ARIZONA! Mountain Time

Hi everyone,

We are in an RV park in Aguila, pronounced ah-(hard "g")gee-lah, population 600.  I never knew that so many people had permanent residences in RV parks.  All of the ones we have been in except in San Diego have large sections of permanent mobile homes.  This one doesn't seem to have any kids around, but the others have, with school bus stops and everything.  There are some pretty interesting set-ups, as you can imagine.  This one seems to have a lot of unoccupied ones at present.  We are happy if they have showers and bathrooms!

This was an 80 plus mile day for the guys with lots of uphill going.  They did well.  Mike told us at supper that he found himself falling asleep while following Dave the last 15 miles or so.  He said that he was staring at Dave's spokes and the next thing he knew he was almost on top of Dave's bike.  It really surprised him.

This morning after the guys left Paula and I went into Blythe and stopped at the hardware store before getting on the road.  We met up with them in Quartzite.  they felt that we should go into the RV place there and get the steps repaired.  They went with us and the guy said that he could get to it in an hour and the work would probably take a half hour.  With that Dave and Mike took off.  Paula and I were there for over 2 hours, the repairman had a terrible time just getting under the motorhome to get started and kept coming up cursing because one thing or another wasn't going right.  However, the steps are now working and we keep stumbling into them since we are used to jumping down to get out and standing close to the door and pulling up on the railing to get in!  Here in Quartzite Paula and I also met a cute, toy poodle puppy named Max.  He travels with his owner in a big semi or on a Harley.

We met in Hope, AZ for lunch.  After they took off again, Paula and I walked across the highway to a lovely little restaurant and had a dish of ice cream.  

Another character that we have met is Rags, a man of undistinguishable age, riding on the same route we are, but with 80 lbs. of gear on the bike as well.  He is alone and is heading for Georgia.  He told Mike that he did this trip last year as well.  He left San Diego the same day we did.  He rides up to 150 miles a day and just plops down on the side of the road or hops a fence into an RV park when he gets tired.

Paula and I arrived here at about 4:30 and Dave and Mike arrived around 5:15.  We have traveled 326 miles so far.

More uphill tomorrow before we drop down into Phoenix.  I would love to go to a Cubs game in Mesa if there is one on.  We shall see.

Goodnight, and love and thanks for all your prayers and thoughts,

Lana