Blood, sweat, tears and tension.

Lots of tension. Rode out from Vegas into the blazing heat of the desert. Got to Callville Bay and sought shade. Walked to the docks looked at yachts and house boats. Met the Commodore of the yacht club, got to talking to him had some wine, he got a little too interesting. High tailed it back to the parking lot where Phil met us and Mr Commodore gave us a ride 4 miles to the main road, which was nice despite his uncomfortable questions. He seemed to be upset that Phil hasn't been getting laid, said it was a terrible situation for a young man to deal with. Don't believe it's any of my fault.

We rode to Echo Bay that night. It was a fun ride, road to ourselves pretty much. We could turn our lights out and look at the stars, cruising hills at tremendous speeds. When tragedy struck! I lost the Trondheim Rose necklace that my Father gave me. The leather broke and the silver was lost. I immediately started wailing and crying walking down the road. Phil must have thought the Banshee had been loosed on him. There was nothing to be done so we had to carry on. Phil suggested I go to Norway and get another one. HA! Don't foresee my adventures getting me near that part of the world for awhile.

We stealthily camped at an empty campground. The only other guests were some tremendously loud Donkeys, who brayed at the top of their lungs all night like they were mourning the loss of my necklace for me. Needless to say I slept little.

The 20th was a rough day. We rode from Echo Bay to Mesquite. 74 miles we think. Not bad as far as mileage goes but, the heat killed me. Towing a bunch of water, drinking as much of it as we can, sweating more than that total out. I swear. My Brooks saddle also has a sweet patina of blood all over it because you can't wear a pad and cycle over seventy miles.

We stopped in Overton in the morning to refill water and see the cool Lost City museum. We rode on I-15 which was .... Interesting. Semis blowing past me, road crocodiles everywhere, whole tires and interestingly enough a barbie car wreck. Barbie cars strewn everywhere the victims were not found.
At least 6 spots on the side of the road where cars must have blown up an melted the Tarmac. Haha crazy crazy.
I was relieved to make it to Mesquite whole if not delusional from heat exhaustion.

I rode quickly to Smiths where I used the illegal immigrant way to pick up some money that Scott generously sent me. Western Union is great because you can pick up money without an ID, all you have to do is answer a question. Scott really helped save me, though I am teetering on the edge of being simply abandoned on the road.

We then went to our couchsurfer Giovanni's house. I collapsed on the sidewalk from the tension, till the cool neighbor ladies revived me with cigarettes. Gio was a really cool guy, he turned on comedy central, let us do laundry and I got to sleep in a bed in the first time in forever! Phil started to cook dinner and luckily Gio took over.

In the morning I woke with purpose! I was going to get the laundry out of the drier! Well being a dummy I left it in there! Everything was out of the house and I locked the door turned around and wished I hadn't locked it immediately. That's how things work. You do something so silly and immediately realize how silly it was, there is no lag time there.
Ack! Thanks Gio for letting us stay, sorry we left our clothes.

Anyways. I rode ten miles with Phil to Littlefield where I took some of his gear made him lunch and sent him on his way on 91. I set the intention to hitchhike from there to St George and got a ride in about five minutes while I was sitting in the shade, not trying. Good luck this girl. Tim had a truck and we chucked my gear in. We had a lot in common we talked about Marines we knew, places We'd been, My route, and being LDS. It was a pretty short ride, he dropped me off right in front of my Aunt Christine's sister Barbara's house. Grandma Dee was on it when she texted me in the morning to ask me where I was and where I was going and got me a place to camp out.
Thank you Tim, Grandma Dee and Barbara for working out my pleasant stay in St George.

In the end tension has been relieved a bit through the help of old and new friends. Hopefully the oppressive heat lifts.

Also I think Phil has seen me cry more than anyone other than my mother. That I pretty impressive... I don't cry often but I have gotten very emotional.
So thanks to Phil for continuing to deal.

I have the best luck.
We sat around Tony's pool today and once again went through our bags and I managed to rid myself of a couple things. Had some homemade coffee and then rode down the Vegas strip. I wished I hadn't thrown out my lock chain in June Lake or I would have used it to whip cars. We went through it pretty fast, stopping to gawk at the Venetian. Phil was appalled with what they had done with the precious idea of Venice and assured me the real one is much better.

