I'll name this chapter of my life, "Hotter Than Hell"

I pulled into Mexic... I mean, Brawley, CA, about an hour and a half ago. 72 miles from Palo Verde, through 90+ degree heat and sand dunes. I was boiling and at one point thought the rubber from my tires was going to melt into the pavement. They didn't, fortunately, and after nearly 7 hours of riding I made it. This was by far the most grueling ride of the tour and also the longest. I'm tired and don't think I've ever enjoyed a warm shower more than the one I just took. The trail I'm riding, the Southern Tier trail, runs from San Diego to Florida. The portion I just finished is considered by almost everybody to be the most difficult. Feeling pretty good about myself.

I am super beat and as much as I'd love to write more, I'm going to post some pictures instead and call it a night.

Wait, I thought this was a bicycle tour!

Have been taking it easy today in Palo Verde. I got my hands on a canoe and took if for a cruise on the river! Way fun. This nice little lady just stopped by my campsite (which has WiFi!) and offered to bring me a fishing pole to use. Canoe ride/fishing tonight? Sounds pretty awesome and makes me forget about the desert ride ill be on tomorrow!

Sitting around the campsite with three more cycling tourists, going the opposite direction. Peggy, Jim and Paul. Awesome people! Peggy and Jim have thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, which is my next goal and dream to conquer. Paul used a website called KickStarter to earn the money to travel the country on bicycle, taking portrait photographs of people he meets along the way. Very, very cool! Paul says, "here we are sitting within 20 feet of each other and were all looking at each others blogs to learn about one another." Ha! Gave us all a big laugh!

"And Now You Will Have The Sky"

Last night at the Palo Verde Bar and Grill I spent some time talking with a old-school hippie, John, quite a bit about a lot things. We talked about human nature, traveling on the west coast and many other things that just aren't coming to me right now. John came to my campsite this afternoon to wish me well on my journey and to give me a necklace he crafted himself. I am still blown away by the kindness and couldn't be more thrilled by it. It's a beautiful piece. I'm honored to be wearing it. I told him it matches perfectly with the necklace I've been wearing. It was given to me by an old friend back home. The main bead is planet earth and I told John that I always carry the world around my neck... He replied, "and now you will have the sky."

These types of things are worth more to me than any amount of money. This necklace is going to see many incredible places with me.