Time in Saddle: 6:47 hours
Distance for the Day: 59.63 miles: From Mesquite, NV To Hurricane, UT
Accumulated Trip Distance: 1146.8 miles
Altitudes: Starting/Ending ??/3468’, Highest: 3481’, Accumulated: 3829’
Speeds: Avg: 8.7 mph, Max: 37.1 mph
Weather: Clear, calm, cold at 39°
Expenditures: $23
Got up before daylight (approx 5:30am) to be sure to get out of there before anyone might arrive. We ate a quick, cold breakfast, and took off. The next destination for the day was at least St. George, UT. We stopped at a mini-mart, and I got more Gatorade and other small food items ($12), and we stopped for lunch at a Subway sandwich shop in St. George ($11). We also stopped at the local bike shop to fix some minor problems we were having with our cycles. Eusebio’s trailer wheel had developed a “wobble,” which wouldn’t go away, so he had to replace that tire. I had the starboard-front tire bead
mis-alignment problem, which I fixed by buying some real rim tape, and applying it correctly (I didn’t do it right the first time, and the bead still wouldn’t align). There was a lot of hill work in the area, and we were on the interstate quite a bit, whose uphill grades are often long. The day was getting late, and cold – when the sun went down, it would be unpleasant, and we were all badly in need of a shower. We were arduously working our way up another long grade, when, like a bolt from the blue, a white-haired lady in a nice looking small SUV pulled over and offered us food, showers, laundry, internet, and beds, just a few more miles up the road. Whoa! You know, 
when we hit these uphill grades, I usually fall behind, and Cati and Eusebio usually precede me to the top and wait for me. Not this time. I actually kept up with both of them, so motivated was I to reach sanctuary. I rather amazed myself, actually. We arrived, and found a marvelous duplex home with an immaculate yard. We parked in her very neat and organized garage, and went inside to get to know our Heaven-sent host, Lucy, a little better. We chatted about our respective trips, thus far, and she told us about her own cycling experiences, and plans to do a cross-country trip later this year (wow!) She fed us salmon and salad, threw 
our dirty clothes in the washer, and let us use her shower. Using her computer, I was able to successfully transfer the installation DVD from StreetAtlas onto a USB flash drive, and from there, install the program on my notebook (yay!) I spent a lot of time on the computer, long past when everyone else went to bed (as usual), before throwing my sleeping bag on the living room floor and hitting the hay. This was a very good day, which could have turned out to be quite the opposite.
3 comments:
HiDon! I left you a message on your phone...I asked if you lost it because it went directly to voicemail...haha...Glad you finally got to a place to post your updates - a weeks was a long time inbetween...us worrywarts start twitching... Lucy was an angel. The kindness of strangers in this day is humbling to me. Glad all is well and you are moving along - thanks for telling us where you are somewhat heading next. Makes keeping track easier. Lovya, xoxopoo
By the way, just in case you end up near the boarder, he's at Fort Altus in Altus OK. Not sure where you are headed as you appear to be way high up going through the middle of the country versus down along the coast...you did say at some point you were going to start heading south again... hope you can find another couple of cycle buddies. Say hi to Louis and Cati for me! :)
Hi Poo: Just finished bringing the blogs up to date, as of yesterday. I'm in the Denny's in Page, AZ now (they have free wi-fi!) Said bye-bye to Cati and Eusebio (C&E), today, who are heading north, while I go south. Yeah, that Lucy was something else! One of the more wonderful humans on this planet. Take care - love ya! :~Don
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