14 March 2014
Blythe, California to Salome, Arizona
62 miles (Total Miles = 307)

Welcome to Arizona. Land of, shall we say, “interesting” politics. I sure hope this McDonald’s we just stopped at will serve me a cheeseburger.

This morning marked our first big milestone, crossing the Colorado River from the California bank to the Arizona one. One state down, seven to go.

A few thoughts on cycling through southern California:

Long distances with no services. If we were pioneers there would still be plenty of gold left in them hills because we never would have made it this far West.

Big money is being spent on Border Patrol. I’m sure there’s a reality show in there somewhere.

California isn’t all Hollywood. No movie stars, no bright lights, no paparazzi. Plenty of trailer parks, rutted roads, empty spaces.

Tonight we are moteling it in Salome, the town beyond Hope (about 7 miles beyond, to be kind of exact). Gina is on cooking duty, partnered with Murray. Their job is to feed the flock and the flock’s job is to not hover around while they prepare the meal. My job? To grab a chair, an adult beverage or two, and take advantage of the few minutes of down-time to blog. This is proving to be more challenging than I anticipated, what with the long days on the bike, the chores once you get to camp, and the general fatigue that accompanies both. Who knew it would be easier to sit home and blog the cross-country trip that I wasn’t on than the one that I am?