Day 48: Wittmann, AZ to Salome, AZ

Daily Miles: 77.8 Total Miles: 2611.3

The desert is a lonely place...

Today we got back on track! We woke up early, had a nice breakfast at the hotel, and headed back to Wittmann. I was on the road before 9am and immediately got into a nice groove. I started climbing again right off the bat, but I was feeling strong and the wind was very mild (and at my back). I was making great time and quickly knocked out the first 23 miles (and 600' of climbing) to Wickenburg. As I was entering town and traffic started to pick up, I spotted a Dunkin Donuts, and had to pull in. This was probably the first DD I've seen on my route on this trip so far, and, even at 10am it was so hot that I couldn't pass up an iced coffee. Mary met me there and we both had a snack before I pressed on. The riding through Wickenburg was pretty hectic because there was no shoulder, lots of traffic due to an event in town today, and a very odd roundabout where two highways met.

Climbing out of Wickenburg

I made it through and then climbed another 600' over the next 10 miles before starting an extremely gradual descent for the rest of the day. After Wickenburg today's ride was through an extremely empty, desolate desert with mountains in the distance. My only companions were the cacti and tons of little lizards running along the shoulder. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, the road was generally in excellent condition, and with my newly adjusted derailleur (the thing that moves the chain from gear to gear), I was riding very smoothly. I met up with Mary again ~55 miles into the ride and she had brought me an ice cold Coke and a Subway sandwich.  That may have been the best Coke of my life.

The mountains in the distance

I headed out again to knock out the final 22 miles of the day on to Salome and Mary drove on to check in to our gem of a hotel and the only game in town, Sheffler's. Now, Sheffler's is not the worst hotel we've stayed in on this trip, it does offer access to a green pool and 20 year old trampoline after all, but it's giving the others a run for their money. Highlights so far include: no hot water. At all. I took a cold shower while Mary went outside to tell the "maintenance man" who was actually a 13 year old boy, and he went to "turn the boiler on" but the water stayed cold. Then Mary went to inquire about the Internet, and they made her pay them $3 for the password, which was 200+ characters long, and by the way, the Internet doesn't actually work. So now we are at the local hot spot, Buckaroo's, having dinner and updating the blog. Buckaroo's, by the way, is delicious, and their Internet works great. Mary talked with Jay today and he made it back home alive and well. Tomorrow we'll be crossing in to California and starting our final push to the Pacific!