Wandering Wheels - 22 January 1991

From an ocean of water to an ocean of land. I've certainly become aware on this trip of the immensity of the earth. Today's ride was one of the best of the entire trip. Straight, flat roads, miles upon miles of desert scenery, a bright, beautiful sun and a somewhat cooling breeze (albeit a head wind).

The morning started early after long night's sleep, a needed one after yesterday. We got up at 6:45 AM, well before our wake up call. We had breakfast and I realized that nature was calling. Unfortunately, the toilets were backed up. So I took my first ever, all-natural restroom break out in the desert, kind of an historical event in my life.

Then Team Bias took off, after a nice little devotion by Randy about being kind. I'm so afraid that I'm going to be become insensitive to all the beauty around me. I've seen so much on this trip and sometimes it's hard to take it all in. But today's ride was something else. Mountains on the left, desert on the right, the road stretched out before us. It's almost impossible to take it all in, but I'm certainly giving it my best shot. I got to set the pace today, 'cause we rode side by side with no cars coming, at least not many. Mostly trucks, which caused wonderful tailwinds for 1 1/2 seconds. We biked a sweet pace, about 18-20 mph for about twenty miles 'til we reached a little place called Blu In. It was one of the few signs of life we saw on the first half of today's trip. Unfortunately, like many of the places in California, it was closed on Monday's and Tuesday's, so we had to settle for a short break and a quick restroom stop. Then we were on our way.

We continues our quick pace and continued to have beautiful sunshine and a cooling wind. By this time it was getting close t lunch, so we all were looking for the Cube and the bus. We'd crest hills and hope to see it, but it was always just not there. Once we saw the van on the side of the road, but it turned out to be Shawn and Tim sunbathing on the side of the road (poor Tim). Then we crested a hill and there in the distance we could see the brightly colored bus waiting for us. So we began to sprint. However, the bus was just a little farther away than it looked, so we pretty much burned ourselves out by the time we got there.

Lunch wasn't quite ready, so we pulled out some mats and did a little sunbathing. The weather was perfect and the sun felt so great. Lunch took about an hour and a half. We heard some great tunes on the radio, like "Hotel California" and "Ain't Nothin' Gonna Break My Stride." An exquisitely relaxing time.

And we were off again. The trip was pretty much uneventful. The second half we went through Imperial Valley and suddenly the dry and barren desert transformed into lush farmland. All that green right in the middle of nowhere. We stopped for a break in Westmoreland, not 'cause we were tired, but because the church wouldn't open until 3:45 and we had some time to kill.

The last seven miles were some of the worst roads we've had on the trip. Incredibly bumpy, little shoulder to ride on. Made my behind incredibly sore. But we persevered and finally reached our destination, the First Baptist Church in Brawley. Looked just like an old motel transformed into a church grounds, complete with an outdoor baptistry sporting a diving board. Randy discovered a shower out by the pool and then further surprised us by discovering it was a hot one. So everyone took their turn showering outside. Some people felt compelled to swim, though not of their own volition. By the time it was over, about 9-10 people had taken a dip in the baptistry/pool, which was approximately 30 degrees colder than the temp outside.

While others were playing, Team Bias, having got their showers first, snagged one of the best rooms in the place, complete with couch, TV, piano and electric organ. Then we were off to dinner at Pizza Hut. For some reason, the bus consistently parks as far away as possible from the place everyone wants to eat. Also, I can officially say now that I despise James Taylor, seeing as how they have played his tape for four days straight now on the bus. After two breadsticks, two large iced teas (with a salt shaker added) and four pieces of Meat Lover's Pizza, it was off to McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae.

Then we came back to the church and had yet another interesting class on power. All the biology people are seriously bummed 'cause they have two tests due I two days. Needless to say, they don't appreciate us having all this free time. I feel sorry for them, 'cause their class is ruining their trip. After our class, Randy, Dennis, Chip, Patty and I made 7-11 run for Slurpees. When we got back, we watched a little news about the Persian Gulf crisis, then eventually went to bed. But for some reason I'm not tired, so here I sit, writing my journal. I'm feeling vaguely lonely right now, but I'm not sure exactly why. I think I'm gong to go sit outside for a while and just think about things. I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow. Farewell, 'til then. Æ

Tunes: king's x - she's gone away