http://project-live.org

We woke up Sunday morning ready to go see that big canyon that everyone always talks about. We wanted to see just what is so grand about it. We picked through our gear to figure out what we could leave and what we could take. We wanted our bikes to be loaded down for the picture but we didn’t really want all of the weight if we didn’t have to take it. So we took all of the heavier things out and put just a few things back in our bags. We left the tent set up where it was and we headed back down the dirt road to 64 where Tusayan was. We went to McDonalds for breakfast. Even that was more expensive than usual. The dollar menu was a lot smaller and the rest of the stuff was jacked up about a dollar. Someone told us that that was the most expensive McDonalds in the country. I believe it. But we ate anyway because of lack of options and then we headed back up the road to the canyon. After leaving Tusayan, the entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park was about 5 miles up the road. About a mile or so before the entrance was the sign. Of course we had to take a picture with the sign. We love sing pictures. So we took about a dozen pictures and the we headed up to the entrance gate. We rode our bikes through one of the car lanes to get our tickets. It was $12 per person to visit but a ticket was good for 7 days. We started riding a little further. It was about 5 more miles to the actual canyon from the park. Give or take a mile or two. We were ready to get there. Then finally we came to a parking lot. We weren’t sure where to go. There were signs but none of them were too clear because there was construction going on. What they were building I have no clue. Another canyon I guess.

Finally we asked someone where to go and they pointed us over to the east down a sidewalk. Still there was more construction. The signs were unclear. So we just pushed our bikes in the direction everyone was going. We didn’t want to ride the bikes around all of those people. That would of just been too complicated. I thought that we would get there and the canyon would be right in front of us. Instead, we had to follow a series of redirected pathways around the construction. I was looking forward to the all of the sudden view of the canyon. That was ruined. As we were walking around the construction we could peak through and catch glimpses of the canyon. We couldn’t see a great view of it but we still got a peak. I wanted to take it all in at once and let it yell at me: “BAM, I’M THE GRAND CANYON.” Instead we got a few whispers first. Finally we rolled our bikes through enough people and around enough barriers to finally reach the good view. We looked forward, then all around. It was huge. It was amazing. It was grand! We rolled our bikes a little closer. We found a spot close to the edge, not too close, to stand with our bikes. There were tons of people there so they wanted the good view too. We asked someone nearby to snap a few pictures of us with our bikes and then we rolled our bikes over to a fence to lock them up. Then it was time to walk around and explore.

The Grand Canyon is one of those “you have to see it for yourself” things. I can’t really describe it well enough for someone to get a good picture of it so I might as well not even try. We walked around the rim for a few hours. We stepped out on ledges to snap a few pictures and we climbed down a few rocks to get different views. We got a little nervous when we got really close to the edge but you can’t resist peaking over to see the bottom. The edge in most areas was rail free, so it would be easy to fall or to push someone off. Kind of scary, but neat. We could of spent all day walking around looking at the vastness of the canyon. Everywhere we went gave us a different view of the canyon. It would allow us to see around a new ledge or down a new cliff and so on. We finally ended up getting too hungry to continue walking. We headed back to the visitor’s center and pulled our snacks out of our bag and gobbled them up.

Then it was time to figure out how to get back down to the city. We really didn’t want to ride down. We hate riding the same route twice. It’s not fun the second time. There were free shuttles that could take us down but we had our bikes and gear to take with us so we didn’t know if we could ride. So what did we do? Simple. We asked someone. The person in the visitor’s center told us that the shuttle busses had bike racks on the front and that we would probably have room to put our gear on the bus. So that’s what we tried. We walked to the loading area and the bus was already waiting for passengers. We took our gear off of our bike, pulled down the bike rack which was located at the front of the bus, loaded our bikes on and then gathered our gear up to put on the bus. Perfect. We were on the bus, with our gear, getting ready to head back down to Tusayan.

At the bottom we got off at the stop right at the pizza hut and lugged our gear and bikes off of the bus. We attached our panniers and gear on our bikes and then headed back into Pizza Hut. This time we didn’t eat. We didn’t want to spend another fortune on food. I hate paying for overpriced stuff, even if I have the money. It just hurts my pride a little bit. I feel like a little piece of me is robbed away from me when I do it.

So we stayed at Pizza Hut for a bit and played on the computer. Just something to do while we killed time. While we were in there the Ashley talked to someone about getting a permit to camp inside of the canyon. They told her that we should go to the Backcountry office as early as we could the next morning. They said that they might have a few available spots.

So we finally left Pizza Hut and headed to McDonalds to grab some food. We ate and then headed back home to our tent. It was another cold ride up to the tent. Again it seemed like it took us forever to get there.

The next day, Monday, we decided to give going up to the Backcountry office a try. This time we left our bikes locked to a tree next to our tent and we just walked down to the city. We got something to eat at the little general store and then we waited on the bus. We took the first bus to the end of it’s route which let us off in the center of the park where all of the other busses picked up at. Then we had to board a second bus to take us to the Backcountry office. I think it was the 5^th or 6^th stop that we had to get off of that bus at. Then we were at the office.

Inside the office was a younger man about 25ish. He was the one we needed to speak to. We told him that we just wanted to go camp for a night or two and asked what we needed to do. He said that he didn’t have any spots available for that day but the next day had several openings. We asked him several questions about how much it would cost, where we could rent gear, how much that would be, blah, blah, blah. Then Ashley and I stepped to the side to make a decision. We didn’t know if we really had time to stay two nights or not since we couldn’t get a spot for that night. While we were discussing the pros and cons of it a woman walked in. She was there to switch her nights. Bingo! There was a spot available for “tonight.” Two nights it was. When will be the next time we’ll be able to hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon? We thought “we might as well do it.” So we gave him $30, $10 for the permit and then $5 per person per night, and he got us fixed up. There are signs all over the place saying that you shouldn’t hike between 10am and 4pm because of the heat. It gets up to 130 degrees at the bottom of the canyon. That’s way too hot to be hiking in. The bottom of the canyon is nothing but rocks and it acts like an oven and keeps the heat in. So our only option was to hike after 4. It was already 12:00. But we had to hurry. We still had to rush to the store to rent our backpack, buy some food for while we were down there, and go back to the tent to pack up. Could we do it? We had to. So we rushed back on the bus and headed to the store. At the store we talked with the guys at the outdoor center and picked out a backpack. We didn’t have the money for 2 so we just got one. Who do you think had to carry it? Then we had to hurry over and get some food. Pasta as usual. We paid for it all at once and then hurried out to wait on the bus. But wait. I was thirsty. So I hurried back over to the store and grabbed two Rockstar energy drinks. The “recovery” lemonade kind. Then I hurried back so I didn’t miss the bus. When I got to the bench where Ashley was waiting she just looked at me. The bus had already come and gone. “We’ll just wait for the next one” we thought. But wait. Now Ashley is thirsty. So she hurried over to get a drink. And yes. You guessed right. We missed another one. While she was gone I watched another bus come and go while I sat there helplessly.

