Wakeup this morning was at 4:30; I slept on a pew in the chapel of the church we stayed at. We were all excited to crank out our 115 mile ride, dedicated to our veterans. The ride itself was long, but extremely pretty. It started with some rolling plains, and actually turned into some legitimate mountains around mile 60. At about mile 55, we rode through a small town with everyone lined along the main street for a 4th of July Parade. It was hilarious; we rode right through where the parade was and received all sorts of cheers. Once we hit the mountains, we began some serious climbing and reached around 9,000 feet in elevation. Along the way, we saw the scars of forest fires. Acres upon acres were singed, but the saddest thing we passed was a refuge camp filled with trailer homes for the evacuees. The fire fighters are true heroes in eastern Arizona, and it could be seen on a day like today with all sorts of signs and parades thanking and recognizing them. Fortunately, we didn't run into any smoke. At around mile 88, we crossed the state border into New Mexico! Gotta love the feeling of progress. After yet more climbing, we began our descent into Reserve. There isn't a whole lot going on here, not even cell reception. We are staying in a motel, but there wasn't enough room for the whole team so some guys and I are staying in a trailer home. No friendship visit today, surprise there. No one has cell service and you can scroll through the radio and won't find a single station; we are smack dab in the middle of no where. However, we have a friendship visit tomorrow and we are all excited, it's been awhile. Here's a couple photos of (1) a beautiful lake in the mountains, (2) the state line, and (3) a horse and her colt I saw.
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