Tucson, Arizona

How many have heard of the famous Dateland Shakes?? Well, neither had we. We didn't have one but Hap did have to sample all of the different types of dates. Who knew that dates grew in Arizona? We had breakfast at the famous Dateland Shake place, no not shakes, but omelettes and fixins. Dateland is just an exit on Interstate 8. Not much of a town. We road most of the day paralleling I-8 on old Highway 80. Once again we road through.....yes you guessed it----desert. I think once you've seen one cactus you have seen them all. The difference today was the weather it was overcast, alittle cooler in the 60's and we had a headwind. The last 20 miles or so we had to ride on the interstate but it wasn't bad. We are getting used to it. The biggest problem is the noise of the traffic. We know we can't hear each other in the first place, but when you add the noise of the traffic, well let's just say it's not pretty. A conversation is something like this "What kind of bird is that?" "No, I didn't see anything wierd over there" "No, I said WHAT KIND OF BIRD IS THAT?" "I told you I don't see anything over there". "Oh never mind". See what I mean? We rode into the town of Gila Bend (Pronounced Hila Bend) about 4pm. It gets dark at 4:45pm. And with the clouds and overcast it was really starting to get chilly. We stopped at a truck stop for something to drink and to discuss our options (when both of us could hear each other). We decided if we could find a cheaper hotel that we would stay inside. I called triprewards and found a travelodge at a good price so we rode down the street to the hotel. There isn't much to Hila Bend either. Just one main street with several hotels, gas stations and a few businesses. After checking in we walked next door to the Subway and got subs for dinner and a can of green beans to heat in the microwave. Hey, we had to have something green. It was a nice quiet night in the hotel watching Dancing with the Stars.

The next morning we went back over to the truck stop for breakfast. Subway had a breakfast burrito. And we had some yogart to go along with it. Today was alittle sunnier but still cool. We road all day on Interstate 8. We did see something different today though. Cotton. Did you all know that they grow cotton in Arizona. When we cycled from Ohio to New Orleans we saw alot of Cotton in Mississippi but had no idea it was grown in the desert also. That was pretty much the excitement for today. I decided to listen to my new MP3 player (since I'm not driving), so I was listening to the Ohio State Marching Band CD. We stopped at an exit for a peanut butter and apple break. We also made another stop at an exit to see where we were on the map. Just then Jill called on the phone so Hap was on the phone when the State Patrol pulled up. He just stopped to check and make sure we were ok. That was nice of him. He told us about a frontage road that ran along Interstate 10 all the way from Casa Grande (where we were headed to) to Tucson. We had been debating on how to get into Tucson. Once we left that stop we had about 20 miles into Casa Grande. We were heading for a RV park called Buena Tierra Campground. When we got close to the intersection of I-8 and I-10 there was a sign that said bicycles must exit. So we got off the interstate and headed north into Casa Grande. We found the RV park and of course they directed us to the very back of the RV park where the riff raff are allowed. We pitched our tent and went to the showers.. We found that we had to pay for showers also. There's just something about paying $24 to pitch a tent and then have to pay for showers. Oh well. Since it was getting dark we walked across the street to Wendy's for salads for dinner.

The next morning we got up to a beautiful sunny day. We found the frontage road that the state trooper had told us about and headed south to Tucson. Not much excitement about today's ride either except that we got a call from someone from the newspaper that wanted to do a story about us and Alpha. And then a TV cameraman called and wanted to get some video of us riding into Tucson. We finally were able to hook up with him and he got several shots of us coming into town and then onto Carol's (Hap's sisters) house. He interviewed us for the 9:00 news. So now we have made it to our break point for a few days. We plan to stay with Carol through the weekend and then head east on Interstate 10. Until then.....

