DAY 17 - Back on the Road!

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Finally, I'm done with the cat house and I can get back on the road!

I have enjoyed visiting with Jessica, Jude, Derek, and my extended family, and I am now ready to hit the road again, and keep going on this trip. I have now been off the trip as much as I have been on the trip, so it's about time.

I will post a few pictures of Jude's dogs, and of the house I stayed at, and my bike all loaded down ready to go. Jude has three dogs: Zoey, Chico, and Bear. They are great dogs, the only problem is that Zoey and Bear shed like it's going out of style. There is hair everywhere because of those two rascals.

This is where I've been for the last week.

I wrote the last week's blogs this afternoon, then rode to Jessica's work where she will drive me out of town so I can start my trip again. So, here we go, I'm writing this before I get dropped off, so I will add the second half of this day a little bit later.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF NICK FERRIN, AS HE CONTINUES HIS TREK!

My blogs should be a lot more interesting now, so keep checking back.

Spiritual Thought for the Day:

Expect to be Unexpected. The world we live in will not always give us the exact results we are looking for. No matter how much we think we have total control, and plan everything perfectly, things will come up that will slow us down, require us to speed-up a little bit, or otherwise alter the path that we were expecting to be on.

So, with that in mind, let us expect the unexpected, and be okay with change, and revisions to our plans. We cannot control everything, and we should embrace change when it comes along.

Something that I am a big supporter of, is not being so engulfed in set plans, that they cannot be changed if something comes up. I believe that part of including excitement in your life is being able to go a different direction when it is needed, or an interest pops into your head.

Be free, and enjoy life's unexpected twists and turns.

DAY 16 - Last Day of Building

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Okay, so by today I was getting pretty tired of building this freaking cat house. I thought it would have been done by now, and I could get back on the road, and get on with my biking trip.

But, my plans were dashed into pieces last night when I knew I wouldn't get done...

At this point of the building project I was running into problems, and I was starting to curse under my breath to myself because of the stress I was starting to feel. I would get very angry and start talking to the wood as if it had a conscience, and telling it to stop screwing around, and do what I want it to do!

I also tried to relate this experience of getting so frustrated, and angry to my biking trip, and realized that the lesson that I can learn while on my bike, I can also learn in any other situation that I encounter. It don't have-to be on a bike on this trip to learn from an experience.

The truth is, you can learn from any experience, whether bad or good. That's what I started to do, and tried to calm myself down a little bit, and just get the work done. I finished it tonight, and I was very happy because that means that I can get back out on the road, and start loggin some more miles on my trip.

I want to get done with my trip by the end of June, so I'm going to really try and hustle to make that happen.



Spiritual Thought for the Day:

Learn from EVERY experience you have. Do not wait for a specific benchmark in your life to start learning from life. Make it a quest, and a frams of mind, to take each day as a new day, and tell yourself there is something in that 24 hour period that will allow you to learn and grow into a better person.

The Lord wants us to continually learn from our mistakes. The Atonement was made for that reason. Jesus Christ allowed us to take our mistakes and turn them into triumphs. When we have the mindset to learn from all of our actions, it allows us to step outside of ourselves and get a different perspective, and then MAKE A CHANGE.

The Atonement can turn any bad experience into a good one, by helping you to learn from your mistake, and then put it behind you, thanks to forgiveness.

Keep repenting.

DAY 15 - Temple Day

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Today was another long day building.

It is really hard to build in these conditions. Sand everywhere, rocks hurting my feet, etc. It is quite difficult to spend an entire day on a construction project when you have-to wear sandals for shoes because that's all you have. I start to get sticker-burrs in my feet which sting like a MOTHER, and all sorts of other junk.

It's coming along good though. I've got a lot more boards up, and it's starting to look like what I had in my head.

BUT, that was not the highlight of the day, it was that today was TEMPLE DAY! I went to the Albuquerque, New Mexico temple this morning, and it was sorely needed. I think I was starting to get a little irritated because I'm not on the road biking for a week, and it's starting to get to me. I feel like I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do right now, like I'm breaking the rules.
I feel like I'm supposed to be on the road logging miles, but instead I'm visiting with my sister, and building a cat house. That's okay, after I went to the temple today, I felt a lot better. I got lots of needed revelation in the temple today, which helped to reassure that I'm doing what I need to do right now in my life.

