Day 19: Charlie Parker, Cowboy.

One more thing about last evening. As we came into Parker, we stood on a hill overlooking the town. It gives you the feeling that you are leaving the desert, that it is all behind you. But like an oasis (Student's what is an Oasis?), Parker is a strip of green along the Colorado river. We saw grass and plants that we hadn't seen since we entered the desert 5 days ago. But as we were soon to find out, it was just a brief respite from the desert, not the end of the desert.

This morning, we ate breakfast at a local diner and hung around the motel waiting for WTB to call for a phone interview. We never received the call, so there must have been some issue. We did some shopping, I needed some new socks and a few things.

As we left Parker behind, we soon found ourselves right back in the middle of the desert. Our goal for today was to get in 12 or 13 miles, not to reach anywhere particular, we just wanted to get half way to Bouse. The traffic was heavy and the shoulder was narrow, but we finally reached a good campsite and settled down for the night. The roads in Arizona are fenced on both sides, so sometimes you have to crawl over them or under to get to a campsite. Not sure the reason for the fence, anyone know? We settled in for the night and had one of the best nights of sleep under the stars that we'd had in awhile.

Oh, yeah about Charlie Parker. While we were walking out of Parker a white pick up truck pulled off the road and a young guy got out and started walking towards us. He asked if we wanted a ride. I introduced myself and he said his name was Charlie Parker. Charlie didn't tell me he was a Cowboy, but he didn't have to. Just like if I saw a policeman on the street,he wouldn't have to tell me he was a policeman, I would just know it. Charlie was a tall, slim, young man wearing a well worn pair of faded Wranglers, a flannel shirt, a wide belt with a big silver buckle, a pair of worn boots that looked as soft as a pair of fine leather gloves, and a Texas Longhorn baseball cap. Not all Cowboys ride horses and wear a Cowboy hat. I didn't try to take his picture because I didn't know if a real Cowboy would want his picture taken. Charlie had a friend in the truck with him and I inquired where they were going. Charlie said they were headed to Old Mexico to look for work, but that didn't surprise me because that is what real Cowboys do. You be safe in Old Mexico Charlie Parker, because there are too few of you and we can't afford to lose any.

Day 14 through Day 18 , 110 Miles across the Mojave.

From Sunday through today, we were traveling across the Mojave Desert from Twentynine Palms to Parker, Arizona. The nature of the desert changes many times. Leaving Twentynine Palms, there are still some houses for about 10 or 15 miles. These houses were given to people by the government under the Homestead act to help settle this area. Most of these houses are now deserted, but still it gives the sense that someone has been there. After that, the desert turns mostly desolate for the next 60 or 65 miles. If you see anything, it's just the occasional car. No animals, mostly just a mixture of sand and dirt. Going east out of Rice you start noticing that humans are there, A train track or maybe a cell phone tower. Once you reach Vidal Junction and head east, the landscape changes once again. You start to see birds, green trees, plants, and that continues all the way into Parker.

On a side note, on a normal day, we try to be on the road by 6:30 am We walk 3 hours, rest 1 hour, walk 2 more hours, rest 2 hours, and then we walk 2 more hours and call it a day. If all goes well, we average about 20 -22 miles a day.

Our biggest challenge was to make sure we had supplies while crossing the desert. The closest place to buy supplies was at Vidal Junction, which was 92 miles from Twentynine Palms. We had planned to cover about 15 miles a day, so we were looking at about 7 days to complete the walk across the desert. The average temperature was about 105 degrees.

The desert is beautiful in it's own way. It's quiet, nothing around and the mountains are so many different colors. The largeness of it all is so different than what we see in the east. Sleeping at night in the desert is an awe inspiring experience. The temperature starts cooling down, and the stars are amazing. It has been one of the highlights of the trip so far. I had heard that the desert floor does not hold heat, but it does. We could feel it all night through our sleeping bags.

Here are a few highlights from each day of the trip:

Day 1 - We covered 21 1/2 miles. I saw my 3rd Roadrunner, but still couldn't get a picture. I think I have figured a way to capture one. I am going to put my cart on a hill, and lead him to it with a trail of Potato Chips. Once he gets near it, I am going to release my cart and it will pin him down to the ground and I can grab him. Those are the things you think about when you have walked 20 miles across the desert. I also saw a Twister, like the one in the movie "Australia". I am hoping since it brought them good luck, it will also bring us some. We saw a huge area of land that was bright and white, much brighter and whiter than any of the other of land around it. Students, what do you think it was? The biggest highlight though of Day 1, was when we were sitting on the side of the rode, exhausted and thirsty, and up drove Larry Bowden and his grandson Rollie. They were delivering our first day supplies: Water, Ice, Gatorade, Soda, and Hamburgers. It was a welcome sight and soon we were feeling much better. Shortly after that, it started to get dark and we pitched our tents.

Day 2- We covered 22 miles. Other than a Butterfly and a few Dragonflies, we saw nothing but desert. The highlight of this day was when that white pickup drove up, and it was Larry again. This time he brought ice, Gatorade, water, and Chicken Sandwiches and best of all 2 bags of cut up watermelon which I sucked on all night.

Day 3- We covered 22 miles. We saw another one of those huge patches of land that was white and bright. We also saw the Colorado River Aqueduct, which we wanted to jump in so badly but it was fenced off. I found a blooming plant with small yellow flowers on it. Alan found a small snake that day too. While we were waiting for our supplies to be delivered, a guy drove up and asked if we wanted any water and ice. I think we scared him because we jumped up so fast to get it. Instead of Larry coming today, his friend Liz Meyer brought us supplies. She likes to camp, so she brought out camper and planned to have dinner with us and then camp for the night. When Liz arrived, she said she was going to look for a good place to park her camper for the night. The next thing we knew, Liz's camper was stuck up to the axle in sand. Several people tried to help get it out, but we ended up having to call a wrecker. While we were waiting for them, she started making sandwiches. We sat on a little table beside that stuck camper and enjoyed our sandwiches. Quite a traumatic experience for Liz. After that she decided not to stay the night, but left our supplies and headed back to Twentynine Palms. We thought this was our last day to have supplies delivered because they would cover day 4 and we could pick up supplies on day 5.

Day 4- We passed through Rice today and saw some signs of civilization. Trains, water pumping stations, and people working on cell phone towers. Rice used to have a service station there, but not any longer. Two very nice California Hwy workers, Teresa and another woman, stopped along the way and gave us their ice water saying they could get more. Around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, we were resting under a tree when we heard a car door slam. We looked up and it was Larry with more supplies. More Gatorade, water, sodas, ice and food. He also brought a portable generator so I could charge my cell phone. He drove down the road to look for campsites for us and to let my cell phone charge. Before he left, he pulled out a cold watermelon out of the back of his truck and the 3 of us sat there and finished it. I can't thank Larry enough and it was such a kind and generous gesture on his part. Larry also told me that the little bushes that grow everywhere in the desert are called Creosote bushes.

Day 5- We woke up from our best night of sleep and walked about 4 miles to Vidal Junction. While we were sitting outside eating a sandwich, 2 guys pulled up on motorcycles ,Wilhelm and Anders, and said they were from Denmark. They had flown to the States, rented motorcycles, and were driving to California on old Route 66 before heading back to Denmark. We took some pictures of them ,and them of us and wished them well. Also along the walk you see hundreds, maybe thousands of quail running all around. Finally, I also saw a DMC car.....Anyone remember that?

We reached Parker around 5 pm and checked into a hotel so we could clean up and wash our clothes. We are heading out tomorrow to Phoenix, which is about 153 miles and we are hoping to make it in 8 days.