March 15th, 2008 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (Arizona)
The body is very communicative. When it talks to me, I try to listen. Last night it was saying that I need full day off. It said this by not letting me go back to sleep after I woke up at 2am.
So here I am, updating the website on David’s computer that he graciously let me use. Thanks Dave.
I have a fairly tight schedule to keep over the next two weeks or so. I am speaking at a benefit dinner for Lowe Syndrome in the city of Hemet, just south east of Los Angeles on the 29th of March. That means that I’ll have to keep up an average of at least 47 miles a day when I’m skateboarding in order to get there on time. Nothing quite like a little pressure to get things going.
It has been a pleasure staying here in the campground/hotsprings at Essence of Tranquility. Very relaxing, and other very cool campers!
March 14th, 2008 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (Arizona)
Today’s distance / ???????: 10.7 miles / 17.3km
Average speed / ????: 11.9mph / 19.1km/h
Time on skateboard / ????: 54 minutes
Total skateboarding distance to date / ????????????: 3446mi plus 280mi (?) / 5545km plus 450km (?)
Ascent / ??: n/a
Descent / ??: n/a
End-of-day GPS coordinates: Safford Chamber of Commerce
Wow. Tailwind, downhill. Average speed of almost 20km/h over one hour. Lovely short morning of skating today down into the Gila Valley and the town of Safford.
Coming into Safford, I bumped into two other cross-country travelers, one going by the name of Stumpknocker. Cindy and Mark are their real names. They have been enjoying tailwinds in the afternoons for the past week or so…
I stopped at the Visitor’s Center / Chamber of Commerce, and arranged for an interview with the local paper. While I was waiting for the reporter to come, I visited the laundromat to clean my clothes. Five days of grime is not pretty.
Interview over, Joane from the Chamber of Commerce was nice enough to drive me the five miles to the Essence of Tranquility, a campground/hostel/hot springs resort just south of town.
For US$15 a night and unlimited use of the hot spring tubs, I was in!
A great spot to relax and recharge.
I met other campers including Carlos the Guide/Educator/Speaker, David the rockhound, Jana (a Croatian, Carlos’s girlfriend, and soon to be biologist), and Karen the social worker from Phoenix.
March 13th, 2008 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (Arizona),USA (New Mexico)
Today’s distance / ???????: 49 miles / 79km
Average speed / ????: 8.2mph / 13.1km/h
Time on skateboard / ????: 6h 01m
Total skateboarding distance to date / ????????????: 3435mi plus 280mi (?) / 5528km plus 450km (?)
Ascent / ??: 345m
Descent / ??: 615m
End-of-day GPS coordinates: N32.47.16.0, W109.32.47.4
At the usual time, a few minutes before sun-up, I was up and getting ready to leave for another day of skating. For the first time in quite a while, I was feeling great. Anxious to get on the road, anxious to see what lay up ahead. The wind was still blowing when I retired to my tent last night, but like the last five days, it was calm in the morning. A slight tailwind even.
I was on the road by 8:05am, about an hour after sun-up. Breakfast was sultana bran with reconstituted powdered milk.
The funny desert trees stood proudly in the morning light.
Ten miles down the road, I entered Arizona, and my world changed forever. At last, smooth roads. Smooth, rolled, blacktop.
The roads in New Mexico were acceptable. The roads here in Arizona are exemplary. Excellent. Smooth, quiet. Luverly.
The scenery has changed, also. Tighter valleys. The mountain tops are closer. The contours and lay of the land is more understandable. Clearer passes. Distinction between up and down.
Once again, as if by clockwork, the westerly wind arrived in force at 12 noon. I was feeling good however. Blow as hard as you may, you dastardly wind! I have a smooth road! Nothing can stop me! I would come to regret those words, as you will see in the next post…
It was a long hard climb out of Duncan, uphill and into the wind. The top of the ‘pass’ came around however, and I felt the gentle downward slope towards Safford. The wind prevented any easy coasting downhill however, and I had to push even though I was heading downhill.
Amazing hills and surrounds here…
Like yesterday, I took shelter around 5pm and ate dinner, carrying on after a short rest for another two hours. Instead of using my hammock for shelter today, I sat in a large culvert under the road, out of the sun and wind.
I was still 10 miles away from Safford when it started growing dark. Time to stop and camp. I jumped a fence and found a spot just out of sight of the highway behind a not-so-grassy and very stony knoll.