Despite the constant missing of buses we did finally make it on one and made our way, eventually, to our camp site. We picked through our gear to decide what we wanted to take and what we didn’t want to take. Water bottles, check. Sleeping bag, only one, check. Stove, check. We decided not to take the tent because of weight. A few of the people we spoke with about it said that you rally didn’t need a tent because it was so hot at the bottom. So we left the tent there with a lot of our bags and other gear. We left our bikes locked to a tree. The only things that we didn’t leave at the site was what we were taking and my bag of electronics. We hurried and got our things together and then headed back to get on a bus and ride up to the park. Once we got to the park we had to drop my backpack, which had all of the electronics in it at one of the hotels for someone to watch. They were happy to watch it for us and they put a tag on it and stored it away.

Finally we made it to the head of the trail. We were taking the South Kiabab trail to the bottom. We started about 6:45 or 7. “They” say it takes about 4 hours to hike to the bottom. That put us at getting there around 11ish. We used the facilities at the top of the trail and then we started our decent. The trail started off rather easy. It was switch back for quite a ways. The path was an easy hike. It was mostly sand and rock. The only thing I really didn’t like was that they had wooden boards crossing the trail. I think they were the base of steps but the sand had washed away and it was just an obstacle to step over. Not hard, just annoying.

We winded down the trail, stopping for pictures quite often. It was an amazing sight to watch the rim rise farther and farther above our heads as we crept deeper down into The walls and ground were rock but there were still trees and bushes that managed to hold on to the rock with out falling to the bottom or blowing away. At times we would walk out into openings where we could see far down the stretch of the canyon.

About an hour or two after we started our hike down the canyon the sun started to set. We stood on a rock and had an awesome view of it setting behind the rim. It was even more awesome to watch the changing of the light change our view by casting a different light on the canyon. The rock walls and cliffs looked different every second. Finally it was dark. The sun had completely set behind the rim. It was time to take out the flash light for the rest of our hike.

We made the rest of the way down by light. The darkness blinded our view of the canyon on the last half of our hike but we were glad that we waited to hike. It was nice to not have to worry about dieing of heat stroke or anything on the way down. In fact we had 4 water bottles and 2- 2 liter bladders of water. We barely had to drink any of it. We also couldn’t tell how much farther we had to go. As we were walking we could see a few lights down in the distance but we didn’t know if they were people or tents or what. We just kept walking. We were getting tired. My shoulders were killing me from the back pack. I’m sure Ashley’s shoulders were fine. We were both tired though. We just kept walking. Wanting to be at the bottom. We were hungry. I was day dreaming about the pasta we were going to cook at the bottom. I started wondering if we could light a fire at the bottom. I starting hoping they didn’t let you light them because this is the one time we didn’t have any matches to light a fire with. Then it hit me. “How are we going to start the stove for the pasta?” I was devastated. It was my worst nightmare. Ashley assured me that someone at the bottom would have a lighter or a match. But what if everyone was asleep? We would just have to see.

We could hear the sound of the river below us. It would fade in and out as we walked in and out of the rocks. Finally we crawled up to a hole in the wall. It was a little tunnel through the rock. On the other side of the tunnel was a span bridge. The bridge crossed the Colorado river below us. We knew we were close to the campsite. We still couldn’t see it. But we just knew we were close. We walked across the sound of the river. We looked down into the darkness but we could see nothing. Maybe a sparkle of water every once in a while. We crossed the bridge and then hit the other side. We winded around again and followed the path a littler further. We saw a light. It was two workers from the Phantom Ranch the little restaurant at the bottom of the canyon. Ashley of course stopped to talk to them. She probably wouldn’t have if she had a back pack on her back. Yes I’m complaining. I was about to fall over. She talked for what seemed like an hour. It was probably about 10 minutes but it seemed much longer. I was tired and ready to go. She ended her conversation and we took off again. Suddenly I came to another bridge. It was the entrance to Brite Angel campground. I walked across. On the other end was the first campsite we came to. It was on the right. I sat my backpack down on the table and then collapsed on the bench. I was done. I could barely lift my arms. My shoulders have never hurt so bad. I felt like a wimp. Its crazy you can cycle 3000 miles and not get sore and then you can hike 7 miles and want to die. Eventually I struggled my way back up and started digging the cooking supplies out of the backpack. I was ready to eat. We made our way down a little trail that led connected the sites to the bathroom. We took care of business and then headed out. YES!! There was a couple still awake. We asked if they had a lighter we could borrow. They did. We were in business!

We hurried back to our table and started cooking. We boiled the water, put the noodles in, drained them when they were done, mixed the sauce in, Ashley took hers out, I put a few sticks of string cheese in the rest and when it melted I ate out of the pot. It was the best dinner I’d ever had in my entire life. 20 stars. Then we returned the lighter, and set up our bed. Our bed consisted of our sleeping bag spread over the picnic table. Was it comfortable? What do you think? Not at all. But it was a place to sleep, or try to sleep.

Tuesday we woke up. Not refreshed, we just woke up. Turns out a picnic table is in the top 10 of the 100 worst places to sleep. If it’s not first I don’t know what could beat it. But we got up. I actually wasn’t nearly as sore as I thought I would be from the hike before. Our plan for today was to just take it easy until about 5 or 6 and then we would start hiking back up towards the Indian Garden Campground which is halfway up the Brite Angel trail. We rolled off of our table and headed to the bathroom. On the way there we scoped out different sites to move our stuff too. We could finally actually see the campground. There were several small sites. Each had a table, two ammo boxes, and a T pole. The ammo boxes was for food and anything in plastic bags. You could put your stuff in the boxes to keep the wildlife from getting into it. The T pole was to hang backpacks on. We found a site which was located right next to a little creek that ran into the river. When we arrived at the site we started talking to our “neighbors” who were in the site beside of us. I was wanting to cook some oatmeal so I asked them if they had a match or a lighter that I could borrow. They did. They gave us a book of matches that they had extra. We also asked them if they knew if the Phantom Ranch had batteries. They didn’t know but they did give us a couple to “lighten their load.“ We needed some batteries because the batteries that I had just put in the camera started going dead while we were hiking the night before. I was telling the guy about my shoulders killing me the night before. He, being an experienced hiker, explained to me the proper way to strap on a backpack. He said that you didn’t just throw it over your shoulders and go. You have to put your arms through the straps, then bend over with your back parallel to the ground. Then strap the waist strap as tight as you comfortably can. That way, the weight is mostly being held by your hips and not your shoulders. Then he said to pull all of the other straps tight. Who would of known that? The guy at the store didn’t say anything about that. Why not? We set our stuff up and then we headed up to the Phantom Ranch. The Phantom Ranch is a little store/restaurant in the canyon. In fact it is the only one down there. Surprisingly, other than their dinner menu, everything was rather cheap. The dinner was expensive because they had to haul every single item down into the canyon by a team of mules. Then they had to take the trash and anything else out by another train of mules. Since the breakfast was rather cheap we both got a bagel which came with butter and cream cheese and I got a cup of Ice tea. They also had a few postcards which read “Carried up the canyon by Mules” We bought a few of those and then put them in the outgoing mail bag. We sat there and enjoyed the air conditioner for a bit and talked for a while. Then it was time to head back into the heat.

