Today was one of the most difficult days of the trip for me. James and I (Sam) woke up at the Super 8 in Quartzsite and were interviewed by Mike Krause, who works for the WBBM radio station in Chicago. After this, we got our things together and left the Super 8. The first 5 miles of the day were paved, which was quite nice. We eventually reached a dirt road right next to the interstate. We had two options. 1: go on the interstate despite being stopped by the police earlier and risk having them be forced to give us a ride somewhere. 2: walk on the dirt path and hope that it is not too rugged. We both started off going with option 2. For the first five minutes the terrain was not actually too bad! Then we hit some large piles of rocks as well as patches of sand. James bailed to go on the interstate before I realized. After pushing my stroller up a massive, steep, rocky hill, I looked over at the interstate to see James nicely strutting along. I was a little jealous, but did not want to take the risk of being forced into a ride. I also tried to view the rocky road as a challenge to conquer rather than an annoying obstacle. I struggled on for another 20 minutes before reaching yet another rocky hill, yet this time steeper. I probably tried to work the span of 6 feet for literally 10 minutes, as my stroller kept getting stuck or slipping down when I tried to push it up. I also slipped a few times on the rocks. After multiple failed attempts, my stroller tipped over and I wiped out on the rocks. Feeling defeated, I sat down and contemplated everything for about 15 minutes. I decided that going on this way would be too dangerous, and that it was necessary for me to hop back on the interstate. Thankfully, there was an entrance not too far away, and I hopped on. The interstate felt weirdly dangerous today despite the fact that I had been on it many times before. I eventually made it to a gas station about 5 miles outside of Blythe, CA, our final destination, and ordered a burger and some boneless wings. Crossing the California border was a wonderful feeling, as it was great to know that we were finally in our last state. James pitched his tent in a nearby park, and I eventually set up next to him a few hours later.
11/19/22
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