Dateland, AZ

When we left Yuma we were expecting smooth sailing but what happened wasn't quite what we expected. We ate breakfast in the hotel room and left fairly early for us. First of all we saw a Barnes and Noble bookstore and stopped to buy an Arizona county map book. After that we got maybe two miles or so down the road and saw a bike trail running beside the road. So Hap swung over to the trail. In a couple of minutes I noticed Hap kept picking things off of the front tire as we road along. I said what are you doing? He said rocks keep getting stuck on the tire and I am pulling them off. Then I noticed that the rear tire was losing air. So we stopped to check it out. The first thing we noticed was that the "little rocks" were "little burrs"! Just like the ones that we had found to be a real problem while cycling in the Salt Lake City area. While mountain biking we had FOUR flat tires at one time. A new world record I am sure. So here we are now with both tires losing air. Yesterday we had stopped at a bike shop and bought some slime (tire sealant) that you put inside the tube to seal up small leaks. Hap put some in both tires to see if that would stop the leaks. I found lots of burrs sticking out of the tires. Last night he had spent putting a tire, tire liner and slime on the trailer tire. We headed on down the road. There was alot of traffic leaving Yuma and I think ALL of them passed us at some point. The rear tire started losing air again and so we stopped to pump it up again. Hap's theory was that if we spun the tire long enough eventually the "slime" would fill the holes. We stopped for lunch before leaving town. Leaving town we were on the frontage road alongside of our favorite Interstate 8 and we knew at some point the road would dead end. Just at the point where we were debating whether or not we should get on the interstate, I saw a bike shop. So we stopped. Hap bought brand new "slimed pre-slimed" tubes for the bike. But he didn't want to take the time to put them on so we got on the freeway (the bike shop guy said that is where all the cyclists ride around here). We must have stopped 7 or 8 times to pump up the tire. Can I just say how much fun we were having. Don't you wish you were there to watch HAP pump up all the tires again and again and again. I especially loved all of the traffic whizzing by. That made it really special. We had to go through a border patrol check point as we were climbing out of the Yuma area. They just waved us through, laughing...... We had a good 6 percent grade to come down on the freeway. Don't worry I made sure that Hap stopped to pump up the tires ONE MORE TIME! All in all we only road about 35 miles or so to Wellton. We thought we were going to stay at a RV park but when we called them they said NO TENTS. We don't want any riff raff in our area. We called the police to see if we could camp in the park, but they didn't seem to know either. So we ended up in a hotel again. I spent most of the evening trying to find a place for us to stay tomorrow night. We finally called and found one in Dateland. Which is where we are tonight.
Today's ride was on a road parallel to I 8 for much of the time. It was old highway 80. There was hardly any traffic on it. It was a nice road. We did have a headwind. The temps are again in the 70's. The last 13 miles we were on the interstate. There was alot of trafffic due to the holiday weekend so we were happy to get off the road. It looks like tomorrow we will be able to ride most of it on highway 80 again. Not much scenery again today. Just desert and desert. Oh and a few mountains here and there. Until next time.....

Yuma, Arizona

We left Jackson's RV ADULT Park. I wondered what they meant by ADULT. I was afraid that they wouldn't let Hap in, but Jackson said it was because he didn't want little kids there. So I checked to see if it was ok that Hap stayed. He said yes. We left in beautiful sunny weather. Temps about 70 degrees. We were riding on roads parallel to I - 8. The road service was alittle rough but there was hardly any traffic. We had alittle bit of a headwind also. The terrain is still mostly desert. We stopped in Seeley for a snack of chocolate milk and a cake. I should have brushed up on my spanish before coming on this trip. If you don't speak spanish in this part of the country your in trouble. Have you checked gas prices lately?? 3.34 per gallon. We'll get another 25 miles out of our chocolate milk!

We arrived in El Centro and decided to stop early today since it was turkey day. First we stopped at a grocery for supplies. Hap went into the store. We don't want to leave the bike alone. So I was the lookout. Hap was in the store forever. When he finally came out, I said what took you so long? He said he met his friend Roseanne. She had stopped him because she had seen the bike outside. She asked him if we were a team or something? He said yes, we are a team of two. But we happen to be riding to raise awareness about Alpha One. So he talked about Alpha One, gave her a card. Then he was asking her if she knew of any restaurants in town that were serving a thanksgiving dinner? Since she was just in town visiting her mother, she called her mother. While waiting for her mother to answer the phone, an old friend of her's that she grew up with, walked by. So they hailed Mike or Richard (Hap couldn't remember), and he came over. They asked him about where to find a dinner. He said he didn't know of any restaurants but there was the Police Athletic League serving a dinner and gave him directions. An hour later Hap came out and told me this story. We left the grocery store and headed to the PAL dinner. We road all over El Centro looking for it and finally found it. So we had a our turkey dinner. After eating we headed off to a RV park on the east side of town. When we got there, there was a sign on the office door that said CLOSED for Thanksgiving. Mmmm..... so we walked to the first trailer and a lady came out. Of course she didn't speakidy english very well but said something like. Yes you can put a tent over there. We will get you key. Mmm....what do we need a key for?? We put up our tent where she told us to and then discovered what we needed the key for. The showers and the bathroom. We went back over to her trailer and asked for a key. She said again, that the man (??) would bring us a key. So we waited and played cards and waited. Finally she came over with a key but said as soorn as we were done with it, to bring it back to her. That there was a party in the party house and they needed the key. Apparently there was only ONE key! There must be something that we are missing?? We took our showers, and took the key back to her. Finally Hap went back over and got us the key to the bathroom. We were allowed to keep the key all night. It got dark by 5:30pm so we went to bed at 6p. The next morning when we got up a guy in a golf cart came by and said he needed the key we had and he gave us another key. Don't ask me.....I'm just glad I was able to use the bathroom!

