Best Western served a full breakfast, not just the regular continental. I had fruit, OJ, coffee, biscuits and gravy, sausage, eggs, and a pastry.
Knowing that the hostel didn’t open for registration until 5 pm, I had a full breakfast, and took off at 8:41.
Forecast for today, high of 82, much cooler than normal.View from a bridge near Morristown. Until the city, this was pretty much the consistent view on both sides.
There was a slight downward trend to the route, but a crosswind or headwind.
Looking down a cross street to my right, the flag indicates the wind blowing left to right. I’m riding right to left. At least it kept me cool.Arizona trash cans were huge. Even the single houses had this size. Maybe in a hot, dry climate, they can afford to pick up just once a month. The opposite of Hawaii, where we had pickups twice a week when I grew up there. My bike actually fell over after this picture was taken, resetting the cyclometer. But I remembered that the mileage was 18.8 at the time.The store in Wittmann had a coco paleta for 99 cents.
At 11:49 am, I saw 7 fire vehicles racing on call in the other direction on the highway.
I stopped at Golden Corral for lunch in Surprise. The cashier charged me $8.99 for the senior buffet, and didn’t even card me. I’m actually not technically a senior by their definition, which is 60. One of the patrons there told me that there was a brush fire near Woodman, not near homes, though. Hope they got it.
Today, I saw an actual horned lizard, but it scampered away too fast to take a picture. The image that comes to mind is sand crab on the beach. I also saw an actual kangaroo rat, but it jumped into the brush quickly, too. This is the only thing I could get a picture of.Just wanted to show you what the landscaping looks like in the Phoenix suburbs.The bike path is actually a trail shared by pedestrians, cyclists, and equestrians.
My Android phone was still predicting arrival at the hostel at 4:11 pm. I turned off the Arizona River Trail and stopped at a Jack’s to get a cool drink, refill my water bottle, and use the bathroom.
Yes, I’m in Phoenix. The cars in the two middle lanes were at virtual standstill
Got to the Phoenix Hostel just a few minutes after 5. I wasn’t really sweating, because there was a dry breeze blowing, and it wasn’t terribly hot. Keith checked me in. $24 for HI members, $27 non-members.
I checked in at the hostel and met Elaine (Eliane) from northern B.C., Canada. She was here to help her daughter in law with a baby soon to be born. Elaine had ridden all the major trains in the world, and visited all 50 US States.When I got back from dinner, many of the younger people were participating in a hot dog roast. Keith the host on the left, Emma (staff), and Arnaud (Arnot? Arnold?) from Belgium, trying a cheap American beer. It was his last night before going home, after many weeks.After I checked in, Keith had a lot of useful advice on which roads to take. Emma is from New Zealand, and manages the computers and social media for the hostel. Their page is here . She also does graphic arts.(L-R) Elaine, Veronica from Colorado, originally Toronto, who had just walked in moments before. She will be doing an internship with Forest and Game Service. Lucky! Ryan in the middle, and Yee-Kahn (I’m spelling phonetically, it sounds like Econ) is visiting from China. Robin on the right.