You know what's cool about the Albuquerque temple? Inside, it is an EXACT replica of the Houston, TX temple. The outside is completely different, but the inside is the same. I felt like I had been transported back to Houston for a minute. You know that movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve (Superman)? That's how I felt.

I love the temple, it is just amazing. You feel like you are stepping into a different world, and everything about how you feel changes. If you were feeling any negative feelings, they are swept away as you walk in the doors. I truly feel the happiest when I am in the temple. It is amazing.

DAY 14 - Building, Bratwursts, and Grandpa

Monday, May 5th, 2008

I just worked on the cat house all day today. Man, it's going slower than I had thought, building that cat house...It's nice that I can stop for a litle bit, and do something to make some extra bucks, it will help me out on my trip. I'm not sure how much she will pay me for doing it, but I am also enjoying building it. I like building things, it's a lot of fun to me.

The one things that's hard about building this in the location it is, is the fact that there is nothing but sand, and rocks everywhere, and no flat areas to measure and cut boards. That part is really annoying. Plus, Jude doesn't have all the right tools, so I'm having to improvise a little bit. That's okay though, I'll make it work.

We went over to my Aunt and Grandparent's house again tonight, and this time I had a really good conversation with my Grandparents. In particular, my Grandpa. We went back to his part of the house where he was showing me some of his pictures of his wife, my grandmother. He made a joke, and tricked me when he said, "You want to see a picture of my first wife?" and then he showed a picture of my grandmother. Tricky tricky, I got confused for a second and thought that he had been married twice, I thought, "In my 24 years of existence, Dad hasn't mentioned that once!" That's because Grandpa only had one wife.They had brats again today, and I think I ate 4 or 5 of them, they were so good.

DAY 13 - I Actually Get to Attend Church

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

I was happy to be able to make it to church today, I was feeling less active. This is the first Sunday I've been at a normal church meeting in about 3 weeks. The Sunday before I left was stake conference.

I went to church in the Volcano Cliffs Ward this Sunday. My sister isn't active in church, so she didn't go, and my Grandparents which also live in town, don't go because I think they're getting too old to make it out of the house easily.

It was good, it was fast and testimony Sunday, which is where one Sunday out of the month, the congregation gets a chance to get up in front of everyone, and testify of things they know to be true. They get to share their testimony on the gospel.

I shared about how much my biking trip has helped me to completely rely on the Lord. It has only been a little over a week since I started, but I could really feel the power that can come from staying REALLY close to the Lord. I want it to guide me as much as possible. It was good to be able to share those things at the pulpit.

I had people asking about my trip the entire time I was there, and it was fun to be able to share some of the fun stuff with them. I love talking about my trip, it gets me very excited.

Later that night, we went over to my Aunt Nora's house, where my grandparents live also, and had dinner. They cook good, they had burgers and bratwursts. Mmmm, I was a very happy man. I had a good time visiting with some of my extended family, it is a real treat to be able to see them every once in a while. I'm not terribly close to my extended family, so it's always nice to see them after a long time of not.

I forgot to take any pictures, so I won't have any for today...

DAY 12 - Forgotten Journals

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

Okay, so here's the point where I guess I got really lazy, and I stopped writing in my journal. I guess nothing TOO exciting was going on, so I forgot to keep writing down my experiences.

Hmmm, let's try to remember what happened today...

Okay, I think I remember something. I got approached by Jessica's roommate, Jude, about a possible project she wanted done in her side-yard. She wanted a huge cat house built for her 5 cats that she has, so they can walk around outside without wandering toof ar away and getting eaten by coyotes.

So, I decided to go for it.

I came up with some plans, and then headed for the hardware store where I got the first round of supplies. I cemented two of the three posts that day. It was almost dinner-time, and tonight I was cooking dinner (Thai food) for everyone, and that included my sister's new boyfriend, Derek. I was going to meet him for the first time today. He was pretty nervous about meeting me I think, because he knew that my opinion went straight to Mother. Derek actually helped me with the concrete mixing, because I was screwing it up big time. I put way to many bags of cement in, and not enough water, so we had a huge batter problem, which required the strength of two men. Derek and I got really tired towards the end of the cement mixing, it was a lot of freaking cement. I think it was 3-4 bags, which is way too much to mix at one time. But, we got it done, and were moving on to dinner.

