California begins!

Okay so... apologies for the large delay in keeping the updates flowing in a timely manner. Things have been hectic and stimulating along the coast with less time for our precious friend the interweb. But enough with the excuses, where were we?
Ah yes, once upon a time, we were still in a state which begins with the letter A. This picture was taken in the vacant property of Sherri, a school administrator in Salome, Arizona. It was not vacant, however, on the night of March 11th. After a hard day of riding in the hot sun, this little orange and grapefruit grove was a lovely oasis where we got to eat, read, sit in the shade, eat citrus fruit and ultimately, hang our bike helmets for the night. And it was to be the last night we would spend in Arizona before arriving in California to the town of Blythe.

In Blythe, we scoped out the local law enforcement and asked about a good place to camp. The officer directed us to a municipal park where we spent the evening loafing and making dinner. After the sun had gone down and we were just about ready for bed, I got up and out of the tent with a hunch that the green grass we were laying on was not naturally so green... A few locals just happened to be waiting for a bus nearby and confirmed that should we sleep in the park, we would get sprinkled at roughly 4 or 5 a.m. Luckily, the fire department was across the street and they allowed us to move our camp to their un-sprinkled, if slightly crispy lawn.

Our next day of riding had us land in the dunes of Glamis. A very strange place indeed. Picture beautiful sand dunes as far as the eye can see and one store. The store closed very soon after our arrival in Glamis and luckily we were able to purchase a large bottle of water there before it did. The dunes are a big attraction for quad drivers who pour into this speck of a town on long week-ends and ride around in the sand. We were very lucky to avoid much of this insanity by being there on a Thursday.

Following Glamis, we spend an evening in El Centro, at the home of Margarita, a real-estate agent and her husband Oscar Sauza, a 90 year old heir to a Mexican tequila company. While Oscar didn't speak English, Margarita told us some stories and antics about his youth and I very much wish we could have heard more...

That's all for now but you will definitely want to find out more as the Anne's get closer and closer to the coast...