Day 17: Twenty-nine Palms, CA

The ride today went very quickly. We made a wise decision to rise up early to beat the heat, and the heat was beaten. We arrived at the high school we are staying at late in the morning, and played some basketball with our spare energy. Again, no friendship visit today due to the lack of civilization out here. Instead, our team had the oppurtunity to go grill out and hike at Joshua Tree National Park. I had a great time, and highly recommend checking it out. The park had lots of huge rock formations, mountains, and was ridden with Joshua Trees, weird hybrids between cacti and palm trees. A few friends and me went and hiked up the largest formation in view. The sights on top were magnificent. You could see anything for miles, and the barren landscape for some reason is very beautiful to me. At one point, we saw three big horn sheep scaling one of the formations, making it look easy. On our way back, we solicited the local Denny's for some ice for tomorrow's ride. It took some convincing, but after telling them our mission they gladly agreed. 4am Wakeup tomorrow followed by a 125 mile ride. Wish me luck, should be difficult with the heat but we plan on giving it our all.