Mmmmm, it tasted so good. Jude is a vegetarian, and I forgot to save some sauce for her dish, so I ran to the store and got some more coconut milk. We all sat down outside, and everyone loved the food. I was happy. I love cooking that dish for people.

Derek's a nice guy, very easy to get along with. He's the president of a motorcycle club, and I met some of his members, some of them look very scary when they're tricked out in all their gear. I'm glad Jessica has found someone that cares for her sincerely, that's what she needs. If Jessica's happy, then I am happy for her. I like his goatee ponytail thing.

DAY 11 - Laziness

I got to my sister's house at 4:00am, she cooked me some breakfast, and then I just slept for most of the day. I got up at 11am, tried to watch some T.V., but the only things on were Seinfeld and the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3", and that sure wasn't lifting my spirits. So, I decided to go back to bed , and slept until 5 or 6pm, something like that.

I had dinner with my sister, then watched "Dan in Real Life". It was a great movie, you should watch it.

(Wow, when I'm not on the road riding my bike, my life is pretty boring isn't it?)

DAY 10 - Travel

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

I caught the bus to Albuquerque, NM in the afternoon, and was on it the entire day until my sister Jessica picked me up at 4:00am the next day. That was about a 13 hour bus ride. Man, I'm getting tired of them.

I met a guy who worked as a border patrol cop while I was on the bus, and I had an interesting conversation with him. I guess a lot more people than I thought die trying to cross the border. Most of them think that it's only a few miles to the nearest town, but they end up dying from the heat, because sometimes the next town is 50 miles away. He also said that the drug cartels are what make things so bad on the border, so many druglords trying to get their shipment into the U.S.

That's pretty much it for that day, nothing exciting.

MORE COMING SOON, PROMISE!!

Hey guys, this is a temporary blog just to let you know that I'm trying to get my other blogs on here, I just don't have a very fast computer at the moment. I am visiting my sistert in Albuquerque, and I've been really busy because I'm actually building this huge enclosed cat cage that's big enough for Godzilla to roam around in. I'm getting paid for it, which will help me to be able to finish my trip...It's costing a litle bit more than I expected (Or I should say I get a little bit more hungry than expected...mmmmm, FOOD!).

More to come soon, don't lose hope!

It's not that interesting, me just hanging out at my sister's anyways. But, tomorrow I start up again! Woo Hoo!


Spiritual Thought: Read your scriptures.

DAY 9 - Temple Day

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Location: Mesa, AZ

Campsite: Nicolette's Apt. Complex

Today, I went to the temple. It was awesome. The Mesa, AZ Temple is much different than the San Diego temple, actually, I think they're polar opposites in every way. San Diego is very organic, very flowing and curvy. Lots of open spaces, and very roomy inside. The Mesa Temple on the other hand, is very boxy, very rigid and very confined on the inside. There are lots of little corridors and passageways that are everywhere, and everything is at a 90 angle, no curves. I actually got lost a few times in there. They don't have as many signs pointing you in the right direction as some temples have.

The thing that was very cool about the Arizona Temple, is that it reminded me a lot of the Salt Lake Temple. They had lots of paintings on the walls, large murals in the hallways and in the endowment rooms, and the actual endowment process takes place in two different rooms, kind-of like how the Salt Lake Temple is, split up into different rooms. The architecture inside of the Celestial Room is also similar. The way the walls and design are make it very similar, just not as extravagent.

The paintings were very interesting, as they were all about the history of the area, like having wall murals of the native indians, and Joseph Smith and other prophets with them. It was very unique, and I'm glad they have those murals up there. The baptistry is different too, there's lots of paintings where the baptismal font is too, which was cool. I liked the temple, very cool.

There's a visitor's center attached to the temple grounds, and it's amazing. Though much smaller than Salt Lake, they have something that SLC doesn't have, and that's the "Reflections on Christ" exhibit. This is a little private room you walk through by yourself as music plays about the Savior, and they have pictures and paintings on the entire life of Jesus Christ. It touched me, it's really cool to see all those pictures, and they are done really well. I liked it a lot. I wish they had something like that in Salt Lake.

They also have a Christus, which was cool to see too. I thought SLC had the only one, but I guess a lot of visitor centers do. Around 5 I think.

The rest of the day, I just hung-out, didn't do much. That night I cooked my famous Thai food dish for my friend Nicolette, which she enjoyed very much. A little spicy for her taste, but I think it can always use a little more. Mmmmm, that tasted so good.