As we got back to the camp we noticed on the thermometer the temperature. 130 degrees. It honestly didn’t feel that hot. I guess because we weren’t out there that long. But then again I had never felt 130 degrees before. So we walk back to the tent to get our swimming suits on. We were headed to the river. We walked back around, back over the second bridge we crossed the night before and down to the river. When we got there, there were several boats on the shore of the river. They were riding down and docked to take a break. We looked around for a minute and then took our shoes off. I was the first to step in. WOW! Stepping in is all I could do even though I planned on a full submerge. It was cold! I stood there for a minute to make Ashley think it was fine but I couldn’t take much. My feet started going numb. Then she stepped in. I heard a little scream and then I laughed a little to myself. She quickly jumped out as well. We wanted to get in so bad because it was so hot. But the water was just too cold. We later found out that it stays about 45 degrees year round. 45 degree water feels even colder when it’s 130 degrees outside. So we just sat there on the sand with our feet in the water for a few minutes. We watched as rafts floated in and rode up on the sand one after another until there were about 5 of them. Ashley and I wanted to do a rafting trip but money didn’t allow it. Oh well.

Finally we came to our senses and walked away from the river with our hair still dry. That wasn’t the plan. We did however still have the stream that ran by our camp site. So, we waked back to the site to do just that. In front of all of the stream front sites there are little pools built up by river rocks. The pools are deep but just enough to sit and relax in. About a foot deep maybe a foot and a half. When we first arrived to our sites there were a couple people in “our” pool. They left soon after our arrival however. So we made our way down the little rock hill and sat down. That’s where we stayed for the rest of the hot part of the day. We just sat there and relaxed. Well I tried to relax. There were little fish, that were about an inch long that kept bothering me. They kept nibbling on some scabs I had on my ankles from my bike pedals. I would chase them away and then they would come back. Stupid fish. It was very relaxing still however.

Around 5 o’clock it was time to start packing up and eat lunch. We had to get ready for our next hike up the Bright Angel trail to the Indian Garden Campground. Earlier in the day, I forgot to mention, we traded in our reservation for the second night camping. We had a spot reserved in the Bright Angel campground. We just traded it for a spot in the Indian Garden Campground. Easily done. Back to the story: So we crawled back up the hill to our table and started packing our things together, leaving out some snacks to nibble on before we left.

Then it was time to begin our hike again. This time I tried the way our “neighbor” from earlier told me to strap on the backpack. Right away I noticed a difference. Then we started on our way. We went down the creek to turn on a little trail that took us up to another bridge which crossed the river a little further down. On the way to that trail we ran into the Ranger that helped us change our camp sites. She was a really friendly woman. We talked about her job and our trek and just went on. It was ok, we weren’t in a hurry at all.

We reached the second bridge and crossed the river. After that we the trail which winded along with the river. We stayed with the river for at least a mile. The ground was mainly soft sand which was annoying because it got stuck in your shoes. We walked and walked and walked. The trail wound around for about 5 miles through canyons, and over hills, and around cliffs. There was even a few times in which we had to step on stones to cross a creek. And of course on the first creek Ashley steped right into the water. But it was ok. She had some spare socks. Then it was starting to get dark again. So again we pulled out the flash lights and kept on walking. It seemed like it took forever to make it the 4 miles up to the Indian Garden. We crossed another creek, walked by waterfalls that we could only hear, dodged frogs as they played in springs of water on the trail, stumbled over those boards that crossed the path, and stepped over rocks all the way. It was fun. Tiring but fun. We love having a challenge. No matter how much we complained while we were doing it we loved it. It’s what we do.

Finally, about 12 o’clock I think we made it to our destination. It always takes longer to hike up than down. I didn’t think it would take that much longer. Oh, and my shoulders didn’t hurt as bad. Just a little bit that time. Both mine and Ashley’s legs hurt however. We weren’t used to that much walking. I felt out of shape! That night went almost exactly like the night before. We cooked some pasta and then went to sleep on the picnic tables.

Today we got up semi early to finish our hike. We headed out about 6ish to finish the last 4 miles out of the canyon. This time we could see all the way out. We could see the cliffs we were beside and the hills we were hiking up. We could see the rim we were headed toward and we could see the bottom getting further away. It was nice being able to see it. The heat wasn’t as nice during the day but we were headed out of the canyon and it was hotter at the bottom than at the top.

There were quite a few more people this time on the trail than last time. A lot of people hike down to the Indian Gardens and then hike back in the same day. Slackers! There were also several pit stops on the way up to the top. That’s where we saw most of the people.

While we were sitting at one of the rest stops snacking we had a little visitor. A little squirrel snuck over to us and asked to share our food with him. Of course, despite the many signs not to feed the wild life, we shared with the little fellow. He seemed nice enough. But one bite wasn’t enough for this guy. And then some of his friends came over. We didn’t have that many nuts. They kept crawling around us, jumping up on us and our bags trying to get our food. It was cute. Well, it was cute before it became annoying. But more cute than annoying. We love animals. We took a few pictures with him and then it was time to say goodbye. We wet our hats and our shirts in the water faucet and then headed up the trail again.

Going up we saw several groups of donkeys taking supplies up from and down to the Ranch at the bottom. They seemed happy to be working. As happy as a donkey and be I guess. Then halfway between the first and second rest stop I noticed something. I was no longer carrying the camera. “Holy poo!” I thought. Do you know what that meant? It meant I left it down with the squirrels at the last stop! There was only one thing to do. I dropped my pack and headed down the trail running recklessly leaving Ashley to watch my pack. I ran from person to person asking if they had seen a camera. No one had. I didn’t know if I had left it on the side of the trail as we waited for donkeys to pass by or if I left it with the squirrels. Finally I asked one couple and they told me that they saw a camera at the rest stop. I was relieved. So I finished my way down there. Once I had the rest stop in sight I looked through the crowd of people and spotted my little camera on a rock right where we were chilling with the squirrels. I grabbed it and then started running back up. Yeah, that didn’t last long. After about 10 steps my lungs and my legs gave out and I had to slow down to a moderate walk. I finally made it back up to my little Ashley and sat down to rest for a few.

