{"id":575,"date":"2017-05-13T23:52:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T06:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/?p=575"},"modified":"2017-05-14T15:54:10","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T22:54:10","slug":"blythe-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/blythe-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"Blythe, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I was still aching from the previous day’s ride, today I had a short day of only 27 miles.\u00a0 Also, as it was Saturday, I would be staying over for church.\u00a0 It was a perfect time to rest in a city.<\/p>\n

The previous day, someone at the RV park warned me not to take Hwy 78 to Blythe, due to heavy traffic.\u00a0 “You’ll get killed,” he said, suggesting an alternate route.<\/p>\n

\"Hwy
What traffic? Looked safe to me. Besides, the other roads were not nearly in as good condition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a headwind, and in my weakened condition, the ride was not as easy at it should have been.<\/p>\n

\"swc
An additional reason for staying over in a large town was the possibility of a thrift store. This non-descript shop is the Sheltering Wings Corporation. (SWC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Palo Verde, I realized that full-length sweatpants were impractical for the remainder of the trip. Way too warm. A pair of shorts would be better, not just for sleeping, but for walking around. At SWC, there was a huge selection of women’s clothing, but as usual, the pickings for men were lean. The shorts were either too small, too large, or too golfy. I took the least objectionable pair into the changing room, and saw that some previous person had left a decent pair of cargo shorts, there. I tried on the cargo shorts, and not only were they functionally what I wanted, they fit perfectly. As all the other shoppers in the store were female, I assumed that whoever left the shorts didn’t want them. I got them for $2.50 . Another sign?<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cooler than it was the day before. But then again, it’s only about noon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had lunch at La Paloma restaurant, then looked for a motel. I had noticed a Sizzler restaurant, which I love<\/em> for the salad bar. So I tried the motel across the street. <\/p>\n

\"Budget
A practice that Louise recommended was trying the first<\/strong> lodging listed on the Adventure Cycling Map, as it is usually the best. The Budget Host Motel did not disappoint. $99 for TWO nights, wi-fi, and free breakfast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The woman who checked me in was A. I noticed that she was sniffling, and her eyes were watery. I asked whether it was allergy, or a cold, and she said that she was just upset, but it would be all right. After she checked me in, I asked if she might tell me what was troubling her. Being away from her kids for 16 days, and both of them have ear infections. Maybe I was put there at that exact time to hear that. I said I would pray for her children, and did. Would you join me?<\/p>\n

I decided to try sink-washing my 3 shirts. After wringing them out, I hung them in the shower.<\/p>\n

\"\"
This is the hat I bought in Brawley, and the shorts I got here in Blythe. Yes, my shirt is wet – I washed it in the sink.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a Dollar Tree store 2 blocks away, so I decided to put on one of the shirts, sopping wet, for the walk over. It was cold when I first put it on, but very comfortable on the walk over. By the time I got to the store, the shirt was barely damp. I got a 42 oz Arizona Tea, a 1 liter box of Jumex Peach Nectar, and a can of Stax sour cream and onion chips. Prices are lower here than in my home town of San Jose. When I left the store, my shirt was dry.<\/p>\n

\"theater
This appears to be the only movie theater in town, now shut down. Movies, video arcade, and ice cream. I can’t help but wonder how many young people had dates here, and fell in love in years past.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dinner was at Sizzler, of course. I dried out a second shirt by wearing it to the restaurant. Forgot to use my room key for a 10% discount, but I suppose I saved that much money by doing sink laundry, anyway.<\/p>\n

Miles for today: 27.0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I was still aching from the previous day’s ride, today I had a short day of only 27 miles.\u00a0 Also, as it was Saturday, I would be staying over for church.\u00a0 It was a perfect time to rest in a city. The previous day, someone at the RV park warned me not to take … Continue reading Blythe, CA<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}