This leg of my trip will not be as exciting for my readers. I'm sorry. I am taking a small pit stop in Albuquerque, NM to visit my sister, and my grandparents. So, my blogs won't be filled with heightened emotions, and crazy experiences probably until Monday or Tuesday of next week, but hang in there, and stay tuned, I will have more crazy experiences when I go through the nothingness of Texas, and run into hillbillys and weird Texans.

Tomorrow, I take a bus from Mesa to Albuquerque. Like I mentioned before in an earlier blog, I will be skipping that stretch for now, with a vow to come back later this year, or the beginning of next year to finish that stretch. I just do not feel very comfortable about taking on some of the biggest hills and mountains on my trip with my current physical condition. I would like to be in better shape, and actually would like to do that with one or two other people, just to be more safe. I know that if I were to do it now, I would find myself not being able to get to most of the towns at night before I ran out of water, and would suffer the risk of dehydrating, and other scary things like mountain lions all by myself. I'm going to be more safe, and brave that stretch with a group.

So, if you think it would be fun to take a week or two this winter and go about 500 miles through this beautiful area of the country with me, post a comment on this day's blog, and I'll be in contact with you.

Spritual Thought of the Day:

From the Pages of the Book of Mormon...

Mosiah 3:19 (Page 153) = " For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

We, all of us here on the earth are called the "natural man". The natural man refers to the natural desires and tendencies that we want in this life, whether it be money, pleasure, or power, etc. It is our responsibility, and our duty (to repay Gos for all that He has done for us...) to do everything we can to resist those desires, which are directly polar opposite from what God wants us to do, and how he wants us to live our lives.

I promise you that God will make you into the type of person that deep, deep down inside of you you really want to become, if you will but only resist the natural man, and embrace God's plan, The way to that lasting peace of mind will be crystal clear in your mind, and you will find yourself looking down, and seeing yourself already on the path to becoming that person you really want to be.

DAY 8 - Elbows, Rest Areas, and Old Friends

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Location: Mesa, AZ

Campsite: Nicolette's Apt. Complex

Miles: 65

Ride Time: 5 Hours 23 Minutes

Weight: ?

Temperature: 111

Odometer: 305

Average Speed: 12 mph

Today was a good day.

A long day, but good. I started out from Hope, and rode about 7 miles to the next town where I stopped for breakfast. You know how I had mentioned the "road from Hell" back on day 4? Well, I found the "Bathroom from Hell" this morning. You probably don't want to know this, but I'm going to tell you anyways. I went into the bathroom at that little diner in Salome, AZ (which was located outside the building), and when I opened the door, and took one whiff I commenced vomiting all over that bathroom. It was the most disgusting smell I have ever encountered in my 24 years of existence! Ahhh! Yughk! I didn't even know something could smell that bad. It was hard to eat my breakfast, but I needed the energy.

I rode down a 30 mile stretch of road to get to the freeway. Nothing exciting, just flat and boring. When I got to the freeway, it was my intention to cross over and keep going, but I soon discovered that the road ahead after the freeway was all gravel. Suck! So after my brother google mapped it from Texas and tried to find another route, I ended up taking the freeway shoulder. I don't think I'm afraid of the shoulder anymore, I was at first, but it's not that bad. Most semi trucks move over an entire lane for you, and give you plenty of room.

I stopped at a rest stop about 10 miles up the road to rest while the day was the hottest. That's what I do now, I ride very early in the morning, get in the shade in the afternoon, and then ride for a couple more hours in the early evening before it gets dark.

When 4:30 ran around, I left again and rode another 20 miles or so to another "Flying J" gas station. I was planning on riding another 30 miles into town the following day and then have my friend pick me up and take me to their house in Mesa, but I was so beat, I had forgotten to put on sunblock that morning, and my skin was fried big time, so I was depleted of all energy. I hitch hiked with a guy named Marty for about 20 miles until I was in the Phoenix city limits, then I called Nicolette, and she came and picked me up later that night and took me back to the Apt. complex where she and her employees live.

Nicolette is a good friend from Houston. She was in my stake, and we became good friends. She just moved to Mesa, AZ to take the branch manager position at Pointe Pest Control here in town. She runs the entire operation down here, and is a very busy person. We ran a lot of errands that night, and I didn't get to rest until about midnight or later. It was okay though. Since I've been on this trip, I don't feel a sense of urgency, I'm totally relaxed and not worried about time very much, which is nice.

