Day One: Destination Globe Arizona

Woke up bright and early with only 2 hours of sleep under my belt - hurriedly packed the bike and hoped I wasn't forgetting anything important like gas cylinders or underwear. By 6am I was set - hugged and kissed Noah and then rode in front of Nigel and Cayla as they followed me down to the McDonald's off of Aero Drive and I-15, where we'd meet everyone before heading over to the KUSI-TV station at 6:45. The whole way down I was thinking, I can't believe I'm really doing this - that the day is finally here after six months of planning...am I insane, am I a bad mother or am I showing my children that it's okay to grab life and live each day to the fullest? It's only 15 days - but when you're on the morning of day one, that seems like a lifetime (and all unknown!). But I guess that's what life is, at any rate...you just prepare yourself, set out, and hope for the best.

Here's the video from KUSI-TV! http://www.kusi.com/news/goodmorning/20627639.html

By the time we finally left the station, it was after 8am, and the temperature was already rising. When we got past SDSU - it was up to 88 degrees, and I was glad that I had cold water/Gatorade in my camelback (a backpack that holds about a liter of liquid, which has a tube that I can use to drink from as I'm riding). We were heading straight out on I-8, which as you can imagine, got hotter and hotter and hotter the further east we went. By Dateland, it was 121, and I had been riding with my full-face helmet fully closed with the faceshield down, because opening it felt like someone was blasting a hair dryer straight at my face. At Dateland, which consists of a gas station, a gift shop, and a restaurant, we stopped for lunch, and were excited because it was a classic diner with malts and burgers - lots of locals escaping the heat, and the friendliest staff you'll ever hope to find. Charna (sp?) was the woman in charge, and she gave us a bucket of ice water to soak our coolvests in while we were eating - AND let us park our bikes up on the sidewalk under the eaves so that we'd have some shade. http://www.dateland.com/ If you're ever out that way - stop by...the food is delicious, the folks great, and the AC cranks. What more can you ask for!

Coming next post (day one cont.)...
Heat exhaustion, random $100 donation, Desert Diamonds in Casa Grande, and finally...Globe!