WE'RE MOVING OUR BLOG TO A NEW SITE. THE SITE WILL BE UP ONCE WE START THE SECOND HALF OF OUR BIKE TRIP & WILL HAVE OUR BLOG ALONG WITH REVIEWS AND OTHER GOOD STUFF ->  http://lifeultralight.com/
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Oh, Hey!! It's been a while since we updated everyone on our travels. As you probably noticed, Joe and I stopped keeping up with the blog RIGHT before we got into San Diego. We were just so excited to finally make it to San Diego....then thanksgiving came along...then Christmas...then well, you get the point. So this is our update for the final days into San Diego. Our next post will explain what the heck we've been doing since then ;)


November 21, 2015
Glamis -> Ocotillo: 70 miles

Happy 2 yr anniversary to us! We've done a lot together and almost biked across the country. It's been an awesome 2 years :)

For today, we packed up camp in a sand storm. Not literally, but it was VERY windy and it might as well have been a sand storm. I kinda maybe drank too much the night before and was not feeling good! That's the joy of these bike trips though...if you're hungover or not feeling the best you bike through it. I'm sure there are days where you don't want to go to the gym or wherever...well I HAVE to go haha and I'm okay with that! I never have to worry about getting exercise.

After some greasy food and long, never ending roads we ended in Ocotillo. Population 240. I think I could see the whole town if I stood in the middle of it. There was basically 1 bar, 1 restaurant, and 1 motel (w/ 4 rooms). Joe figured out earlier that the restaurant lets bikers camp in the back. Since we had our campsite figured out for the night we decided to head to the bar and play a game of pool...and it was about the only option we had for our anniversary. It was fun whooping Joe's butt ;)


November 22, 2015
Ocotillo -> before Pine Valley: 40 miles

We had a great breakfast at the diner we slept next to. That was the least we could do to say thank you and we needed the energy for a full day of climbing! One more mountain to go....thank YOU! If there was one thing I have had enough of (for the moment) it's mountains. I also thought we would be getting to San Diego today and after seeing that we still had 100 miles, I realized that probably wasn't going to happen.

Do you see how close Jacumba Hot Springs is to the border!? Our maps routed us through that odd little town and we ended up biking right next to the wall that separates us from Mexico. We had to go through another border patrol checkpoint...the first one since Texas. They always just ask us questions about our trip and don't care too much about what is in our bags. Of course we would be silly to be smuggling drugs...very slowly...on bicycles :P 

Both of us were felling pretty beat around mile 35 and saw this cool campsite on the side of the road. After several hours of pedaling up a mountain, the thought of relaxing by our tent for the rest of the afternoon seemed like a greaaaaat idea. And that's just what we did. I wrote in my sketchbook, we gathered firewood, set up our tent and sleeping gear, made some dinner, and ate by the fire. 

November 23, 2015

Pine Valley -> SAN DIEGOOOOOOO: 

Today was eventful! I never thought I would make it this far and it definitely doesn't feel like I just cycled across the country! Today was supposed to be a slight uphill and the rest downhill into San Diego. We went pretty slow in the morning knowing that we were basically going to cruise into town. Little did we know that there were 20 more hills to climb...AND that getting into San Diego isn't really a downhill at all. We were very confused. Ended up getting to the beach around 5 in the afternoon where our moms met us! They came running down the beach with balloons and champagne hahaha. That was pretty funny, but also very welcoming. We all had a great dinner together then we were off to the house that we rented for a week. 

November 16, 2015

Brawley -> Glamis: 29 miles

The group that we were meeting in Glamis wasn't supposed to be there until 2pm. We are only about 30 miles away...AND going to have a cranking tail wind. It will only take us 2 hours to get there and we couldn't really get there early, because we would just be sitting in the sand waiting. So we went to Starbucks first thing in the morning. Walmart was just next-door too and we always need something from there so we kept busy for a little bit. Eventually we had run out of things to do in Brawley. There's not much going on there. Not to mention the group is stuck in traffic and won't be to Glamis until dark. Joe and I decided to head there anyways and bike SUPER slow. 

We still beat them there haha. Ryan got there early too and we just hung out until the rest of the crew got there. Just so you know the crew: Ryan S., DeAnna, Kirk, Curtis, Ryan R., Trey, Brady, Dave, me & Joe and Dave & Sean came for a few days too. Once everyone arrived we set up camp and got the toys out of the RV's then ate dinner around the campfire. Joe came to Glamis with all of the same people and more in February of this year so he knew the drill. That included a night time ride through the dunes. That was awesome!! 

November 17-20

Hanging out in Glamis

This week was AWESOME! To tell you what this week was all about: Ryan Shaw has a paramotoring business and had this great idea to bring a couple RV's, ATV's, parameters, and a RZR to Glamis for a week. So it's basically a paramotoring event and everyone there knows how to fly...except for me. That was alright though...I had a great time taking pictures.  Everyday went mostly like this: wake up to coffee, everyone went flying if the wind was good, and if the wind wasn't good we went for a ride on the ATV's. At night we sat around the campfire and every night was basically a party haha and there would always be a late night ride through the dunes. 