We left this morning to another beautiful sunny day. Temps in the 70's again. We rode into Holtsville and found a mexican (that's funny cause they are ALL mexican) diner for breakfast. We planned to ride into Yuma today. We talked to several people who told us not to ride on the side road that looked like it went along I-8 because it just was a deadend. When we got to the entrance to I-8 there was a sign on the ramp that said No bicycles. Generally in places like this if there isn't a side road you are allowed to ride on the interstate. Our only option was to go back to El Centro and get on a completely different road. We didn't think that was a very good option. So onto the interstate we went. But the whole time we were thinking that helicopters were going to swoop down, lights were going to flash and loudspeakers saying "YOU ON THE BIKE!" We road about 15 miles down the interstate and got off at the first exit. We hoped that at this point it was ok for bikes to ride on it. But no, there was still THAT sign. Maybe that's just a guideline Hap? We could still see the side road that we were told was a dead end so we thought ok let's see what happens over there. It ran along side of I 8. It was really rough and bumpy. My back just loved it! We stayed on it to the next entrance ramp and then tried again. Guess what? Yes, THAT sign was still there. But we just had no choice. We couldn't go forward and we didn't want to go back. We had about 20 miles to Yuma. At every exit we got off and hoped for a sign that said Bicycles ok. FINALLY we saw one. Now where exactly one was supposed to start riding on the interstate I am not sure. Because where we finally saw a sign was miles from anywhere. We road through alot of sand dune area today and saw thousands of RV's, dune buggies, motorcycles, four wheelers and other toys. The wind picked up through this area so much so that sand was in our teeth and eyes. Then Hap ran over some oil or something that splashed up on us and that was also very special! We finally arrived in Yuma and stopped at a visitor's center to find a campground. She said that only a couple of RV parks allowed tents and none of them were in town. We opted to stay in a hotel. We also stopped at a bike shop and Hap bought a new tire and tire liners for the trailer. Hopefully this will stop our flat tire problem. We found the hotel, ordered take out from Pizza Hut, did the laundry, and watched football on TV. How about our Buckeyes! GO BUCKS! It had been a long day. The next few days we will be riding on I 8 east on our way to Tucson. Don't worry though we checked it is legal to ride on the interstate in Arizona.

Ocotillo, CA

We are moving forward again! We have been in Pine Valley for the last two days. Monday we spent just cooling our jets. There wasn't much to the town we were in. A city park, a restaurant, a diner, library, fire station and grocery store. We picked up some steaks at the grocery and used the hotels grill to cook it for dinner. The next morning we went down for breakfast at the diner and another cyclist pulled into town. We talked to him and discovered that he was riding to Columbus, OH. He went on his way and we waited and waited and waited.....
The part finally arrived yesterday. Hap had to replace the inside of the rear hub. That meant that first he had to get the broken piece out. So we needed a vice. We had walked down to the auto repair store the day before and the guy said we could use his but he wasn't going to be there past 5p or so. When the part got there we walked down and when Hap started to try to use it, it didn't seem too sturdy. The man told us there was a vice at the Fire Station so we walked over to use their vice. When we tried to use it we discovered it was broken. I hope they don't need a vice to put out a fire! We walked back to the auto repair place and Hap found a big piece of pipe that he could use to help brace the vice. With alot of tugging--me on one end---Hap on the other. The hub broke loose and he was able to remove it. We went back to the room and he fixed after a couple of calls to the company. Now you all know why I bring an engineer with me. Hap takes care of the bike and I take care of us!
This morning we got an early start. It was alittle chilly maybe 60 degrees or so. We had a good climb to start out with. We are still on Old Highway 80 that parallels Interstate 8 east out of San Diego. We had several long climbs today. The terrain today was alot of rock, shrubs, sand and nuthin! I think we are getting to the desert part of this ride. We went through a couple of small towns -- well I think they were towns. They had a cafe and a gas station. Does that count? We were right on the border in a few places. We saw lots of border patrol either patrolling or at road checks. We didn't get stopped. I guess we don't look shady enough. We stopped in one little town for some cheese and crackers for lunch. It was cloudy most of the day. As we got closer to Ocotillo we knew that we had to get on Interstate 8. We also knew that we were going to lose altitude. We started the day at 4000 ft. And ended the day at about 500 ft. The last 13 miles was down a huge hill! It was awesome. We were on I 8. The speed limit for trucks was 35 mph. Does that tell you how steep it was? The worse part was the wind whipping as we were coming down.
We got down the hill without any problem. We had to get off the interstate at that point. Mostly because there was a big sign that said BICYCLISTS MUST EXIT. That was a good clue don't you think? We stopped to ask for directions to a grocery store and was told that there wasn't any grocery store but there was a gas station. It was then that we noticed the flat tire on the trailer AGAIN! Mmm wonder when that happened? Surely we didn't drag the trailer down that hill with a FLAT tire. Nah! That couldn't happen. We changed (we meaning Hap) the tire, picked up some supplies and then headed to Jackson's RV park. It turned out to be a really neat place. Jackson is retired and runs this park with his son. He said why don't you just sleep in the recreation room. Ok, we said. How much? He said no charge. So tonight we are in a room with a satellite tv, library with DVD's and books, full kitchen, lounge chairs, and hot shower. How is that for a Thanksgiving present. Until next time..................

