March 9, 2018
The big event of the day was finally leaving California and crossing the Colorado River into Arizona. We had to walk our bikes across a foot bridge and then get onto Interstate 10 for the first of two times this day. Every day I seem to find something abandoned along the roadside. Two days ago it was a fully functional flashlight and yesterday it was a nearly new hose nozzel. Today I claimed a nearly new bungee cord but the find of the day went to Cammie, one of our tour leaders who found a flower display and an unopened six pack of work gloves.
Compared to yesterday, today was an easy 62 mile ride. Once again we had to use the Interstate due to the lack of an alternate route. The nice part about this is that they really smooth out the hills on the Interstate. Along the way I took a picture of the husband and wife team that are part of our group. Bill and Barb Samose are a great couple and it has been a pleasure to bike with them so far.
Once off Interstate 10 we hit the town of Quartzsite where I spent some interesting time in a rock and mineral shop and had an interesting conversation with another heart attack survivor from San Diego who now lives in Quartzsite. We were told there was an interesting place here called the Reader’s Oasis that featured Phil, a naked piano player. A few of us check this out but since I have already seen a naked piano player I decided to visit the Dorothy and Todo Ice Cream Shop instead. They had a $4.00 malted milkshake that was fantastic! Also nearby was the Desert Garden RV Sales and Park and home to a great collection of vintage cars and other machinery. The most unique of these was a Lear Jet strapped to the top of a truck.
The time zone change caught up to us so even with an easy ride we were fairly late into the KOA for the night; however, the bonus was that we had an extra hour of daylight. Tomorrow is is on to Wickenburg, AZ home of the Wickenburg massacre. The ride will be a fairly boring one down a long straight stretch of highway with lots of desert for company. I may not post anything but we shall see.