Into the mountains we go!

Hello from Parker, AZ....we made it to a new state! The journey here has been a long and winding one, including mountain climbs, desert hauls, a rainy day and winds that stopped us in our tracks. So let's begin...

We left the Laguna Beach area on Thursday morning after a quick morning visit from an old college friend (Angie Triplett!) and some awesome breakfast burritos. We then biked up to Newport Beach where we cut east and followed the Santa Ana river for about 40 miles. The path was lovely, but the river was nonexistent...a telltale sign of the intense drought we surmise. We passed Angles stadium and experienced the ocean coast quickly changing to almost rolling green hills with dry mountains in the distance....the mountains we had been dreading crossing over! In total, it was a 67 mile day and it ended in Riverside, CA which we peddled frantically through in the dark. Our housing plans had fallen through so Dot did some pleading calls to local churches to inquire about camping on their property. Instead we lucked out and ended up camping in the backyard of Ann and Crispen who were affiliated with the local Episcopalian church. They even greeted our haggard, dirty selves with wine, oranges and berry pie! We camped in the backyard beneath their giant avocado tree and surrounded by about 4 other fruit trees...paradise!

 

Friday began our long assent into the mountains. This was possibly the most beautiful morning we've had as we passed rolling horse ranches and orange orchards. That said, four hours later our lovely uphill climb was soon a pedaling ordeal. The Santa Ana winds kicked in and our 10mph pace quickly diminished to 5....at best. Essentially, we both jog faster than we were peddling. So we bailed out in Beaumont, CA at a shopping center and called for reinforcements.....four hours later Dot's cousins Lisa and Charles rescued us and drove us to Twentynine Palms, where they have a house. Perhaps some more hardcore bikers would have pushed through, but this two month journey has room for alternate transportation....and our knees are happier for it.

The weekend was spent hiking and exploring Joshua Tree National Park. On Saturday we hiked up to an actual desert oasis up a canyon near their house....check out the palm trees in the picture! It was crazy, totally unexpected and pretty amazing. On Sunday we checked out the park via car and saw some climbers, classic Joshua Trees, and prepped for our next leg of the trip.

Monday was our biggest day ever! We did an official century ride (100 miles) plus 14 more. Luckily the majority of this was either relatively flat or downhill-ish. The unfortunate part was that it rained most of the day...really proving our hardcore-mess :) we rewarded ourselves with a hotel room in Parker, AZ. The town isn't much to write home about, but the family restaurant next to our hotel DID have homemade carrot cake so that's a big win in my book!

Above is a good idea of what most of our day today looked like....long, flat and wet. Below are a few random pictures that just had to be included.

Does this hotel look familiar to any U2 fans? It's right next to our house in Twentynine Palms!

Art at a new friends house and below me in Joshua Tree.

 

Yup, cruised this 100 mile strip.....and they were totally right, and only a handful of houses as we left town. Truckers and RV caravans kept us company.

Above is Dot at this great "bicycling rest stop" along the road up into the mountains. It had tools, a pump, water and benches. Super win!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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