There was frost on my bike seat in the morning. Leaving the warm mummy sleeping bag was hard because it was so cold. Glad morning had come because I was tired of tossing and turning.
The roosters were making a racket.
Went to the hotel to fix myself a bowl of oatmeal (I pre made packets to take along for times such as this). Nice to be able to warm up inside and catch some wifi. I was given some frittata and corn tortillas (second breakfast, awesome!) by the hotel owner.
I had thought to linger until it warmed up but felt restless, so I cleaned up after myself and got ready to ride. Left at about 9:45.
It was a slow first hour, riding only 13 Km's! It was an uphill grade though.
The scenery was more interesting than it had been the day before, more diverse with hills and such, but it was still very vast and empty.
I only had about 65 Km's to ride. At a certain point it became a downhill grade, and with less wind than yesterday it was rather nice.
Went from the hills down to the valley where there were fields surrounding the Gila River. Cotton fields. Saw bits of cotton caught in weeds beside the road.
Made up for the slow start and made it to Duncan just in time to stop in at The Cottage Bakery before they closed at 1 pm.
Bought a loaf of sourdough cranberry walnut bread to eat today and tomorrow. Sat out for 45 minutes there to journal, then moved on to a city park where I could use the restroom. I felt a bit like a homeless person trying to fill the time. I didn't really want to show up at my hosts place too early...
Turns out Jay had an old auto machanic shop where he put up cyclists. It was rather... basic and primitive, but at least it was a safe place... Jay gave me the option to go to his friends place where I might sleep more comfortably, so I took the option, although I wanted to get out of my cycling clothes sooner than later, so, in no rush, I took a shower in the shop bathroom, in the middle of washroom standing on dirty concrete. (It was an experience all right!)
Was able to upload my Garmin/rides on his computer. I then walked over to the nearby library, leaving my bike at Jay's.
There I looked at books, caught up on my internet stuff and found a quiet, sunny place to sit for a bit.
Just before leaving I noticed they had old books for real cheap, so I found two I liked for $1. As if I have room for more! With temperatures warming up I'm wearing less layers which means I'm really cramming things in as it is. But there is something to be said about having a paper book as opposed to one I've downloaded on my iPad...
Harold's apartment was not far. Although it wasn't what I thought of as an apartment, since it wasn't a multilevel building, but rather a series of ground floor dwellings.
I'm glad I dawdled getting there to be honest. Harold was quite talkative, in the way that drains me. He's a retired history prof, need I say more?
He fed me a decent supper though.
I suppose I had thought I'd get a real bed, but no. Living room floor, time to pull out the Thermarest.
It was going to be a long night of tossing and turning again as I never sleep well on it. In some ways I just resign myself to things, always in hope that perhaps tomorrow I will get a better nights sleep.
"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7
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- Eritia
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