sleep at night. It definitely makes me renew my appreciation for the fact that I know I have a warm, loving, safe community of friends and family to come home to, which makes this trip all the more possible. M

Day 1...

...Well, kind of. We've actually been planning this trip for longer than it will take us to complete it at this point! We left Vancouver (Washington, don't get excited) on Wednesday, stayed the night with Eric's friend Diann in San Francisco, and arrived in San Diego the next day. En route we saw so much beautiful country and were lucky enough to experience LA I-5 in all it's 5:00 rush hour glory - sweet! Oh, and like true Washingtonians we got sunburned. In the car. Last night we watched the opening ceremonies of the winter Olympics, and while we aren't quite Olympic atheletes, it felt like a fitting beginning to our trip. Our goal is not to create a lot of buzz but rather to go out and do something that will, hopefully, make us better people. Yay! We must go now, because it is already 10:00 and the bikes are waiting. (That was Eric, he's getting impatient!). But he's right, so bon voyage to us!