We had a slow start to our morning today. We had breakfast at the Steaks-n-Cakes Restaurant before leaving Blythe back to the Oxbow/Colorado River turnoff where the guys would start their day. On the way back, they looked at alternate roads to Hwy. 78 that might have less traffic and picked several county roads for the first 25 miles. By the time they had everything ready to go, it was almost 10 am! Yikes. Off they went.
I drove ahead about 2 miles and waited at a county park before starting off to meet them. There was a nice lagoon with lots of ducks in the water. The park actually had about 25 camping sites but no facilities.
I worked my way north along Highway 78 passing several cotton fields which had already been picked and large hay barns.
Just south of I-10 in Blythe, I met the guys for a lunch break.
This morning’s ride was better – warmer temperatures, less traffic and they were still smiling!
We knew we needed to dump and fill the RV with water, so I called a few of the RV parks nearby. We found one that was willing to let us – but I wouldn’t recommend them! The Cove charged $15 to dump gray water and fill. The other park we used only charged $3! Tobey did the dump and hooked the water up to the rig and got it started. They left me to finish filling and disconnect hoses and stow everything. First time for me, but I am happy to say, the tank got filled, the filter emptied, hose drained and everything put away without incident! 
The route required them to ride on I-10 off and on for part of the afternoon. Fortunately, the shoulder was wide and they were able to make good time. An exit onto Dome Road west of Quartzsite allowed them a short break and some adjustments to their bikes. 
As they got closer to Quartzsite, Tyler called me (they have Bluetooth headphones, so hands-free). His words, “Mom, we have a catastrophic failure. Can you come now?” My first thoughts were “oh my gosh – what happened. Who got hurt? It must be Tobey or else why was Tyler calling?” I tried to sound calm and said, “I am on my way!” Less than 5 minutes later, I saw them and stopped. Both standing, bikes appeared okay, so what was going on? Tobey’s phone and camera mount on his bike snapped, sending his phone, camera, and parts scattering on the road. The phone was okay, the camera is okay, but the mount is toast. They spent a few minutes trying to fix it then opted to keep going without it and work on repairs when they stopped for the night.
They continued for another five miles before Dome Road had a sign that it was no longer being maintained by the county – and it turned into a mess! I caught up and they loaded the bikes. Fortunately, we were right next to BLM land on the east edge of Quartzsite and were able to pull off and find a spot for the night. The sun was setting as I was able to get a shot of our spot. 
Dinner and showers followed with trying to work on the bike mount. It was determined that a new one will be ordered and delivered to our mom’s in Scottsdale. The guys spent some time going through the photos from the bike camera Tyler gave Tobey for Christmas. They also looked at some of the drone videos from today. We don’t have enough data/internet service to load them out here, but I will post them later!
Today’s ride was 49.5 miles – not bad for a late start!
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