Psalm 120 - I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.

We had heard some coyotes nearby our camp site on Friday evening that we think were attracted by the odor of the fish guts from the fishing tournament. We were slightly concerned going to bed but we were tired and soon forgot about the coyotes. On Saturday morning I was awakened at 1:00 am by the Harley Davidson motorcycle that started riding through the campsite looking for a camping space. He rode to and fro for about 1.5 hours until his friends arrived. Then at 2:30 am they decided to camp in the spot next to ours. There were 75 empty spots and they picked the ones right next to ours. They were incredibly noisy - yelling across the campground and driving their car around to find the perfect spot. After they woke Doug up he went and expressed his displeasure with the raucous noise the were making so they moved up the hill a little farther. They then went through all of the noise of parking and the Harley for another 30 minutes before they finally settled down and got quiet. I told Doug to look on the bright side - if there were any coyotes nearby now they were terrified by the noise and were probably far away by now. We actually slept a little late because the night was so eventful. Doug finally started riding and I actually sat in the truck and slept. On my way to catch up with Doug and I stopped and watched a coyote hunting. I played a distressed rabbit call on my phone and he started slinking up the fence line towards the truck. When he saw me move he decided it was time to leave. As he started in another direction I played the sounds of another coyote and he took off running. I guess he did not want to meet any other predators that day.

I had underestimated how fast Doug could ride. I started to look for him and apparently, I passed him somehow (we think his GPS took him on a different street than the automobile GPS). He did have a 10-mile downhill run on an 8% grade - Doug was able to go about 45 MPH going down the mountain. Doug was actually passed by a group of skateboarders and they were going more than 50 MPH down the hill on a skateboard - they had whizzed by me as I went down the mountain too. As I looked for him I think he passed me again. He called and said he needed so water and I began to look more earnestly. Then I lost contact and later he told me his phone had died. I actually began to panic as I could not find him and he needed water. I Rode back up the mountain thinking maybe we missed each other there and I still could not find him. Luckily a nice person stopped and gave Doug some water and pointed him to the nearby Ranger Station where he refreshed on water and began riding again. I was low on gas so I had to stop at a tiny gas station in the middle of nowhere. As I filled up with gas the Life flight helicopter went over and I really began to stress. I called Lynn and Matt and ask them to pray for me to find Doug. I think sometimes I let my mind go where it shouldn't. I think we all can be that way sometimes - I need to trust God more and trust Bob less! I was excited that as I continued to search he was able to make it to the border patrol station and there a border agent let him use their phone and he called me to let me know where he was.They also gave him water and a shady spot to cool off in. I was happy to know he was safe and I immediately hurried to meet him. We had 16 miles left from the border patrol station to the town and I followed Doug the rest of the way. (at the speed Doug pedals this was less than an hour) It was a very tiring day for Doug as he had crossed the desert between Anza Borrego and the Salton Sea. The temp had gotten up to 114 degrees and the 45-mile drive across the desert had sapped Doug as he rode a total of 83 miles for the day. We rode to the Comfort Suites in El Centro to spend a comfy night is a well air-conditioned hotel where Doug could soak in a cold tub and take a hot shower. God is so good!!!