Palo Verde - California here we come!

Day 68: Palo Verde, California

Hello from Palo Verde, CALIFORNIA! Today’s ride was hot and humid. We departed Salome, AZ around 6:00 a.m. and arrived in Quartzsite, AZ (about 38 miles) by 8:30 a.m. We had planned to visit a bookstore in Quartzsite that Marcia had recommended however it did not open until 10 a.m. and with it being hot and humid we didn’t want to wait around in the heat. In Ehrenburg, AZ we crossed the Colorado River into California at around mile 60 for the day. We then stopped for lunch at the library in Blythe, CA where we ate, napped and hung out in the library while Jon and Anish went looking for food donations.

After a short nap I went with Alex and Andrew to the eye doctor to try and get Alex a replacement contact lens after she unfortunately lost one of hers in Wickenburg. Because she has a special kind of contact they were unable to replace it however she was able to get her eye doctor to fax a copy of her prescription to the optometrist in Blythe so she could get a regular contact allowing her to see a little better. While we were waiting for the fax to come through we went to the ice cream shop next door and had ice cream! I had a “dirt & worm” freeze which was fresh California night crawlers mixed in dirt and frozen… ok, I’m kidding it was the normal chocolate and vanilla ice cream with gummy worms and crushed Oreo cookies. After we got Alex’s contact we headed back to the church where we found the majority of people had left for Palo Verde. I quickly ran to the gas station down the street to fill my water bottle with ice water and then returned to the Library where I checked my email before heading toward Palo Verde with Alex, Sehee, Andrew, Sean, Drew and Brandt. We met Keith and Dan who were driving the van at a gas station about 10 miles out of Palo Verde where we filled up on water before continuing on to finish the days ride.

When we arrived in Palo Verde we met everyone at the Lagoon Lodge where Alex’s aunt had generously purchased us hotel rooms for the night so we wouldn’t have to camp in the heat. (Thank you!) Alex, Sehee and Brandt made an amazing dinner of sweet & sour chicken and rice along with fruit cocktail for dessert.

After dinner I showered before heading to bed on one of the couches in the suite. It’s amazingly nice to have air conditioning in this weather!