It was nice to get a good night's sleep though, I enjoyed it very much.

Spiritual Thought for the Day:

Your body and mind are an amazing creation. They can get used-to any type of input you give it. Sometimes, this works to our disadvantage because we program ourselves to do stupid things, our actions put us in horrible situations, and every part of our being adapts to that undesirable way of living. On the positive side, we can also develop new habits, change the way in which we live and act, and our bodies/minds, believe it or not, will eventually adapt as well, and begin to live happier.

You know how you hear about someone who had a positive lifestyle change, and then looked back on their old way of living and said: "I don't know how I ever could-have survived living like that!" ?... That's because they have adapted to a better way of living, and your body/mind are telling you to NEVER go back there.

You CAN change anything about yourself, you can become ANYTHING you want to become, it just takes the willpower and endurance to get through the first stages of adaptation that your whole being needs, to "switch-over" completely. Keep going, it's worth it.

DAY 7 - Arizona!

Tuesday, April 28th, 2008

Location: Hope, AZ

Campsite: Ramblin' Roads Rv Park

Miles:

Ride Time:

Weight: ?

Temperature:

Odometer:

Average Speed:

(I forgot to record the info before I erased it...)

Again, I didn't wake-up until 10:30am, just enough time to get out before the 11:00am "get out of our Motel!" call from the office.

When I left the motel, I ran into someone I had met the day before who was also doing a tour. On day 6, there's a picture of someone else with a bike, he was going down the same road I was, and also had to hitch hike. I saw him as I was pulling out of the motel, and rode up to him and talked to him for a little bit more about his trip. He was going from California up to the Grand Canyon. We were talking about how we were going to get across this stretch of freeway that we both didn't want to ride down. I almost caught a ride with him on the U-haul truck he was going to rent, but he decided to stay there an extra day and I wanted to move on and keep going. So, I rode another 7 miles to the "Flying J" travel center, and hitch hiked with Danny and Ashley for 20 miles across that stretch of freeway.

Danny and Ashley are 21 and 19, and they met at college a few months ago. They found themselves living out of Danny's car for the last month to save money, etc. When Danny lost his job last week, he decided that there was nothing else tying him down to San Francisco (Redondo Beach area), and they both had nothing to lose, so one day they just decided to get in the car and drive down to Florida to live with Ashley's grandma. They are praying that they will make it on the little money they have.

Hitch Hiking is actually kind-of fun! I like it. I've met some really nice people so far, and met people I never would-have met otherwise. You get to learn about soemone else's life in just a short period. Danny and Ashley were very interesting, I'm glad I met them.

I then biked about another 20 miles or so until I got to Hope, AZ where it was starting to get late, so I decided to crash there for tonight. I stayed at the Ramblin' Roads RV Park. I went to the gas station across the street to get water and some other things, and I was talking to the lady behind the counter who was getting ready to close up and go home for the night. Her husband was there with their baby, and they decided to give me some of the spaghetti they were making, and told me they would drop it by my campsite in 30 minutes. Mmmmm, how delicious that spaghetti tasted! I was going to cook plain rice and eat it, I'm glad they were nice enough to bring me something better.

Spiritual Thought of the Day:

From the pages of the Book of Mormon...

In the first few chapters of the Book of Mormon, Lehi and his family leave Jerusalem and flee into the wilderness. Lehi asks his sons, Nephi, Laman, and Lemuel to go back into the city and get the plates (History of the Jews) from King Laban, who was a wicked man. Nephi believed that the Lord sent them to do this. But, when they went up there, this record wasn't just sitting on a column somewhere waiting for them, they had to work hard to get this record.

To make a long story short, they tried three different times to get the record. They finally got it on the third try. The moral of this story is, just because the Lord commands us to do something, or because we are doing something that we know is right, it doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. The Lord wants you to put forth your best efforts, and not give-up. Keep trying, persevere, and then the Lord will show you the answer to your problem, but not after you have shown him that you're willing to work for it.

DAY 6 - 3 Miles Per Hour

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Location: Blythe, CA
Campsite: Motel
Miles: 24.8
Ride Time: 4 Hours 33 Minutes
Weight: ?
Temperature: 110
Odometer: 209
Average Speed: 4.4 mph


Today sucked.

