The heat is on

Tuesday, July 19th
El Centro, CA

115F week. Desert everywhere around me.

It is half past midnight and the temperature remains a stifling 95F. The daily lows are above 80F. No point in waiting for it to cool down. It's hot 24/7.

No, this shit is not fun.

I'm sitting outside Lowe's. Insects are all over me as I am typing. They are crawling over me, flying at me, and jumping onto me. Grasshoppers, round little black bugs, flying things, you name it. A huge mother cockroach just climbed out from beneath my tarp, inches from my hand. Some are making me itchy and others are biting me. Fuck this. I am standing up.

Freeway is a smooth ride but bicycles are prohibited whenever there is any alternative route. The alternative route sucks. Bumpy cracked service road for 18 wheelers and pickup trucks. I turn off the freeway because I think, well maybe it'll be a decent paved road. But I would be much better not putting unwarranted faith in utopias.

Bicycle rear tire is shred to a skin. Ran over a nail in the morning that tore out a chunk of rubber and left punctures on both sides of the inner tube! It was about 10 inches long with screw threads the entire length.

Luckily, I had a spare tube. The worn tire is holding up but will soon be replaced.

The desert road beside the freeway ground my treads. I was expecting to hear a pop at any time and discover that all the loose rocks on the road had rushed into my burst tube. But they didn't. Instead, I heard a sound that I couldn't identify.

Took my wheel out and inspected it to find a spoke on my rear wheel came out of its nipple. I didn't know if it was broken or how to fix it, so I bent the spoke around its neighbors to stop it from spinning around and kept going. I'll need to find a new spoke tomorrow. Also the kickstand is flopping around, so I made a bandana.

Some highlights of the day. $7.77 prime rib at Golden Acorn Casino. $10 Free Play credits at video poker generated $6 into my wallet. Their free soda machines were fully stocked with flavors. Raspberry vanilla coke tastes pretty good. Honorable mentions for orange Coke, and peach Dasani.

I followed Old Highway 80 and Highway 8 to El Centro, CA.

Some nice desert mountain views.

At the end of my 70 mile traveling day, I unloaded at Walmart.

And drank Ulix under the table.

Morning camp on Tuesday above a highway intersection near Pine Valley. Place was perfect. I fell asleep under clear stars.

Campsite thanks to a tip from a Christian college student. Never would have noticed it on my own. Their church had some youth summer outing going on and the event organizer offered me free ice cream when I walked by. :-). We got to talking. It was nice to share my stories with people.

Pine Valley, CA

Monday, July 18th
Blossom Valley, CA to Pine Valley, CA

Viejas casino had a $20 buffet with free beer. I let the ice water alone and downed three Stella Artoisies. The carbs in beer taste so good. My first gulp on an empty stomach got me a bit tipsy. I haven't had an alcohol in over a year, I think.

At a shopping plaza across from the casino...

I got a new pair of Nikes!

Pegasus 32 running shoe. I've been wearing this line since the 2000 model, because they can reliably withstand a pounding. The mesh on the top is breathable, unlike the Pegasus 30 I'd been wearing. Should help the ventilation.

Let me tell you why orange is a good color. Orange is yellow, which is happy, plus red, which is strong. And hunters won't shoot you in the foot.

Morning camp on Monday. Elementary school grounds in Blossom Valley, CA

Nick, you will be happy to know that I was dislodged by a sprinkler underneath a tree once during the night. It turned on for 2 minutes then shut off. :shrug:

I was awoken by a million and nine hundred, ninety nine thousand and nine hundred ninety nine ants swarming over my pillow, my backpack, everything.

View from morning camp over Blossom Valley.

Big scary mountains were once in the distance. And now they are behind me.