A guy took our picture for us and asked if we were here for the bike convention. No, but it suddenly all made sense. That was why all these people were carrying their helmets around like totems. We didn't spend a lot of time on the strip because it was a little overwhelming and we had a couchsurfer to catch 12 miles away. So we headed one block off the strip where they were unloading bike gear into the convention center.... Right there some angry motorist honked at me and it was very ironic.

At a stop light we saw two bikers, we chatted till the light turned green, they said, "follow us." Then zoomed off at an incredible speed. We followed them to the parking lot where all the bike industry vehicles were. Brian and Dave(hope I got the names right, I was dazed) had traveled from Wisconsin in their cool Winnebago. They had cool electric bikes that Phil and I both test rode. These bikes had massive shocks and lots of power, they looked like i would have an amazing time off roading on them, currently wishing I had an electric assist. Their company is called USE bikes, I think.

We sat and chatted with them for a good while, Brian gave me a new back tire off the tandem they had hanging off the back of the RV and we put it on. While we were doing that Bryan from xtracycle drove by and asked me where Ross was. I had to explain that I had just happened upon all of this myself. He parked his vehicle and hung out with us for a while too. His bike had the biggest tires I have ever seen, very cool custom bike. All these guys had really great pedals, how I like them, big fatty pedals.

Unfortunately it was getting dark and we had to ride away. We put on the reflective Las Vegas Pavement Corp vests that Tony gave us and cycled away.
The ride through Vegas was pleasant enough, I had deja vu and knew we had gone a bit far on a dead end road. Turned around and carried on. We saw the Las Vegas temple and went up the hill to visit it. Eventually we made it to Rob, Destiny, and Dave's house where we set up camp for the night. They have a great view of Vegas from their roof where I slept.

We watched part of a documentary about happiness, simply called Happy. It was very cool, we spent the evening pleasantly in conversation. In the morning we rode to Lake Mead and made it as far as Callville bay. It is blazing hot and Phil is passed out on a picnic table. The desert is just killing us. I am going to try to see if we can get our bikes on a boat to catch a ride north a little to Echo Bay or Stewarts point.

Vegas! The shortcut.

Sunday we sat around Death Valley. We went for an evening ride to artists palette, the sunset was amazing. Back at camp it was still very hot so we cooked up dinner and slept on top of the two picnic tables. Even at night it was hot enough that Phil was imagining himself as King Arthur on his pyre. And I was counting shooting stars, almost perfect darkness there.

We got up while it was still dark, packed our bikes and rode towards Death Valley junction. Everything was fine till it started to get light. I scared a coyote as he didn't hear me well when I came up on him, we stared each other down for awhile. The coyote was the best part of the ride.
My back tire got low, pumped it a mile later low again. So I pumped it once more so I could make it to shade to change it.
Stopped at the info center and toilets and sat in the shade. A lot of European tourists came by and took pictures of me, and when I was riding. Two gave me cold water, luxuriously cold. So I changed my tire but the pump I have is so cruddy or maybe the tire, heat or exhaustion, couldn't get it up to pressure. Started riding again, all the tourists kept telling me Phil was waiting right ahead. Four or five miles later I stopped yet another time to fill up my water bottle from my supplies and pump the tire. I thought well, Phil is so far ahead, he probably stopped waiting. I saw a red truck round the corner and put my thumb out.

Tony stopped right away, right after I thought about it. We threw my bike in and drove the last 11 miles to Death Valley Junction where the Armagossa Opera house is. Found Phil just arriving and I coerced him in his delusional state that we should catch a ride to Pahrump. Which when he fell asleep during the ride I turned it into a ride to Las Vegas.

Tony is a cool character. He is a head safety honcho for Las Vegas Paving Corp. He took us to his house about a mile from the strip where we camped in his backyard. We swam in the pool and drank some beer while he finished the rest of his errands. Right before he left he filled a cooler for us and said "here is beer, water and love ...you'll make it."

