Day four, Oct 11th

I'm in Blythe CA, almost into AZ and feeling good. Yesterday I biked about 10 miles from to Glamis and stopped. The map said there was 40+ miles of nothing on a narrow winding road. After having so much trouble the day before I made an executive decision and hitched a ride through there. It took time to get a lift but at last a pickup stopped and took me to the Oxbow Campground (BLM, no water again!). Riding in the truck between Glamis and Oxbow I was absolutely certain I had made the right decision. It was treacherous: no services , no water, with no shoulders, and a road full of twists and turns. If your luck failed and a truck came over a hill at exactly the wrong moment they would hit you before either of you realized what happened.   

Today, after sleeping well, I made it to Blythe, about 30 miles of light traffic--and folks who went by were kind and gave me plenty of room: I like those people very much--and the road was pretty flat with a nice shoulder through beautiful country. A perfect day I think. Now I'm at Starbucks getting a good cup of tea and catching up on emails and some online issues. Life is good :~) I'm also looking out the window at a BBQ sign just up the street and thinking that is my next stop. Then I will head out of town to a campsite with a shower! 

I have not been eating much and I realized yesterday it was because I'm living off my bodies stores. Well that and I have dried fruit, nuts, cheese, crackers, and jerky, none of which is appealing after a few days on the road.  

I wanted to say something about the area I have been going through. Much of it is the Imperial Valley in CA and it has to be one of the largest agricultural areas on earth. For the most part --except the area I skipped--it has been agricultural and what ever your politics are about the American Agra business, the scope, scale, and sophistication of it is staggering. Once my camera connection is worked out I will post those photos with some comments. I went by one field that was about a mile long by half-a-mile deep and it was so level that the water they let in one end of each furror ran entirely to the other end and leveled out to 4". It is hard to understand how they can do that. 

Only one picture today because I took it with my phone. This is take from the door of my tent looking at the Colorado River. It is flowing fast and there is a lot of life in it. My camping neighbors caught what they said was a 30" catfish. I stayed at a BLM campsite and it was free because my transportation is not motorized! I liked that. There was no water again though. Fortunately I had enough with me and I bathed in the river and washed my cycling cloths.