I left at 5:00am so I could get to my destination before the hot heat came out and roasted me like a rotisserie chicken. I expected to go about 40 miles or so today, but my goals were shattered into a million pieces when the wind started hitting me. At first, it was just moderate winds, then as I turned due north a few miles down the road, the wind hit me at about 30-40 miles per hour.

OK, to paint you a little picture, imagine yourselves driving your car about 40 miles per hour, then knock out your windshield and feel the wind hitting you right in your face. That's how I felt when I was standing still on the side of the road. Then, I try to pedal INTO the wind, and it doesn't let me get very far. I could only go about 3 miles per hour consistently, which is slower than a jogger's pace. Now, imagine not only going that slow, but doing that for 5 hours! That's what I did. I only got 20 miles in 5 hours. I was about to lose it and go mentally insane.

I eventually gave-up and admitted defeat. I was running out of water, and very tired, and had lost all hope that I could make it. So, I pulled out my bright McDonald's-colored "Help" sign, waved down someone to take me past all that into a town where I could rest and rejuvenate myself. I eventually got picked up, right in the middle of my mental breakdown I was having, half because of the wind, and half because I was out of water. An older couple picked me up and took me into the town they lived in and dropped me off at K-Mart.

I went into K-Mart, and went back to their backyard set-up where they had some lawn chairs and gazebos, and I actually fell asleep in one of the gazebo chairs for a couple hours, being woken up once in an while by someone walking by looking at me like I was a crazy homeless person. (You've got to remember, I've got a beard, and longer messed-up hair because of the bike helmet.)

I ended up staying in another hotel room later that day. I was too tired to try to find a place to camp.

Today was a vary hard day. I was getting very discouraged, and was feeling very alone, and helpless at times. My cell phone was getting no reception, so I couldn't call anyone and get some words of encouragement either. I'm not going to lie to you, today was one of those days I had told everyone about where I was questioning why I had decided to do this, and have the desire to quit, to stop and not go any further. Today was one of those days that I came within inches of losing hope in myself. But, later that night, my phone got reception, and I called a friend that was able to help put things into perspective, and gave me a good idea...

One of the things I fear the most, is like the one I experienced today. Being out in the middle of nowhere on a very long stretch of road, and running out of water in the heat of the day with no way of getting to somewhere by the afternoon. So, what we came up with, is something I might do. The hardest stretch will be between the cities of Mesa, AZ and Albuquerque, NM. There are a lot of hills, and long stetched that I am just not confident that I can make because I am not in the best physical condition. So, I'll probably catch a bus from Mesa to Albuquerque, and then keep going. That I think, will save me from a lot of fear, and unnecessary risks. Thanks friend.

This is undoubtedly the hardest and scariest thing I have ever done, but I can feel it changing me, and know that it will make me a better person if I just have faith in myself, and in God.

DAY 5 - Cows, Mexicans, and Sand Rails

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

Location: Glamis, CA
Campsite: Sand Rail Gathering in Desert
Miles: 23.6
Ride Time: 2:10
Weight: ?
Temperature: 105
Odometer: 185 Miles
Average Speed: 10.8


I didn't get out of bed until 10:30am, because I was sleeping so good in that hotel room. I got packed, and spent the next couple of hours in town trying to locate a phone charger so that I could send home my batteries which were too heavy, along witha lot of other gear that I wanted to get rid of to lighten the load. Overall, I ended up sending home about 17 pounds of gear. That's about 26 pounds total since I left on this trip.

I took off in the heat of the day which was a bad idea, and rode about 25 miles. It was so freaking hot, I had to take a break every 30 minutes,a nd hope that I could find shade. There were farms with these aquaducts full of water, and I kept imagining myself jumping in there and swimming around like a wild animal after a long day in the sun. I felt like the sun was sucking the life right out of me!

As I was riding, I saw this huge farms, full of cows. I have neevr seen so many cows in my entire life, there must-have been tens of thousands of cows at my best guess, all eating, preparing to be sucked dry of all their milk. I took some pictures, it was pretty cool to see.

Now for the fun part of my day. Something happened at the end of my ride that day the I am very happy about... I biffed it hard on my bike and fell straight to the hot pavement. I had slipped on some sand, and down I went, hitting my elbow. What happened was, there's this huge group of people with RV's, tents, and all-terrain vehicles, jsut having fun in the desert, there were hundreds of them. I looked over at them, and when I did, I fell over.