When he came back I got to take a shower and he took us on a tour. We ate at the Pink Taco in the Hard Rock Hotel and then cruised the strip observing. Phil asked, "what's the best thing about Vegas?" Tony replied,"seeing it in your rearview mirror." haha

Definitely not my favorite place, casinos make me slightly uncomfortable, way too expensive for their own good. went back to Tony's and had another drink next to his firepit before sleeping in the grass. Which we didn't realize was full of biting ants, but was a pleasant sleep anyways.
So hitching rides is kind of like cheating but I don't care because it works out so well. Tomorrow we will be riding on the shore of Lake Mead.

Having a Grand Ol Time

We stayed with Jan and Sophie Friday night in Bishop CA. They had a cool house they designed the interior themselves. I was impressed with the shower and tub tile work and just damn excited to get clean. They had a good spread of a garden, I tasted one of the delicious tomatoes. They were a fun couple to talk to. It was good to sleep indoors.

In the morning we had homemade muffins and espresso. Hostesses of the finest caliber, the dog Kate was cool too. We road off while it was still relatively cool on 395 towards Lone Pine. We rode about sixty miles maybe more, lost count. I dawdled because Phil was just flying. He would stop and wait for me a bit let me get ahead then zoom past me boxing the air like Rocky as he rode no handed at dangerous speeds. I figure he was trying to intimidate motorists.

I stopped and climbed on some rocks, read the terribly boring and limited signage about the construction of the highway. No matter how much sunscreen I put on the sun has still baked me to be the color of my leather bota bag.

In Independence around 2pm I fell asleep in the grass of a park despite the yapping tiny dog and upset yelling of some ladies at children. Maybe it was the pleasant stream babbling.
We continued on to Lone Pine and found the shop Elevation that Sophie and Jan recommended to us where Phil got a new sleeping bag.

Promptly afterwards though goats heads ( or in this part of the country bulls heads) popped both of Phil's tires. Terrible luck.
So we limped the bike to the shady side of the street where I went into the nearest bar.

Jake's Saloon was the place I needed to be! I charged my phone washed my face and struck up a conversation with a local named Tom while Phil changed his tires. Tom bought me a couple beers and offered sage advice on our predicament. He started asking about our plans and immediately told me I was insane. He wrangled a ride for us almost magically to the heart of Death Valley. I was once again in my natural habitat, the end of the bar, and quite jolly. When Phil came in Tom said, "I understand you are a madman." Which set the night off to be rather hilarious and joyous. We sat around with locals and passer bys drinking on a nice Saturday night.

Tom showed us a cheap camp ground a couple blocks from the bar. We dropped our gear and hopped in the car with Tom and he drove us up to the Alabama hills, I was very sad it wasn't light enough to take pictures but it was fantastic. We stargazed and talked into the night. Tom had very good life advice, he is very wise. We saw many shooting stars. We went to bed very late drunk and happy during the new moon.

Early in the morning we got up and packed the bikes and met our ride at the local hostel. We strapped our bikes on top of Robert's forerunner. Tammie and Robert whisked us away and it was a very pleasant way to spend 100 miles, saving us two days of excruciating desert riding and heartache. The scenery and conversation were both beautiful.

They dropped us off at Furnace Creek where we sat to eat a bit before exploring.
The desperate and tough looking birds of the Valley attacked my sandwich while I was attempting to eat it. Phil and I had a good laugh about a flock of them plucking my eyes out to get my cooler.

We went to the visitor center where the park ranger told us to hurry to a shady campsite. When we didn't immediately comply and instead sat in the air conditioned theater they sabotaged my bike by knocking it over. Punks. Granted it is a little unstable when loaded with gallons of water on top.

We made our way to the camp spot Texas Springs. Phil set up a very clever sun shade and we laid down to take a nap unsuccessfully. We rode unloaded in the midday heat back to the general store where the porch has misters and I have sat to write this all while trying to stay hydrated. We are waiting for it to cool down enough so we can ride to Bad Water the lowest elevation in the US. Too hot still. We will ride out at 3am to beat the heat on our way to Pahrump NV. So tomorrow if we survive Death valley I will be back in NV.

I still haven't gotten my ID and have had little money. Everything has been going well. Phil told me he suspects that I have conned him and am going to kill him in the desert. Which is completely unfounded, because I adore him and he knows it.
Not only has he been very good to me all the people we have met along the way have been amazing.
I would like to send my Thanks, light and love to everyone who has been so kind to us.
I have been keeping an approximate route map.
http://trackmytour.com/KjD2P

Affirmation

I sold the copper copy of the affirmation I made up to my friend Andy... And he never paid me. Haha. But he really liked it and wanted it. Just thinking of it as the new moon approaches.