We made our way up the canyon again. Slowly but surly. As the rim grew closer and we grew even more tired our spirits grew stronger because we knew we were almost out. As we passed other hikers we asked them how far to the top and they asked us how far to the bottom. Then we saw it. The building at the head of the trail. It was like a light shined down on it from heaven illuminating it’s greatness. We had made it. But we weren’t done walking. We still had to find a bus and take it to the store to return our gear and get my bag from the hotel that had it. I had promised Ashley some Pizza Hut when we got down so we had that to look forward to.

We found a bus, got my bag from the hotel, and returned our backpack and Ashley’s walking pole (by the way Ashley rented a walking stick when I rented the backpack). We put all of our stuff in a shopping bag and then headed out. But wait. There was a deli with pizza inside the store. That was right there and Pizza Hut was all the way down the road. So we ate. Fries and pizza. Those of you who are familiar with Ashley’s and my eating habits know we were in heaven.

Then we caught a bus and headed on our way back down to the city to our tent. We were concerned about our bikes and our tent that we had left at our camp site. Did anyone mess with them? We were eager to get back to check on them. When we got there everything was gone. We didn’t know what to do!!! No. I’m kidding. To our relief it was all there. So we put all of our camping gear in our tent and rode our bikes back down to the city. Our first stop was a little campground which was located behind all of the little stores. We needed a shower. The only problem was that those showers were coin operated. Everything in that town cost. The shower was $1.25 for 6 minutes. So we got change at the General Store and took us a shower. Our next stop was the Pizza Hut to spend the rest of the day on the computer. While I was on the computer Ashley headed for some ice cream. There was a little spot across the street that sold it so she went to get some. As I was sitting there I notice some people out on the patio clapping. Then I look over. It’s Ashley they are clapping at. She somehow managed to push her bicycle across the road with a ice cream cone in each hand. I laughed at her for a moment as I watched her struggle to get her bike up to the Pizza Hut and then I went out to give her a hand. The ice was melted all down her hands and arms. I took one from her and grabbed the bike lifting it over the chain gate and put it next to mine. Then I gobbled up my cone in seconds. She knows I love some soft serve! Then we headed back in until they were about to close. After that we headed to the McDonalds again to eat again. Then back up to the tent. Now we’re in our tent curled up on our sleeping bags about to go to sleep. It’s so nice to be back home. It’s funny. We actually got homesick for our tent while we were in the canyon on the picnic tables. We’re at home now! We will head back down 64 towards Williams tomorrow.

http://project-live.org

After Ashley’s Parents and Jonah left it was time for us to figure out what exactly we were going to do from there. It was already too late to ride any distance. So we just figured we would find somewhere in Flagstaff. There was a Barnes and Nobles right up the road, so that’s where we headed. We had to get online to check out the area on Google to see what was around us and where we could camp. So we got there and I checked out the area. While I was doing that, I also had to do my routine Facebook check to see if anyone had messaged us. What I found was a message from my uncle Paul from back home. He said that his brother Steve had a house there in Flagstaff. So I messaged him back to get more info. It was already too late to call because we were 3 hours behind our family back home. So I didn’t want to wake them. But we sat there plying around on the computer for a bit more before we headed out.

We didn’t get in touch with Steve so the only other place we could find to try to sleep was a park over on the west side of town. It appeared to be right on the edge with trees on one side where we could pitch a tent. So we worked our way there after asking a few people where to go. As we approach the park the first thing we noticed was a tennis court. A guy we crossed paths with earlier on the trip had told us that he sometimes slept in tennis courts. It sounded like a decent idea to us. Tennis courts have a fence all the way around them and this one had one between each court. The fence had a sun screen on it which made it harder to see in. So it looked perfect. We rolled our bikes into the court and over to the far back corner. It had trees on the opposite side of the fence there so there shouldn’t be anyone over there to notice us. We leaned our bikes against the fence and started getting ready. We did the same thing that we did back in Florida when we slept on the beach. We put our tarp down and then put our sleeping bags on top of that and zipped them together. Then we went to sleep.

The night was cold. Its weird being in Arizona and getting cold. All of our lives we’ve been lead to believe that Arizona is nothing but hot desert. There we were in the mountains, near trees, and we about froze at night. But despite the coldness we slept pretty well on the courts. Our sleeping bags do their jobs and keep us pretty warm.

The next morning it got hot quick. We got up at 7 when we noticed a guy coming in to one of the courts to play. We packed up our gear and then rolled out to get some things ready. There was a recreation building across the parking lot from the courts so we took turns going over there.

Up until that day I had been worried about money on the trip. I had thought that my funds had run out. So I finally spent a little time today trying to figure everything out. I made a few phone calls while Ashley was getting ready and figured everything out. I was good. We had money. That made us feel much better. It was a huge relief to know we could eat for the rest of the trip.

Once we got packed up we headed down to a local McDonalds for breakfast. While we were eating I made one of the biggest mistakes I could ever made on the trip. I told Ashley that we could go see a movie that had just been released at the local theaters. I didn’t want to see it. In fact I was completely against it. I couldn’t believe that I actually gave into her constant begging to go see it. So after we ate we rode up to the Theater. I was hoping the movie was sold out. But it wasn’t. There were people everywhere to see this tragedy of a movie. They were mainly other couples. Obviously the girls had nagged the guys and they gave in like I did. There were also a few groups of just girls. What was the movie? I’m ashamed to admit. It was Eclipse. The 3^rd movie of the Twilight series. I was about to watch it. Forgive me.

After what seemed like 3 days of torture the movie was finally over. Ok I will admit. This one was a little bit better than the first two, not that I’ve watched the first two but I’ve heard rumors and stories. But it wasn’t as bad as I had feared, it was still bad, just not “as bad.” It made Ashley happy though and that’s what counted. Then it was time to head back down to Barnes and Nobles to play on the computer. We had decided to stay another night in Flagstaff.

Once we got to Barnes and Nobles I checked my Facebook again. Steve had sent me a message. So I sent him one back and sent our number in it. I never heard the phone ring but I checked it a few hours after I sent Steve a message and he had called. So I called back. He told us that he had a house in Flagstaff just about 10 miles from the Barnes and Nobles. He said that he wouldn’t be there until the next day, Thursday, but that we could go and stay the night. It sounded like a great idea. The only problem was that the only way to get there was to ride down the interstate. We do everything we can not to ride on the interstate but it appeared that we didn’t have a choice. While I was on the phone with Steve 2 Native American brothers over heard our conversation. They offered us a ride in the back of their truck. Why not? So we loaded our bikes in their truck and we jumped in. We rode in the bed because there wasn’t enough room in the front. We gave them the directions and then we headed to Steve’s house.

