Isaiah 58:11 - The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Sunday, we had an early start as we awoke at 3:45 so Doug could get an early start and beat some of the 114-degree heat. We decided after yesterday and getting a late start (mostly because of Mr. Harley Davidson) we needed to get an earlier start. He has a long ride to Blythe California today We surmised that if Doug could start at sunrise then he could get much of his riding behind him before it became 114 degrees again. This turned out to be a really good plan. We set our alarms for 4 am and we were on our way to yesterday's stopping point. The nearest hotel to our previous stopping point was 24 miles so, that gave us plenty of time in the truck. Yesterday he had just ridden across half of the desert - he still had another 50 miles to go. We were able to leave the hotel for the previous days stopping point by 4:25 am. This was really good because we had devotion in the truck and we were able to cover all the small errors we made the day before that became bigger errors. I will have Mary Miller's list of morning preparations when she takes over the reins next week and I return to my normal exciting and busy life! As Doug initially departed I took the opportunity to drive 10 miles down the road and wait for Doug to arrive. After he refreshed and rehydrated I would work on my blog for a while and then drive to the next point that was a good place to meet Doug. This worked really well as we leapfrogged across the desert. Our second stop was at the Hugh Osbourne Lookout park that is in the middle of the sand dunes. It is beautiful but with that beauty comes a very challenging leg of our journey. The sand dunes quickly turned into a rocky desert. At about 9:30 Doug had already conquered 60 miles. IT was a very good day riding as we got into a rhythm as a team. Lynn picks on me because I think all rocks are pretty - and I do. But there were so many pretty rocks and trees. The sharp jagged rocks would change to smooth boulders piled to the sky that made beautiful hills. Then the rocks would turn to sand and then the rocks would keep changing.

At the Hugh Osborne Overlook it was a great place to stop because they had nice restroom (nice but no running water). Several people stopped because it was the last point at which to have a mobile phone signal for a while. Part of my journey is that I want to meet people that need Jesus and pray for them. There was one woman that did stop at the Osborne overlook and she was well dressed and drove a nice car. Oddly enough she just got out and came over to us to talk for a moment. We told her Doug was riding across America on his bicycle and she thought that was awesome. She told us she was on her way to visit her grandfather in San Diego. I should have prayed for her and her grandfather but I was off kilter because I felt the situation was so awkward. With us and her alone in the middle of the desert. I prays for boldness in the next situation when I need to pray for someone.

Doug rode on and he actually finished his ride for the day in Palo Verde, California. Again there were no hotels within 20 miles so we had to book a room at the Clarion Hotel in Blythe, California. We drove on to Blythe and we had the opportunity to check in early so Doug swam in the pool and took a shower while I napped and then he napped while I blogged. He asked the receptionist at the counter where the best local restaurant was a she directed us to a small Mexican restaurant down the street from the hotel. Doug ordered a California breakfast burrito and I was in the mood to be adventurous so I ordered the daily special "Menudo" or as the waitress explain to me was cow stomach soup (I actually googled Menudo and she was not kidding) She said she was sorry they were sold out. They usually made 40 gallons on the day they served it and it was always gone by lunch. I had to settle for a steak and shrimp burrito. Dinner was very enjoyable.

After dinner we rode around and noticed Blythe is a very depressed town. We went to the dollar store for some necessities and Doug bought some ice cream. They did not have what I needed so we had to go further across town to the Rite-Aid store. I went in and Doug stayed in the truck to run the ac to keep his ice cream cold. After I had paid and returned to the truck Doug was actually helping the person in the car next to us try to jump start her car. I had to move the truck to get it closer so the jumper cables would reach. As we tinkered we talked and her name was Pricilla from Las Vegas. She was a "dancer" and "escort" there. Again I ran like a scared rabbit from someone who obviously needed prayer. We were unable to get her car to start so she was going to try to call a friend for help. We went back to the motel and I talked to Doug about how I failed at the two opportunities that presented themselves before me. Doug did make me feel better about my failures because they both were inappropriate settings for me to minister to woman without my wife or another female Christian present. We did pray for me to have Holy Boldness and for when the prayer need was presented before that I would rise to the occasion.

We hurried back to the motel room so we could enjoy some melted ice cream. We also had to bring in everything from the truck because the expensive bikes and supplies might be to much of a temptation for someone. We then retired for the evening as we had decided to wake early again the next day to start at 5 am. God is good - even when we fail.