I am finishing my own sentence.
I am self determined
and will be rejuvenated.
Grateful for all things.
I lay all my hopes into my dreams.

3 Day Dispatch

Wednessday was a whirlwind. We woke early to catch a bus that turns out doesn't run after labor day to Tuolumne meadows. Instead we had coffee for a bit and sat outside. Mike showed up again and we sat and talked a minute before we rode off.

We went to the Valley exit where I spent the next two hours hitchhiking. I made Phil sit in the shade out of sight because I was sure he was ruining our chances, being dirty and bearded and all. I spent part of the morning plucking my own beard out in the cafe's bathroom so I was just dirty. Lots of people stopped without realizing the amount of gear we had, bikes loaded and all.

Until finally when I was exhausting my patience a rape-esqe white van pulled up. We threw our bikes in with the deal we would go 25 miles for 20 bucks. Well, Greg our lovely ride ran off the road right before we hit road construction so once we stopped for the cue I switched places with him behind the wheel. Perfect place for me to be as many of you know I am a terrible passenger. So I ended up driving the big white van all the way to Tuolumne Meadows. I thank goodness for that because my nerves would have been shot otherwise.

When we got there we got a camp spot together. Greg was an interesting guy, very funny. He was adamant about setting me up with Phil, he started calling himself Cupid and bought a bunch of wine. Really just ended up making me uncomfortable. We cooked, shared dinner and wine. When it got dark we walked into a good clearing and looked at the stars.
Greg left early in the morning to go to the Reno air races and left us with all the leftover wine which I finished off last night.

Yesterday's ride was pretty awesome. We climbed out of the meadow and reached our higher altitude for the tour on Tioga Pass. The long downhill was awesome and terrifying with a very steep drop to the side. When we got to Lee Vining we had lunch at Bodies BBQ which was quite nice.

We then rode to Mono Lake. The tufa formations were very cool, and we both got in the water overcoming our fear of brine shrimp and alkali flies. I was able to float very well, and had it not been kind of cold I would have stayed in longer. Unfortunately the alkali water was kind of nasty, slimy and once dry made me all streaky white feeling like a mummy.

On the ride to the campground after that I spontaneously burst into tears. I hardly ever cry but it over took me. Scared Phil a bit, I jut wanted him to ride on ahead like he usually does but it was hard to hide. I have been very stressed about money, my sister Kate, my ability to keep up, and such worries. It was a good cry but Phil is getting tired of my mood swings. I figure if you ride cross country with someone you will see all of their moods at some point. So I got reprimanded, but I haven't seen him cry or get angry yet.

We started a fire when we got to the June lake camp ground called Oh Ridge. We both got to take a quick shower and then had some smores. Phil lost his sleeping bag somewhere along the way yesterday, and I didn't see it though I was riding behind him most the time. It was a very cold night and he didn't believe me that the Girl Scout solution to this problem is to strip down and get in the same sleeping bag. So instead he put all of his clothes on and suffered sleeping under his tarp. I could have saved him much heartache and chill if he wasn't so terrified of cooties. He thinks he will catch my crazy.

In the morning we packed up camp and Merv one of the hosts came by to talk to us. He brought us coffee and that was awesome, he was a funny guy making fun of Phil. We rode out, on the road I saw a lot of road bikers tearing it up. We did more than 60 miles today, and it was very pleasant. We stopped at Tom's Place to eat and have dr pepper in the middle of the ride.

Half of the miles were on 395, the other half were on rock creek rd. Rock creek was the most scenic and fun. There was one killer hill where I almost got hit by a car, but other than that it was downhill, super fun, very curvy. Now we are in Bishop and I feel as I we have made progress. A little nervous about the night ride through Death Valley but also quite excited.

Endless Climb

Seemingly endless climb
Switch down a gear
maintain the fine balance
Between rolling a straight line
And not concentrating.
Pass the time
With fanciful thoughts
Some breeze some shade
Eventually make it to the top.