Pine Valley CA

We left Jon and Joy's house in Imperial Beach (south of San Diego) and headed north on the Silver Strand. This is the way that we had arrived at their house a short six weeks ago. It didn't seem that long ago. When we left it was bright and sunny. We rode up the bike trail towards the ferry in Coronado. On the bike trail we saw a street sweeper. That was unusual. We arrived to the ferry dock just as the ferry was leaving. Our plan for that day was to ride to a hotel near the San Diego Zoo, leave the bike at the hotel and take a shuttle over to the zoo. I have always loved going to the zoo. In fact, I think my perfect job would have been to be a nurse at a zoo. Don't worry I am not changing again! When we got off the ferry there was a man there on a bicycle. When we told him where we were going he said I'll just take you there. So off we went. The only problem was that he didn't seem to think it was a problem to ride the wrong way on one way streets. We were in downtown San Diego, thankfully there wasn't much traffic. Our friend then decided maybe we should just ride up the sidewalk. If you look at the picture above you'll see that we cannot just flit around on our little train! After awhile he decided we were close enough and said keep going that way. So we did and THEN we got lost. Eventually we found our way to the Days Inn. I went in to check in and to find out how to catch the shuttle that they had told me they had. They said it leaves in five minutes and its the only one. So we hurried to get the bike into the room, changed and jumped on the shuttle. Our favorite part zoo was the monkeys, hippos, the pandas, and the reptiles. The shuttle picked us up and took us back. For dinner we had pizza and watched a movie. Or is that slept while watching a movie.... I don't think that either of us has transferred to west coast time yet.

We got up the next morning, ate breakfast in the room and headed east. Finally! We have planned to ride to short days to get used to the bike, time change etc. We had to stop at a post office to mail back the tool to Bill that we brought with us. No sense in adding any weight. Hap "googled" post office's in San Diego and found one not too far away. Or so it seemed! We found the right street but turned the wrong way. We ended up riding onto the freeway ramp! Oops. And there was a divider so we couldn't get into the other lane. We made a U turn and rode the wrong way for a short distance! Thank goodness there wasn't any oncoming traffic. We quickly turned into a parking lot and THEN stopped to ask someone if they know where the post office is? Now isn't that easier Hap? We finally found it and lost a few pounds! Riding out of San Diego was surprisingly easy. We had a bike lane most of the way with light traffic. We stopped in Lakeside and stayed at the Rancho Las Coches RV Park. It was a really nice and clean place. We met a couple of Canadian motorcyclists who were on a year ride. They are also planning to be in Daytona Beach the first wk of March for Bike Week. That is also our goal. Hopefully we will see them there!