When we arrived we jumped out of the back and took all of our gear out of the truck. The two brothers, I wish I could remember their names, helped us get it all together. We stayed and talked a little bit and then they took off. I called Steve back to get the code to the garage and we headed in to the beautiful house. We walked in and up the stairs to the main floor. Our room was right in front of the stairs so we put our things inside and then we relaxed a little bit more. At first we were just going to stay for one night and then head up to the Grand Canyon but when I was talking with Steve he said he and Pricilla, his girlfriend, were headed to the house the next night so we decided to stay the next night as well.

You probably won’t believe me but, that night Ashley and I slept 100 times better than Tuesday night when we slept on the tennis court. I mean the tennis court was good and all but there was just something refreshing about a bed. In fact I think we slept about all morning just so that we could stay in the bed. When we eventually did get up we rode our bikes down to the closest convenience store to get some breakfast food. One thing that we have learned about buying things at convenience stores is that it isn’t cheap. $4 for a loaf of bread, $3 for a dozen eggs, $6 for a block of cheddar cheese and so on. If it’s the only store around then they can charge whatever they want because it’s “convenient.” But we had no other choice so we bought some things to make some French toast and eggs and then we headed back up to the house and made breakfast.

Most of the rest of the day we just hung out and watched TV and played on the computer up until Steve and Pricilla showed up to the “Dog House” That’s the name they gave the house because from the front of it, it looked like, you guessed it, a dog house. Pricilla and Steve, AKA Big Dog, were a really fun couple. When they arrived we immediately started great conversations and Steve made me his favorite drink Crown and Coke. Then we all got ready and headed out to their favorite little bar right there in town. It was called Jackson’s Grill. It was a cute little bar/restaurant. We took a seat at the bar and we all ordered drinks and dinner.

After dinner we headed back to the Dog House. We sat around a talked for a bit and then we headed out on the back porch to get a view of the stars. It was cold again but the view was beautiful. Ashley and I laid back on the table and stared up at the night sky.

The next morning, Friday, we didn’t leave either. Their friends, Patty and Keith, were coming up that night so Steve talked us into staying another night. We all got up and ate some breakfast and then we headed out to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Then back to the house. A little bit after we got back to the house Patty and Keith show up. We all sat there, talked and got to know each other a bit and then we headed back to Jackson’s Grill for dinner and drinks again. It was fun being there with everyone and getting to know them all. And after dinner we headed back to the house and all sat down to watch the Hangover. Then Bed time again.

Today Steve, Pricilla, Keith, and Patty all planed on going to play a little golf in Williams which is about 50 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Guess what. They offered us a ride. Did we take it? You’re darn right we did. I’m not sure how far it is from Flagstaff to Williams but we rode it in a car. This cheating thing is getting easier and easier. But then again this trip is more about having fun and enjoying the country than about cycling across it. Cycling is just a way of doing it. So we piled all of our gear up in the Big Dog’s truck and then Ashley and I jumped in Keith’s SUV and we headed towards Williams.

Williams is just about 50 miles south of the Grand Canyon State Park. That was our next ride. The one thing about it is that we will have to ride the 50 miles back down to Williams when we leave. But oh well, it’s worth it. So they dropped us off right off of the interstate where it crossed 64 (?), the road that leads up to the Grand Canyon. We piled all of our gear up on the side of the road and then said our goodbyes to the Big Dog, Pricilla, Keith and Patty. We were so glad we got to meet them all. They are such wonderful people and they all added so much joy to our trip. Plus we got a free stay in Flagstaff and a few free meals out of it. Not to mention a few Crown and Cokes. But we definitely hope we get to see all of them again soon. Stay in touch guys!

When they left to go play some golf we started setting our bikes up. Then we were ready to ride again. I can’t remember the last time we actually rode any distance. It had been at least a week it seems. Since before Ashley’s parents met us out. We were refreshed and ready to go. So we started off. There was a good shoulder for riding. That’s always a good thing.

Our first stop was stop was in a little town called Valle. It was located about halfway between Williams and the Grand Canyon. We pulled off to a little gas station and grabbed us something to drink and filled up our water bottles. I noticed something neat across the street. There was a little business across the street called something Bedrock. It was themed after the cartoon The Flintstones. They had a little park behind it. I’m not quite sure what’s back there but I wanted to go see it. So after the gas station I rode over to check it out. I just kind of glanced in. It was $5 a person for admission to the park. I wanted to go but we really didn’t have time today. We decided to hit it up on the way back through. So we started riding again.

We had about 25 miles to reach Tusyan which was the town right before the canyon. The ride there was a decent ride. Not too hard not too easy. I was expecting up hill all the way. I’ve heard that there was a 30 mile incline to get to the Grand Canyon but as I’ve learned on this trip you have to figure it out for your self. Every one has an opinion about how easy or something might be, or how hilly or flat a road is, or how long it will take to get somewhere, or blah blah blah. We’ve learned to ask, but not to take people’s words on things. Everything is different on a bike that is loaded down with 30 to 60 lbs.

Once we reached Tusyan we decided that we wouldn’t have time to ride all the way up to the Canyon and back down before dark. The actual canyon was still about 7 miles away from the city. We figured we could wait another day and spend all day tomorrow at it. So we had to find a place to camp. All during our ride up here we noticed little forest roads off of the main road. I wasn’t sure what they were but when we asked someone where to camp I found out. It turns out that anyone can camp for free if they ride ¼ a mile down any of the forest roads. So that’s what we did. We rode our bikes down to the road that was at the beginning of the city and then pushed our bikes up the dirt forest road. It seemed like a mile or two when pushing our bikes but we finally reached the ¼ mile sign. It said “Camping permitted beyond this point.” After the sign there were a few little dirt trails that led off of the main dirt road. We took the second one on the right. We pushed our bikes down the trail and found a little clearing for our tent. There wasn’t much back there. Just dirt rocks and trees. There were a few fire pits people had made before even though there were signs everywhere saying “no camp fires.” Maybe those people weren’t camping, therefore they weren’t campfires they were just regular fires. That had to be the case because who would go against what the sign said?

So we set our tent up, unloaded our gear off of our bikes and then it was time to find some food. So we took our bikes back down to the city. It was a much easier ride this time since our gear was off. I still try to take all of the electronics and such when I leave everything else. Someone can still the tent, but don’t still my cameras or my computer. When we got to the little city we first went to a little Mexican restaurant. We parked our bikes and walked in. We sat down and looked at the menu. Wow. $10 for one quesadilla, and that’s just for a cheese one. We’re not paying that! So we left and went to a pizza restaurant right down the street. It too was over priced. Then we walked a little further to another pizza place. There the pizza wasn’t too expensive, but it just didn’t look that great.

