Day 6, 9-4-10: CBJ Dairy Farm to Banning, CA

Got up early and washed some clothes, ate a little pizza, and soon we were on the road. 10+ miles from the farm to Beaumont.....all uphill and another 100+ day. We have started moving from the "low" desert, to the "high" desert. I just hoped there wasn't a "higher" desert, because these climbs in this heat are awful.

Finally reached Beaumont around mid-day, and stopped at a convenience store to refresh. A man and woman were sitting outside waiting for someone to pick them up......their car had gone kaput. They obviously had as many or more problems than us, but as we started to leave, the man said he wanted to help us. He reached in his pocket and pulled one of those small baggies, almost full of coins. Gave it to us, wished us well on our travels. What can you say to that? We need to spend more time out with people and less listening what the media tells us about them. Judge them by our interactions, not from what we hear from others. Then we could come closer as a nation.

Across the street to a Jack-In-The-Box.......I really like these places, and don't think we have any back East. Ordered our food, and while eating, up drives Chad from the dairy farm, just checking to see if we're ok. We must look worse than I thought! He brought a buddy with him, Ron, another dairyman. I'll tell you, Ron was so strong looking, if he wanted to get a cow from here to there, he could just pick it up and move it. And when we shook hands, mine got lost somewhere in his. We talked with them for a while, and they went back home. We had walked all morning to get to Beaumont, and they drove there in 10 or so minutes!

After resting for a couple of hours, we started out for Banning. The walk there was pretty much uneventful. It started to cool a little as the afternoon wore on. Banning is a nice little town, and has restored much of their old western feel. No camping areas close by, so we decided to stay at a motel. Checked in, rested for a while, went next door for a sub, ate, took a swim, and soon after that, fast asleep. Overall a good, but very hot day.

Couple of general notes: I changed to another pair of shoes and they seem to fit a little better, so hope that will help with the blisters. Also, when we get to a town, we usually stop the first place we can find. So, many times it's not until the next morning when we pass actually thru the town. I'll tell you, we really want to get those shoes off as soon as possible. More later.......