Done!

I rolled (more accurately waddled through sand) into the Pacific Ocean in San Diego at about 1:30 Pacific Time yesterday. The water was a beautiful sight, and I had no real problems completing the last 65 miles. Coming over the mountain on the 19th was very difficult, facing 15-30 mph winds coming up the 3000 ft grade. The trip in total took 71 and a half days. It feels extremely strange to be done, and it has not really sunk in yet. My knee does need a bit of time off, but already it is feeling a lot better now that it knows it doesn't have to work 6 hours in a row for a while. Thank you to everyone who has helped me directly on this trip and to everyone who has kept up with me and offered me support. Without the kindness and generousity of everyone I met along the way, this trip would not have been possible. Please feel free to ask me questions via phone or email, I'd love to answer them. I'd like to thank my mom as well for being such a tremendous help to me over the course of this trip. The website will not be updated for at least a few days, so be patient, and I will get pictures and trip statistics up there as soon as is possible. Thanks again!

11 Days...

Since I've made a post. Wow, sorry. A lot to update on, and not much time. Grand Canyon was incredible. I highly recommend it to any of you who haven't been there. I don't know if anyone else can claim that they skated alongside the Grand Canyon, a pretty cool experience for sure. I rested for two days in Williams to try to heal my knee, which has been bothering me since the beginning of Arizona, and it sort of worked. Sam and Billie were two of the most giving and interesting people I have met on this trip, so it was hard to leave. I discovered how to make the knee not hurt for about the first half of each day, so I've been chugging through. Right now, I'm in Brawley, CA, but will not officially be here until tomorrow. As of tomorrow, I will have under 150 miles to go. If the wind cooperates, I think my body will be fine, but today it was blowing pretty hard. I estimate that I have about 4 days left, which is exciting, weird, challenging, and not much. By the way, it hits about 115 here, and that's cool for this time of year. I probably won't make another post until I'm done, so thanks so much for keeping up with my trip!

Tuba City

What a great name. I have skated long and hard to get here. Saturday and Sunday were both about 70 miles. I slept in a stable next to a horse on Saturday night(which was really pretty cool). I was really lucky in finding a family to stay with on Sunday night, and got to see monument valley. Needless to say, I was pretty tired yesterday, so I took a short day to a town called Black Mesa, which is pretty much a store. I was all set to just camp outside of the store when I ran into Jeff(I'm guessing that's the right spelling), the youth pastor of a church in Pennsylvania who is leading a mission trip this week in Arizona. He invited me up for dinner, and I met a lot of interesting and enthusiastic young adults. I camped out there, and slept OK. Tonight, I got a real good deal at the Quality Inn here, thanks to Iva, who thinks I'm crazy, and is probably correct. Hotel! I'll write again the next time I find an internet cafe.........ha.

New Plan

I'm going to San Diego. It's hot, but it makes the most sense from where I am currently. I'll probably be there sometime in the August 20s. I don't know if I'll have a computer between now and then, so until then....

Desert?

I think I'm in what they call the high desert now, but it's pretty green. I've got about two and a half days left in New Mexico. The roads in this state have continued to be pretty bad, but I've made it through the worst of it and now I'm on a nice smooth road. Ahhhh. The scenery changes very quickly here, and I've passed through the red cliffs and into the brownish ones. I got a chance to see Santa Fe two days ago with one of my mom's friends, and its a place that's worth checking out. Also provided by Andrew and his wife Michaela was the best steak I've ever had. Period. Thanks guys! And also, a big thanks to Pauline and Ivan Chacon for dinner, pets, and board, and Karin, Tom, and Danny for a lot of fun in Taos(I've probably already mentioned this in the previous blog, and discover this upon hitting "publish post" but will be too lazy to come back and change it). So anyway, tomorrow I'm off to Bloomfield, where I will be picked up by the Honigs(some friends from New Canaan) and taken to their house in Durango. There I will plan the rest of my trip, and will probably decide between ending in San Francisco as originally planned, or San Diego, which might make a little more sense from where I am.

Mountains

This shift key is sticky, i'm not going to use it anymore. i just had the best day for scenery i've had all trip. i climbed from 6400 ft to 9101 ft and then came back down to 6700 ft over the course of 55 miles or so. these mountains are beautiful, i would have made much better time if i hadn't been compelled to take so many pictures of them. words really cannot describe my experience today. anyway, now i'm safely in taos, nm, and this place has the most culture i've seen on this trip so far. i actually "blew a tire" (couldn't avoid that shift, and again for the ( and ) ) today; the rubber part of the wheel detached from the plastic. that's a lot of abuse. anyway, my new set of wheel felt great flying down the backside of whatever rocky i was on.

O o o o o o oooooooooklahoma

And that'll do it for the old movie references. Anyway, I've been here for a few days. Got 9 holes in yesterday with Todd Singleterry, who is a great guy with a great family and friends. On top of the golf I got a jam session. What more can a guy ask for? Today's road was TERRIBLE, and I got through it, but barely. As a result, I have no energy to write a post. However, I'll try to do some more tomorrow when I hit New Mexico. And thanks to the Nelsons for putting me up tonight and for introducing me to so many great people here in Boise City!