One more try. We went across the street to where a Pizza Hut Express was. It’s basically a Pizza Hut with less options and no specials. Guess what. It was overpriced as well. A bottle of water, a small bottle, was $3.16. For water? Nope. I’m not paying that. The pizza was $18. We were hungry enough to eat one pizza each but we will settle for sharing. We paid for the pizza and then went outside to get our water bottles. We filled our bottles up with free water and ice and then sat down to eat. MMMMM! It was good. Hit the spot. We ate it all in what seemed to be a matter of seconds. I think Ashley ate most of it because I don’t remember eating it all. I must of blacked out and went on auto pilot. It wasn’t enough. We sat there wanting more. I was playing on my computer and then I saw it. More pizza. It could be free pizza. It was sitting on a table where a family was once sitting. But the family had left. Why would they leave half a pizza? Especially half of an $18 pizza? What do I do? It was good pizza, there was nothing wrong with it. But there were people around. What would you do? I wanted it. Ashley did too. Then a girl comes over to clean up the tables. It was “ Now or never.” I made the move. “Here, I’ll get that,” I said just before she picked up the pizza. Whew. Just in the nick of time. It was mine. Like that. Free pizza. So we ate up the pizza and we enjoyed every bite of it. Things are always better when they are free for some reason. Then we played on the computer and Ashley read until the place closed at 10.

Then we headed to McDonalds for a few minutes so we could play a little more. They closed at 11. Then it was time to leave and head back up to the tent. It was a cold ride. I wished I hadn’t shipped my hoodie back home. I was about to freeze. Who would of thought it was that cold near the Grand Canyon?

We made it up here to our tent and now were resting. We can’t wait to go up to the Canyon tomorrow. Ashley is especially excited. The Grand Canyon is the thing she wanted to see the most on this trip. It’s going to be amazing!

http://project-live.org

We woke up this morning around 8 o’clock. We crawled out of our tent and started getting things ready. Then a guy, I think he was the maintenance guy, pulled up in a truck. He told us to head down to the kitchen and see if Bill would give us some breakfast. He said it would be cheap if it wasn’t free. So we put on our shoes and headed down to the kitchen. When we got there we went in the front door. Inside was a big room with tables and chairs. There was some kind of church group in the center of the room doing a silly little song and dance. It reminded me of a cornier version of the chicken dance if you can imagine that. So we walked on in and looked for Bill. It didn’t take long to find him. He was at the little spot where everyone turned in their trays. We asked if we could buy some breakfast. He said to come on back around. So we turned around, walked down the hall and through the kitchen doors. This was the same place he brought us last night to get some water so we knew our way around. When we got into the kitchen he showed us the food. He handed us 3 pancakes each and he handed me some sausage. Then he took us back into the room we came into to get some cereal. I got some oatmeal and Ashley got some Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Then we headed back into the kitchen and ate up. We asked Bill before we left if we owed him anything for the food, he just shook his head and said no. Another kind heart to add to the list. So we left and headed up to the tent to pack up.

We only had about 9 miles to ride today to reach White City. It was an easy ride. White City is a small little town at the base of Carlsbad Caverns. There was almost nothing there. There was a hotel, a campground/RV park, a gift shop, and a general store. That’s about it. So we went into the gift shop. We walked in and started talking to the guy who worked there. We asked him about the caverns and then about the campground. He said the campground was about $20. That’s way more than we’re going to pay to camp. We’ve been camping for free for almost three months now. Why should this be any different? So we talked a little bit more and looked around a bit. Ashley and I make it a point to buy a shot glass and a post card from the bigger places that we visit. We usually ship them back home when they start building up. We don’t need the weight. We’ve already mailed 3 or 4 packages home, sent some stuff home with Ashley’s mom, and left some in Austin with Kristen. It’s been more than just shot glasses. When we realize we brought something that we aren’t using we send it back to save room and weight. We’ve sent back a lot of clothes, our Ipods, and several other things to lighten our load. This time though, I leave the store before I ever buy anything. I figured I’d do it on the way out tomorrow and try to figure out what to do about camping now.

Once out side, Ashley and I started discussing what to do about sleeping arrangements. I see the maintenance man. I ask him if he knows how much the campground was. He said “$20.” So I then ask him if there is anywhere to just put up a tent. I tell him we are on a tight budget and we can’t afford $20. Then we start talking about what all we’re doing. He finally tells us to just go put our tent up down at the campground that no body would notice. “If anyone says anything just tell them you talked to Ed.”

So we head down to the campground, which was just right behind the stores and set up our tent. We put it up under the little shelter there where one of the picnic tables was. Then we set up our tent and went to take a shower and get ready to go to the caverns.

Finally we’re ready to head up to the caverns. But it’s a 7 to 8 mile ride up to the top of the mountain to get to the Entrance to the caverns. The guy in the gift shop had told us that there was construction on the road as well so it would be hard to ride up there. So what do we do? We locked our bikes up next to our tent and started walking. We were going to hitch a ride. And that’s what we did. We started up the hill. Right away we see a little SUV coming our way. Ashley starts waving her arms. At first I think they were going to just ride on by, but then they came to a stop. The girl on the passenger side rolled down her window. We told them our situation and asked if we could bum a ride. “You’re not going to rob us are you?” the girl in the passenger seat asked. “You’re not going to rob us are you?” I replied. Then they said “Jump on in,” and we did.

For the life of me I can’t remember the names of the Guy driving or the girl in the front passenger seat. If you’re out there remind me! I do remember their son’s name however. He was Nicholas. He sat in the back with Ashley and I but he didn’t say anything the entire ride up the mountain. We talked to the parents the entire way up the mountain. The girl actually said she was yelling at her husband, the driver, not to stop when they saw us waving. But he said we looked innocent enough. I guess I need to work on my “Bad Boy” look.

Then finally we reach the top of the mountain where the entrance to the Cavern was and where the Visitor’s Center was located. We took a few pictures with the family. And then we went our separate ways. Ashley and I headed off into the visitor’s center to check on the prices. We walked up to the desk and asked how much the tickets were. We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to take a tour because when we called a few days ago the lady told us that you had to have reservations and that everything was booked up. But they had some spots available for the King’s Palace tour. The one I really wanted to do was the Spider something tour. On it you have to crawl through a lot of tight spaces. But it was all booked up. It also cost more than we could pay. It was $20 and the King’s Palace was only $8 per person. Then on top of that we had to pay $6 per person for an entrance fee. So we took the King’s Palace tour and handed her our money. It was $28 all together. We paid our money and the lady handed us our tickets. She then directed us around the corner to the Elevators. The guy at the Elevators checked our tickets and led us onto the elevator.

