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..................