Luis, one of the guys there came to my rescue and gave me some water, and asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine, but he was convinces that I was dehydrated, so he offered to have me stay there with them tonite, and they would cook me some carne asada, and give me plenty of water to drink. When I took a glimpse of the sand dunes ahead, and all of their nothingness, I made a wise decision and decided to stay with them tonite, and I'm very glad I did.

All these people had sand rails (which are vehicles you drive up and down on sand dunes with) and ATV's little 4-wheel drive vehicles. They were racing, riding, and just having a good time. I hung out with two different parties that day. The Mexicans, and the old white guys. Theyw ere both a lot of fun. I hung out with the old guys during the sunny times, and then hung out with the Mexicans later that night when they cooked me dinner, and we all had some fun conversations getting to know each other. Before it got dark, one of the guys who had a sand rail offered to take me out for a ride. Holy cow! If you haven't been on one of those sand rails before, make it a goal of yours! If you think that off-road in a jeep is fun, just magnify that by 100 and you get riding dand dunes. You go almost vertical sometimes, and these machines have no problem getting up them. It was a blast. I took some videos, and one time about 50 pounds of sand hit me in the face, and now my camera lense won't shut, but it was all worth it.

Back with the Mexicans, while we were eating our tacos, Luis and his friends were talking about how every time they come out here they run into interesting people, and this time it was me. They said, how if they hadn't have met me, they wouldn't have had half of the experiences they had that night, because I was involved in them. And if I hadn't have fallen I never would-have stopped there. We talked about having purpose in your life, Viktor Frankl, and searching for meaning in one's life. Our life experiences change as new people enter our lives.

Man, this is what this trip is all about! Having experiences like this is why I wanted to go on this trip. I know this is hard, but when you run across people like Luis and his friends, it makes the hard times worth it, and they recharge you for the next days's riding.

What a cool day!


Spiritual Thought of the Day:

DAY 4 - My Butt Hurts

Friday, April 25th, 2008

Location: Brawley, CA
Campsite: Motel
Miles: 70.1
Ride Time: 5Hrs 55 Mins
Weight: ?
Temperature: 92
Odometer: 158
Average Speed: 11.8 mph


My butt hurts a lot. Today was the longest day of riding yet, but it was the most bearable. You know why? NO HILLS! I actually had reached the end of the mountains for a few days, and I had to get on the freeway for about 15 miles, and it was all downhill. I was getting out of the mountains, and so the elevation was dropping almost 4,000 feet. Riding on the freeway wasn't as scary as I thought, even though I still don't want to do it very much. The scary part was that the wind was blowing very strong, and my bike almost fell voer a few times.

Now for the flat part of the day. After I got to the bottom of the hill, there was nothing but flat ground-I had reached the desert. It was hot, and no trees in sight. But you know the worst thing about that stretch of road? They haven't done maintenance on that road for a very long time. There are huge cracks, and holes, bumps, and you name it, it was probably put there to torture cyclists. My butt hurt so bad bumping up and down on that seat, the whole bike was rattling big time. I swear, that when they paved the road to Hell, I think they started in Plaster City, CA.

There were times during that day that I found myself with glazed-over eyes, looking like a zombie, and just pounding out the miles like a robot. Sometimes I felt half-conscious, not because I was dehydrated, but simply because I was doing the same thing forever.

You know what interestingly hurt worse than my butt? My elbows. I am holding myself up all day on the bike, and my hands would go numb - specifically my left hand, and then somehow that pain would travel up to my elbows, and it would feel like someone skewered me in both elbows and said "Ride, danggit!"

After that road from Hell, I reached El Centro, and after taking a break at McDonald's, I searched for a place to sleep that night. I soon discovered that El Centro was too populated of an area for me to just pull over and camp, and since I'm still getting used to this bike/camping thing, I wasn't sure what to do for a while. I almost stayed on some grass behind a funeral home, but was afraid they would get to work before I left, so I decided to ride another 12 miles north to Brawley. It was already dark by then. I couldn't find a safe place to camp, so I decided to suck it up and fork out $55 to stay in a hotel room there in town.

On the positive side though, I got to take a shower, sleep in a comfortable bed, and enjoy air conditioning and a T.V. If I had started this whole trip from the beginning again, I probably would-have done credit-card touring, instead of loaded touring.


Spiritual Thought of the Day:

Find the good in every bad situation, it's the only way to secure consistent and long-lasting happiness.