On the elevator the attendant gave us his speech about “no drinks or food in the cavern” and “don’t touch the rocks” and all the rules of the cave. Then he hit the button and the elevator shot us down 754 feet in 57 seconds. It was an easy quick ride. Then the doors on the opposite side of the elevators opened. We walked out into the cave. To the left was a set of revolving doors. We followed everyone through the doors. On the other side of the doors was the cave. Or at least the commercialized part of it. There were little booths set up and a concession stand. In the back they had a set of restrooms which looked like any other restrooms in a mall or something. I thought it was funny that they made such a big deal about keeping the cave clean and natural and then they build things all inside of it. They tell people not to touch the rocks because it will kill the formations but they have to assume that people will touch the rocks. It’s just human nature. So I assume that they keep all of the good parts away from the public to preserve it and what we get to see is just the tip top, or just enough to satisfy the public.

So we walk around and look for the area where we need to wait on the tour. We find the sign and then sit down to eat a pack of honey roasted nuts before we get started. When we see that the Ranger guide for our tour was start getting people together we walk over and join the group. We show the Ranger our tickets and walk past him to sit down on a little stage to wait for his introduction. Then, while he was in between letting other visitors in, the Ranger turns to us and ask if we cycled in. He noticed our shoes and since he was a cyclist himself he knew we rode. So we told him our story while we waited to get started.

Finally the Ranger guide was ready to start his introduction. He explains the rules and tells us a little bit about our tour. Then we head deeper into the cave. As we walk back I notice chill bumps start to pop up on my arms. It was cold in there. They said it stays about 57 degrees year round. So we walk back and follow a pathway into the cave. It was already amazing to see the wonders of the Earth. I think it’s so neat that something that big and beautiful can be under a mountain. We walked all along the pathway as the guide led us to one place after another. He would stop at certain spots and tell a story or tell how something was formed. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the cave. It was incredible. There were so many different kinds of formations. There were stalactites, stalagmites, popcorn looking things, all kinds or huge rocks, and all kinds of other weird formations. It was truly breath taking. What really amazed me is when they told me that there was more than 30 miles of cave. We only had the chance to explore 2 or 3 miles of it. The rest of it is off limits to the public. That’s probably the good stuff. But to imaging finding those caverns for the very first time. That would be an experience.

After a while of walking and talking we reach a room in the cave called The Queen’s Chamber. The guide asked everyone to take a seat. So we all sat down on the little rock benches along the path. The he tells us all to turn off our cell phones or any thing we had on us that produced light. The he proceeded with a story of two men who were lost in the cave. They had nothing but a box of matches to see. Then he turned the lights off. It was complete darkness. Not the kind of darkness you have in your bedroom or basement or anything like that. There was no light of any kind. Usually when it’s dark your eyes will adjust and you can see something, at least a shadow. But we couldn’t see our hand in front of our face, literally. There are only 3 places that you can experience that kind of darkness which are: the bottom of an ocean, deep inside a mine, and in a cave. He continued with his story telling of how the two men got out of the cave. He said one would strike a match and then the other would run as far as they could. They kept doing that until they ran out of matches. It’s hard to believe a single match could produce enough light. Then the guide lit a lighter to show how much light they had. Just by the fire on the lighter we could see almost the entire room we were in. When your eyes are used to complete darkness then it doesn’t take much light for you to see. He said the two men finally made it to the end of the cave and found light on their last match. Then we got up and we finished the tour.

When we finally reached the elevator it was lunch time. Ashley and I rode the elevator up to the entrance where the gift shop/restaurant was and pulled out our lunch: protein bars, cookies, and peanut butter tortillas. We ate up and then started off toward the cave again. On our way, we were invited by another ranger to go up on the top of the building and look at the view. So we followed and walked up the stairs to the top with them. The sight was amazing. We could see everything for miles. It felt like we were on top of the world. We snapped a few pictures and then we were done. So we headed back down to the cave.

On the roof the ranger informed us that the main entrance of the cave was closed because they had to clear it out for the bat flight. We could however, still go into the cave, we just had to take the elevator down again. So we did. Then we took our own little tour through a different part of the cave. On our personal tour we saw much of the same things we saw on the Ranger led tour. We just got to walk at our own pace. This time however we had a mission. We wanted a stalactite. So I pulled my flashlight out of my backpack and shined it down in every hole we saw. I didn’t want to try to break one off, that was “against the rules,” but I would take one if I found it on the ground. So we looked and looked. We found a few little broken off formations called “popcorns,” but we never found a stalactite. Eventually one of the Rangers caught up to us and told us the cave was closing. They started turning the lights off behind us so we hurried on our way.

Our plans were to stay and watch the bat flight. At dusk there are several thousand bats that fly out of the main entrance. They have a little area where everyone can sit and watch the bats fly out. When we got out of the cave however, we noticed that it was raining. They usually cancel the viewing of the bat flight when it’s raining. We were sad. That was probably the only time we’d ever get to see it. We couldn’t stay another night. So we waited, patiently, to see.

Finally, it stopped raining. The bat viewing was still on. So we walked down to the main entrance, found a seat and waited. While we waited the ranger in charge of the viewing started talking on the microphone. She told us that no cameras or video cameras were allowed. She said it “messed with the bat’s sonar.” So we didn’t get any pictures. As we waited the ranger answered a lot of questions from the audience, and then they heard the sensor pick up the flight of the bats. So we waited. Then finally all of the bats started swirling out of the cave entrance. Most of them flew out over the hill. Some of them flew out over our heads. It was awesome. It wasn’t quite what I expected. I was expecting a more dense cloud of bats because of the way they described it. But it was still awesome.

Then it was time to leave. This is the tricky part. We had to get a ride down. It didn’t seem as easy as getting a ride up. We headed out to the parking lot and started looking at the families leaving. We didn’t want to ask a family with children. For some reason we felt that would make the parents feel weird. We watched and waited. We felt so weird bumming a ride. Finally we saw a couple walking out. Ashley got their attention and we asked them for a ride. At first they were hesitant. Then they said “OK.” So we followed them to their car. They were Leon and Yoki (?). Leon asked me to sit in the front, I guess he was nervous about giving some strange couple a ride, I would have been too. They were just up for the weekend checking out the bat flight. Tomorrow they will be headed to take a tour. So they took us down the mountain and dropped us off at our campground. We love it when people are nice enough to strangers to give them, us, a ride.

