Quartzite - 22 miles



We stopped early today... mostly at my request and against Jon's advice. But now he agrees that it was a good idea. We lost an hour of time going into Arizona. That makes today a short riding day. Then tomorrow we're looking at Aguila. And actually we're thinking we'll make it to Surprise on Saturday. I'll have to give Myrna and Larry a call tomorrow to keep them up to date. More decent weather, but it's hot. I'm actually missing the rain. It only took a little over a week. You can't have it all.

RV's are everywhere. They are on the road. They are in the towns. They are nestled amongst the hills. They are even in the sky. Ok... they weren't in the sky, but a plane dragging a sign advertising RV sales was in the sky. We are staying at an RV park. Camping in Aguila is RV camping. The land is pretty void of vegetation, however we are starting to see the classic cactus... you know the one that looks like a pitch fork.

Libraries. I figure that by the end of this trip I'll have stopped at at least 30 different libraries. Every one that I've been too has free internet. This library has a table full of 16 year olds arguing in a friendly manner while studying for some drivers ed test. They were amused when I asked them if we were in Quartzite. In the end I will be a library internet connoisseur.

Also of note... Quartzite must be where all the fair food trailers go for the winter. There must be hundreds of them along main street. I'm probably exaggerating, but not that much.

Car accidents, church things, walk around town, go to Mc Donalds, talk to strangers, and wait to get killed... that's what these four girls said there is to do around town for folks their age. I hope they were joking about a few of those. Church things are scary.

The librarian is going to kick me out so I must adios.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Simmesport - 32.27 miles

Image
Most people would not get excited about liquid oozing out of a limb. I, however, was tired of the painful tautness of the skin from the mass of liquid built up. Aside from perhaps finally getting back on the road again, this was the highlight of my day. St. Augustine once again doesn't feel very far away as I plan to finish off the fifth of the seven maps tomorrow and cross the Mississippi. Checking my email in Simmesport, I received several happy birthdays. A couple of which were from people who claimed not to know me, but were friends of my mother's. So later on the phone I asked my mother if she'd sent a provoking email out. She had. I caught her. Not that it's bad, but usually I'm lucky to have more than one or two people remember it's my birthday. The day hasn't traditionally been great. Last year's was good though. 9.5 ave - 15.1 max - 2214.2 odo - 3:26:38 time
Read more

St. Augustine - 100.65

Image
5:00 came with the same nervous intensity that an early flight out of Sitka does. It is just too much of an inconvenience to be late for an important important. I had to meet with the darkness so we could experience the ebb and flow of the shadows as the street lamps pass us by. This single sensation with the cool night air and tidal movement of my shadow chasing me and leaving me behind is my favorite part of cycling. I watched the orb rise with the traffic the same color as my reflective shirt. I stopped once to eat breakfast at Hardee's and again before crossing the St. John's to eat grilled cheese, veggie-beef soup, and more sweet tea. As I completed the century to St. Augustine, I understood why the ACA route goes where it does. As I approached the coast I passed traffic caused by a down cyclist out for a Monday spin. Waiting in the touristed out town, I took pictures of myself on timer hoping to have one halfway decent one. I rode down some of the narrow streets as the tr
Read more

Big Cane - 0 miles

Image
Though still congested, I don't feel half as ill as I did a few days ago. Drugs work wonders, but the bite on my thigh is still hot, red, tender, and 5 inches in diameter. And people worry about mosquitos in Alaska. I think I may force myself to rest one more day before I take off. I've been anxious to leave since I got here. But my hosts have been the kindest anyone could ask for. To be honest I'll miss the buckets of live craw fish that rest and surprise me on the kitchen floor and the baby turtles in tupperware on the counter. With any luck they'll find that second one that climbed but before they sniff it out.
Read more