This morning we got up to a chilly day at least in the morning. The sun finally came out. And so did the heat. It ended up being 86 degrees and sunny! We should have suspected how the day was going to go when we came out of breakfast to find the tire to the trailer flat. Now THAT's the way to start a day! Today's ride was mostly uphill. We climbed 20 miles. It was a long day. The trailer adds an additional 18 lbs to our load. The terrain was dry and shadeless. We saw several bikers today so this must be the right way! Once again we had light traffic and a nice bike lane to ride on. We had a short 3 mile ride on Interstate 8. Basically we were parallel to I-8 all day. Just before we got to the end of the day. About 5 miles from Pine Valley where we are tonight, Hap started to cramp. I told you it was hot. He has this problem often so we are usually pretty careful about drinking enough fluids. As soon as he started cramping we stopped and ate power bars, drank all of the gatorade we had and then every 15 minutes he ate a power gel. We stopped at a store for more gatorade and bananas. The problem with cramping is that once you start to cramp it is usually too late to fix it. The best thing to do is stop exercising, rest and replace the fluids. Of course we were out in the middle of nowhere so we didn't have that option. We just kept pushing fluids, and put some calories in, slowed our speed down to about 5 mph (we were still climbing!) and stopped frequently to stretch. It worked the cramps slowed down. Then we had a new problem. We finally crested the hill (we climbed from sea level to 4000 feet) and had about a 3 mile downhill to Pine Valley. When we started to coast something happened to the back wheel. Hap couldn't figure it out on the road so we kept going just coasting downhill. We had called a hotel in Pine Valley so we knew we had a place to stay. We made it to the hotel. Hap took the back wheel apart and found the rachet mechanism in the freehub was broken. We had just had the back wheel rebuilt. Hap called the guy who built it for us and he said he had only seen that one other time. He suggested we call the company and they could send us a part to replace it with. We are not sure at this point what we will do. Hap will call them in the morning and see if they can overnight it to us here in Pine Valley and then he can fix it. Welcome to life on the road again. You never know what will happen. The good news about all of this. We are in a safe place. We'll let you know what happens!!!!!!!!!

San Diego---We're back...............!

We arrived in San Diego last night. The last many weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Both of us had alot of trouble keeping our eyes open during the flight. It was uneventful as flights go. Flying is such a headache these days that I think we'll just ride our bicyle back to Ohio! And as I filled up our gas tank in the van for the last time in many months, I had a good chuckle as I realized we didn't have to worry about the prices of oil for awhile! All we have to do is worry about how many miles we can get out of that chocolate milkshake!
Our boys were born Monday, November 12 at 8:09 and 8:10am. Reed weighed in at 6.4 lbs and Rowdy at 6 lbs. They both were 19 inches long! And all I gotta say about that is "how did they all fit??" Tiff was pretty uncomfortable the last few weeks. But she was a real trouper and had a picture perfect pregnancy and birth. I am sure that it was just because Aunt Diane was there overseeing all of it......
I want to give a great big shout out to the Maternity Unit at Berger Health System, Dr. Shield's office staff and of course Dr. Shields. All of them were just incredible to Tiff and the rest of us. They are the best. Way to go TEAM BERGER!
Hap was pretty funny the day Tiff had her last doctor appt he came with us. I told Tiff to hold up her shirt so Uncle Hap could see her pregnant belly. I don't think that Hap has ever seen one before. You should have seen the look on his face! Priceless!
Tiff, Dustin and the boys went home from the hospital to start their new adventure together. And it will be an adventure! Granddaddy Dugan is already looking for twin ponies for them. And he is also working on his "pond" which is in their backyard. We went to look at it and I think by definition it is NOT a pond it is officially a LAKE!
So, now we begin again. What will we do? Where will we go?? Today we are in Imperial Beach with Hap's cousin Jon and Joy. They were kind enough to keep our bike and gear safe for what we thought was going to be a short time. I guess babies will come when God says it's time, NOT when Aunt Diane and Uncle Hap want to go ride their bike. Today Hap is busy working on the bike. He is repairing the headset that has been coming loose. I am not sure what he is doing. All I know is that he had a big tool (thanks Bill-we'll mail it back it is too heavy to carry...) and has grease all over him. He also bought a new front rack. We have had a chronic problem with one of the front bolts breaking. He is replacing the rear tire again. I think this is our sixth tire. And a new addition is our Bobb Trailer that we brought back with us. We are going to try pulling it with our camping gear and see how that works. We have pulled it before and didn't really like it other than for pulling our dog. But we are about 20 pounds heavier than on other trips. And alittle top heavy. So we'll see!
Tomorrow we are planning a short ride to a hotel in San Diego and then hitch a ride to the San Diego Zoo. It is a place I have always wanted to visit. I am spending today figuring out a route and organizing our gear again. Since we are changing our system it takes alittle bit of time.
As I look over the pictures of the first half of our ride, it is amazing to think how far we have actually come. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would we change anything? If I could just change the 100 + degree weather we had in Montana in July/August. Other than that no. This journey has been more than we ever expected. The best part of our trip has been the people that we have met along the way. The hardest part? Leaving our families and friends. The easiest part---pedaling! Are we tired of pedaling? No! Do you think it is possible that there is something wrong with us????..........
Until tomorrow........THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!