Now we’re just lying here in our tent thinking about our ride tomorrow. We will be headed toward Roswell.

http://project-live.org

Sunday, we woke up in our tent in the middle of the little grassy spot between Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart. We crawled out of our tent and then started walking towards the Wal-Mart doors. Then we had to turn around. I had forgotten my oatmeal and we were going to Wal-Mart to eat our breakfast. So we turned around and went back to the tent. As I was zipping the front door/flap of the tent back up I noticed a truck pulling around. It was a man named Alvin. He had noticed our tent and was curious about what we were doing camping in a parking lot. So we told him. Then right before he left he put his hand out and handed us a twenty. “Go get some breakfast,” he said. We smiled and told him thank you. We never feel like we thank someone enough when they show an act of kindness to us. But we try. Just the night before I got a scare about our “funds” being cut off. Alvin’s action felt like a sign from God saying “Go on, don’t worry.” Whether it was or not, that is debatable. I don’t see any reason for God to care if we finish this trip, but I still like to think that he gives us a hand now and then. So then we headed into Wal-Mart to eat our breakfast.

We got our usual: oatmeal, turkey, and yogurt for me and cereal, yogurt, oj and a banana for Ashley. Then we headed to the MD (that’s McDonalds for now on because I’m sick of typing it out) in the back of the store, sat down at a booth and ate. After we ate we headed back to the MD that was just around the corner from WM (that is now Wal-Mart) to get on the Wifi. I checked my account. It was still dead. I got a little worried again but it was Sunday so maybe it will be back up during the week. We’ll just have to see. So we checked our Facebook and our E-mail and then headed back to the tent.

I don ‘t remember too much of the ride that day. I do know that we rode 52 miles into a town called Kermit. Halfway through our ride we hit a small town called Notrees, or what used to be a small town. We had planned on stopping and getting water there. We looked it up on Google Maps and it seemed to be something there. The town was like a ghost town. The fire station was all locked up and through the office window we could see trash everywhere and just a big mess. In the front, right beside the window was a box. On top of the box was a bird, just lying there dead. To the left of the station was an old fire truck sitting, all beat up in the grass. We stopped there and ate a little snack and drank the rest of our water. Then we had to find some more water. So we knocked on doors until we found someone home. We found a nice little family. I didn’t get their names but they were happy to help us out. They filled our bottles with ice and water and gave us a few extra bottles of water. Then they took us out back to show us their pets. They had a big beautiful dog. It was half Siberian husky and half wolf. They also had a Bob Cat.

Once we reached Kermit we had to decide whether to keep riding or stop there for the night. But first Ashley had to use the potty. So we went into a Huddle House for that. Before we left, Ashley wanted to ask someone what was in the next little town. She started a conversation with a couple, Joey and Pam. We talked to them for a few minutes and then we went out to get a card for them. Ashley went back in to take them the card. When she came out she had $50 in her hand which they had given her. See, somebody wants us to finish this trip. Thanks guys! Then we headed off.

Our next stop was a little convenient store to eat and fill up our bottles. On the way in a man, hippy-ish in nature stopped to talk to us. His name was Dan. He’s used to riding his motorcycle all over the country so he knew his way around. He Showed us some things on the map. Then, he and his wife Chris invited us to stay with them at their home. Which we did. They lived in Wink which is only about 7 miles from Kermit. So we put our gear in their truck, jumped in and headed to their house.

At their home we were able to shower, they fed us a steak dinner, and we had some good conversations. Both Dan and Chris are school teachers. Dan teaches Literature while Chris teaches Science. Dan also travels to Midland, TX to play guitar on a regular basis. That’s something he loves to do. Dan said everyone calls him the Hippy teacher. I can see that.

Dan had offered to give us a ride this morning. I hate taking rides. It makes me feel like I cheated. I guess you can’t really cheat if there are no rules. I mean we’ve already ridden farther on a bicycle than 99.9% of the world. But I guess it’s a pride thing. So I didn’t want to take it. However, we woke up this morning at 10:30. We had about 90 to 100 miles to ride today to get to where we wanted to be. Usually we get up around 7:30 now. There’s no way we could get ready and leave in time to ride the distance we needed to go. So we took a ride. Yes, we cheated a little. But here’s my excuse: We’re doing a cycling trip across America. Dan’s offer was to take us north to Orla. Technically we’re still riding all the way across, we just changed where we are vertically on the map. So it’s ok. Right? Yeah it is. So yes, we got up, ate breakfast, got ready and Dan took us a few miles up to Orla. Ok it was 50 miles, but it was North.

He dropped us off in Orla next to an old run down, abandoned grocery store and then he took off. We hate goodbyes. We meet such wonderful people for too short of a time. We packed all of our gear on our bikes, rode up to get some more water at a little restaurant and then headed the rest of the way north. We rode about 15 miles and then we hit our next state: New Mexico. Finally, we were out of another state. As soon as we crossed the border we had to go up a hill. Not a good first impression New Mexico. But the roads were better. I hated Texas’ roads. They were nothing but gravel that was tarred together. It was way too bumpy. My hands kept going numb. I was glad to be out of that.

Other than our ride up to Orla, today was pretty hard for me. I’m not sure why. I was feeling a bit nauseous at times and it was hard to peddle. My knee was also bothering me really bad. Once I got going it would stop hurting but there was a really sharp pain in it when I first started. At times I just wanted to throw my bike down and stop. Obstacles, however, are meant to be overcome. So I kept riding.

There was also heat and 3 flat tires to add to the day. Ashley had 2 and I had 1. Those little toughy strips we bought to go in are tires are pretty much worthless. One of Ashley’s flats was cause by 4 little thorns which stuck strait through the tire, strip, and the tube. 2 more were caused by thorns and 1 was from a staple or wire looking thing. Thanks toughy strips.

We eventually made it to our next little town. Once again there were no stores unless we wanted to ride 4 miles north to the next town. But we had to turn here so we didn’t want to go an extra 8 miles. So what did we do? We knocked on some doors. The first door we knocked on was the entrance to the home of Ben and Tamera. They only had two bottles of water, but they gave them to us. As we were standing in their home talking to them I couldn’t help to notice 3 Pizza Inn boxes lying on the table, but I wasn’t going to ask. Then, as we were walking out the door, we heard something that sounded like an angel. It said “Would you like some pizza.” Those 5 words were the most beautiful 5 words we had ever heard. So we ate, and we enjoyed their company for a bit longer.

We ended up riding about 12 more miles. Tonight was the first time we really rode in the dark. We watched the sun set over the mountains in the distance. There were almost no cars on the road we were riding on so we felt it was safe to ride on it. We were headed to White City tonight but we didn’t end up making it. We wanted to get there because White City is located right at the entrance of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, which is our next stop. The lady we talked to from the park said we had to be there by 8. So we wanted to be at White City so that we could at least attempt that. But we ended up stopping at the Black River park Which was 9 miles from White City. We originally stopped just to get water but then after we got our water we came back and asked if we could put our tent up. Bill, the manager of the park, let us put our tent right up front. And now we’re sitting here in our tent, basically in the middle of nowhere.