The last couple days we've been doing pretty good about getting up nice and early so we can get a good start since the days are so short now. It helps quite a bit that we end up going to sleep around 7:30-8:30 almost every night since it is dark and there isn't much else to do. We had some oatmeal, a can of peaches each and an orange each for breakfast. I was in a way dreading the ride today because I knew we had a lot of climbing ahead of us and from what it looked like, we would be climbing all day. We continued on the same road with the same gradual climb to start off. Eventually the road we were on met up with a busier 4 lane road. Joe was waiting for me at the corner and said that while he was standing there, someone offered us a ride up the hill. He turned the offer down because there wasn't any real reason we shouldn't ride up it. But in any case, that made me a little worried because if someone in a car thinks its a tough hill, then it's got to be even worse for us cyclists (a whole lot of people in cars don't notice how steep or long a hill is because it doesn't take them any effort to get up it- in fact sometimes when it is a gradual climb, they don't even realize they are going up). Now I was a bit intimidated by the thought of climbing that hill. But, the road had a fairly big shoulder, so that made things a little better. The climbing really began. Joe rode behind me for a little while but eventually went ahead and waited for me at the top of the hill. Surprisingly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had made it out to be in my head. It was steep and long, but nothing harder than we've done in the last few days. After a little downhill, we made it to Morango Valley, the town we were hoping to make it to last night. It definitely wouldn't have been fun to try to ride that in the dark- and we found out that it wasn't really worth it after seeing the town anyway. In any sense, we arrived there a lot faster than we thought we would. We took a quick break at the gas station and then headed out of town. In doing so, we had another long climb. It took a while, but the good news is that we could see the top, so we knew we would be there eventually- there was no guessing as there is when the road is curvy and windy. A couple times, I turned around and looked behind me as I was going up. The view was really neat. You could see the road going through the valley and vanishing off in the distance. Once we ere over the top, we didn't have too far to go until we were in the next town of Yucca Valley (where our host would have been for last night had we made it that far- another 18 miles from where we camped). The town was so huge in comparison to what we were anticipating. We were both expecting to be riding through these tiny little towns with nothing in them. Even the Palm Dessert-Palm City valley had a ton more than we ever expected. We couldn't believe there were so many big towns just since we crossed over the hill yesterday. We made a stop at the visitor center to check on some information for Joshua Tree National Park before heading down the road to find somewhere to get internet and or have lunch. We were so happy to see a Vons again, and decided to go there to eat. The store had a table and chairs right out front, so it was perfect. We made our sub sandwiches and relaxed for a little bit. While we were there, we met poor guy that needed to charge his electric wheelchair for a little bit. He asked if he could sit with us for a while and we didn't see why not. It was really sad because after talking to him we learned that he was in an automobile accident a while ago and had been in a coma/incapacitated for about a year after. He told us about how he had lost his business and had to file for bankruptcy because of the hospital bills. Even still, he was in pretty good spirits overall. It does make you think though, and re-realize that you really do never know when something could happen that completely changes your life for ever. There was a Little Ceasers Pizza place on the corner of the plaza that Vons was in. Somehow we decided to get a $5 hot and ready pizza. We each ate a couple slices to fill us up the rest of the way (we only had 1/4 size sandwiches today). Before leaving, I really stocked up on food for the next 4 days because this time we were almost positive there wouldn't be any big stores, or much of anything until we got really close to Vegas. We were pretty sure though, that we would be ok on water. We have so many water bottles that it shouldn't be a problem- and there should be one or two places to fill up between when we leave tomorrow and when we get to Vegas. Once we started riding again, the road turned and the wind was with us. We had a very straight, flat/downhillish section for quite a while. The miles were flying by. We took a little time to check out Joshua Tree for a little bit when we went to what is known as Indian Cove. It was a bit of a climb up to the entrance of the park, but it wasn't that bad. Although we didn't do a whole lot of exploring and didn't ride through the park itself, we were ok with that. I couldn't believe how the last 20 miles of the ride just flew right by. The flat and down hill ride continued most of the way into town. We were in Twentynine Palms. Again, it was bigger than we anticipated. There were big name hotels, lots of chain restaurants, and even an Applebees. We went to the library for a little while since it was still early in the day. When we pulled up, we saw a bike that was loaded up with homemade panniers and had a frame that was full of stickers of where the guy had been. Inside, we met Gary, who we found out is originally from Sodus, NY (the next town over from where Joey grew up!) It's so amazing how small this world is! We talked to him for quite a while an found out that for the past 20 years, he has been taking a lot of little bike trips all over. Right now he was in the process of riding from somewhere in Southern California to somewhere in Arizona. He also showed us a bite that he had on his arm from what he was pretty sure was a black widow spider. His arm was so swollen and the bite was enormous and was oozing stuff. It was amazing that a little tiny spider could do something like that. Gary also said that he was planning on staying in the 29 Palms area for a few days because he is having some stomach problems lately, probably as a result of that bite he has. Seeing that bite of his really worries me, but at the same time, we looked it up and those kinds of spiders are all over the place and we haven't had any troubles yet, so we just have to be careful. After getting a little work done on the computers, we rode to the fire station. We did just as Craig said to do and sure enough, they said we could set up our tent out back. The chief turned off the sprinklers so that wouldn't be a problem and we pushed our bikes through one of the bay doors through to the back yard. It was a nice fenced in yard with a small little patch of grass- it was perfect. We set up our tent and ate the last couple pieces of our pizza from lunch. We were still hungry of course and thought about getting another pizza so we didn't have to cook. We were surprised to see a Little Caesars in town when we were on our way to the library. As we were unpacking, the fireman offered for us to take a shower if we wanted, of course we did!!! It was so great to be nice and clean- that is one thing I miss when we are at home- having a hot shower everyday. But I've gotten used to having one every few days so it's not so bad. We also got a chance to charge what needed to be charged and enjoyed relaxing in comfy chairs watching a big flat screen tv. Two of the guys made dinner and ended up making so much that there was plenty for us too, so they invited us to eat with them. We had really great burritos with lettuce, sour cream and guacamole, cheese quesadillas, rice, and red fruit punch. It was such a great treat. We had fun talking with the 2 fireman and the captain during dinner. For a couple hours after dinner we relaxed and watched some tv. Its crazy to see all of the commercials for Thanksgiving and Christmas already- I can't believe how fast the time has gone. We went to bed at 10, which isvery late for us lately. It was an awesome day and much easier than i thought it would be- very happy about that! We rode 42.89 miles today.
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