January 5, 2019 - Quartzsite, AZ to 6 miles S of Aguila, AZ Day 6 Cross Country Bike Ride

It was still dark at 7am, so we all stayed in bed until close to 8am! We had cloudy skies and chilly temperatures – about 40 degrees when they started off today. Tyler had never been to Quartzsite before and was a little surprised at how thousands of RVers just pull off into the BLM land and park wherever they want, with no rhyme or reason. It is a bit unusual, but Tobey and I have been here before, so it wasn’t new to us.They had some adjustments to make to the bikes before we got started. Tobey is lucky that Tyler is so handy!The I-10 on ramp was the beginning of their first 12 miles today. Some of the cars and truckers were pretty considerate and changed lanes so they had more room on the shoulder. It was much appreciated!At the Highway 60 off ramp, we had the first rest stop of the day. Heading north on Highway 60, we had much better views of the desert landscape and vegetation. The desert flowers were in bloom.They had less traffic most of the way north, but they also had to fight a headwind for the next 15 miles or so. One of the tiny towns we went through was Hope, Arizona, a small unincorporated community in La Paz County. Its name was  inspired by the community’s hope for increased business after merchants visited the town. The community consists of one RV park, one gas station, one antique shop and one church! As I left town, I chuckled over this sign. I hoped that Tobey and Tyler didn’t feel that way!Later we passed through Salome, Arizona. The historic marker made me wonder about the place. It was founded in 1904. The town name and motto are supposed to come from Grace Salome Pratt. It is said that Salome got out of a car barefoot and quickly took to dancing to keep her feet from burning on the desert sand. Who knows for sure? Arizona history, can be interesting sometimes!The guys stopped for the day about 4:30 pm, six miles south of Aguila, AZ after riding 57 miles. We drove into Aguila and, after making a phone call to make sure it was okay, we are camping at the Fire Station tonight. It is sprinkling and unfortunately, the forecast for tomorrow includes rain. We hope the rain will stop overnight and tomorrow is only overcast.

Tyler has a flight home tomorrow night so they will see how far they get tomorrow before we load the bikes and drive back into Scottsdale so he can make it to the airport.