Update: March 23, 2012
A long, but not lonely day.
Out of Brawley through irrigated farm land and the occasional dairy farm. One even solar powered. The landscape then made an abrupt change to desert, then to sand dunes. It was here that we meet our first party of other Southern Tier riders: Tad, Jessica and Caley are med students in Colorado and are trying to complete the route about a week sooner than we. They have the great fortune of a sag wagon for the first week. I'm jealous.
The dunes are very popular with the sand toy set (dune buggies, sand rails and the like). Neat!
After admiring the sand rails for a while we made our way to Glamis for a lunch break. Nothin' fancy today: salami, cheese, bread, and a beer. Very satisfying.
Following lunch was a good climb, not too steep, but hot. Climbed past an open pit gold mine and hit several rollers at the top which were more difficult than the climb.
Just over the top was an immigration check point. I asked if I could rest in the shade of their structure for awhile, but they told me "no", they were friendly about it at least. I pulled over under a palo verde tree to rest and wait for J&M.
We were all looking forward the the descent into the town of Palo Verde, but it turned out to be one if the most unsatisfactory descents of all time. Rollers at the top with each successive roller slightly lower than the last it was like climbing downhill, then once the rollers stopped it was not steep enough to over come the slight headwind.
Frustrated and hot we arrived at the Colorado River, I immediately proposed a swim, but alas, no swimming allowed. We arrived in Palo Verde ready to stop or the day, but were unable to find satisfactory lodging, the trailer park appeared to be quite unsavory. The decision was made to press on to Blythe, 20 more miles. Groan! Long day.
Sand Toy Capital of the World!! I like that! I think you will need to keep track of all the "biggest" "best" "capital of the world" places you encounter ont this adventer! xoxo Rachel
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