Day 4 - A Late Start and a Late Ending

It started out simple enough. Request a 30 minute delayed checkout from Motel Stinky. That turned into 1.5 hours. I finally got in the saddle at 12:30 after some dawdling. Fortunately, the first part of the ride was downhill! Then the climb out of the town of Jacumba, where the US - Mexican border/wall is very visible. I should have taken a photo of the Jacumba airport. 1 Cessna and 1 glider and a windsock was the extent of the airport.

Along the way, at the peak elevation of the day, I met a US Customs Border guard. I was taking a break, sitting in the shade and we chatted for a bit. He asked, "What possessed you to make this journey?" I explained that timing is everything and I had wanted to make this ride for many years. Succinctly, he called me crazy. I assured him, I AM crazy!

After, crossing the crest of the hill where I met the border guard, it was 8 miles of downhill. Some of it quite scary, but visually breathtaking.


I pulled into El Centro at 11:55 PM. Now it wasn't straight riding the whole time, I stopped an smelled the onion field - AWESOME. Love me some onions!

 Not much of a horse guy, but upon really close inspection, the color of the horse and the slight contrast of the brown grass is wonderful.

 Man's influence.

 Not very easy tell, but the dying burgundy flowers are really pretty.

Just cool

Again, just cool.

Munching in the warm sun.

Post office in a town of 400 on the Mexican border.

Panoramic view.

Already had descended a mile.

Looks like a pile of dirt, but it sure ain't.

Vista

Vista, me, and a drain pipe

Panoramic vista.

Dried white flowers on dying scrub brush with bleached ground backdrop

Where the heck am I?

Mountain.

Mountain.

Vista

Vista.

Vista.

Approaching the desert at sunset. A mere 30 miles until El Centro.

Not much of a religious fella, but LOVE the contrast of the light blue dome against the sky blue sky.



The vistas of the day were phenomenal. The vistas of the night were also tremendous while pedaling through the Yuha Desert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuha_Desert) - While I was wondering what I would miss by riding through the desert at night, I happened upon a crystal clear night. Just me and the cosmos. I scored one of the most wonderful happenings of my life - an amazing single meteor, streaming across the sky with it's tail aglow - absolutely remarkable.

When I came to the town of Seeley, a few miles west of El Centro, I met a 17 year old named Joshua. I was seeking a library but he advised it was closed. We met on a soccer field and I asked him if he wanted me to play in goal so he could shoot on goal and not have to chase every ball he kicked. We played for approximately 15 minutes and I learned he's an aspiring boxer - he was so polite and seemed like a gentle soul - how do you get to boxing?

So I turned in for the evening upon reaching El Centro.