The wind was too rough to fly the first day and we thought the trip was going to be cut short because the wind forecast looked bad for thursday, friday, & saturday. The wind ended up being perfect! I'll just list some highlights of the week: DeAnna rolled the RZR and popped the tire off the rim, a lot of people flipped ATV's, Joe destroyed a wing, I flipped the RZR front over back and back on the wheels again, Trey went to the hospital, Ryan went to the hospital, I ejected Joe from the RZR (he flipped over it), Joe Brady & Ryan all got to go free flying off a huge sand dune, the Trio (Ryan, Trey & Joe) reunited :P , and I'm sure I'm missing something. It was a great time and I'm glad I got to be there :) DeAnna cooked us great food and I was stoked to get pictures of everyone flying. 

you can see part of camp in this picture

beautiful sunset!

Ryan free flying in the background!

the crew minus Dave & Sean

November 15, 2015

Salton Sea -> Brawley, CA: 45 miles

On our way to Brawley we stopped by Slab City. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere and almost everyone lives in a camper or tent. There is no electricity or running water so everyone lives off the grid. It's definitely a site to see. People come visit slab city to check out Salvation Mountain, a giant hill painted with bible verses by this dude Leonard Knight. Pretty crazy! There's even a mound that you can walk inside with a prayer room and a bunch of tiny rooms. 

After checking that out we booked it to Brawley where we had a warm showers set up. The wind was going crazy on the way there. Luckily we got to Bill and Teresa's house just as the wind started blowing 20mph. Bill was at a local (once a year) Rodeo when we got into town. We swung by to watch from the top of a hill. That night Teresa made an awesome dinner with butternut squash, salad, and chicken YUM! They were more than welcoming and it was the coolest thing...they had 5 giant birds! All of them were on the porch sitting on their own perch when we arrived :) 

November 14, 2015
Indio -> Bombay Beach: 47 miles

Left Deede & Richards house and headed to the Salton Sea! For anyone that doesn't know about the Salton Sea it's the largest body of water in California. It was made by accident in 1905. Engineers were trying to get water in the area for farming and dug canals from the Colorado River. The Colorado River overflowed one year and drained into their canals for 2 years and created the Salton Sea. It's super salty so there are dead fish everywhere. Tilapia is the only fish in the water, however, there are about 400 species of bird.

The coolest part about the area is that in the 1950's the Salton Sea was a HUGE summer destination. Due to agricultural runoff, pollution, and salinity of the lake it's basically been deserted. The fish died off except for tilapia. All along the shores there are abandoned buildings and signs of a once awesome summer destination. I didn't get many pictures of the buildings like I wanted, but I'll go back one day and do that...when I have a car.

Most people probably wouldn't want to camp there, but it wasn't too bad. We found a spot with no dead fish :P

leaving Deede & Richard's

first sight of the Salton Sea

gross. dead fish everywhere...EVERYWHERE

see....not so bad of a spot

November 13, 2015
Staying in Indio: 0 miles

Had a great break day! Starting with a great egg & spaghetti squash breakfast and coffee of course :) Then we made a much needed trip to Walmart! Stocked up on groceries before leaving town. Joe and I spent more than we have this whole trip on groceries. Better to have too much than not enough though. In the afternoon the 4 of us went on a little hike in La Quinta! Town was very cool. I like the neighborhoods a lot. Indio is right next to Coachella, a town that has a huge music festival every year (https://www.coachella.com). Joe and I wanted to check out Coachella, but apparently theres not too much going on in town. Only during the festival. So we stayed in Indio and went to In & Out again...

Joe got introduced to Rocky Horror Picture Show and he really liked it, because now he realizes why his friend Mike Adelman likes it so much. It was nice staying at Richard & Deede's house, because we felt so much at home. We could relax and not feel like we were imposing. They were so generous, welcoming, and more like friends than strangers.

Joe, me, Deede, Richard, & Thor

ah so cute! 

November 11, 2015
Hidden Valley-> South entrance of Joshua Tree: 50 miles

We got a great view of the park! Rode straight through the whole thing. To be honest, after we left Hidden Valley campground there wasn't much to see besides rocks. Don't get me wrong, it was very beautiful, just nothing crazy awesome. After riding through the park we found a place to camp along i10. Joe said that we couldn't have a fire because there wasn't enough wood around. Well I wanted a fire! haha and after we both looked around a little...well just look at the picture. I think we found enough firewood.

November 12, 2015

Joshua Tree -> Indio: 29 miles

This was the lowest we've ever been on food. For breakfast we each had 3 bites of oatmeal and 1 plain tortilla. We needed a grocery store BAD! Ok, we weren't going to die of starvation. If anything happened we still had 1 cup of rice and 1 box of spaghetti noodles. That was all though...definitely the least amount of food that we've ever carried on the trip. 

Good thing we had a GREAT downhill into Indio. Going from about 4000ft to sea level in 30 miles! Joe got a flat early in the morning and we couldn't figure out what that metal thing was that popped his tire. Of course after our tiny breakfast...as soon as we got into Indio and went straight to In and Out Burger! It was delicious! Neither of us had been to one before so we were pretty clueless about ordering but their menu isn't too hard to read. Burgers, Fries, & Shakes, the end. 

After lunch we headed to a Warm Showers house. Deede and Richard were stoked to have us! And we were stoked to have a shower! We had a very delicious soup dinner and talked for hours. It was a perfectly relaxing night.