We slept very well at Nancy's home last night and were up at 6 am to find Nancy already preparing breakfast.  While we changed into biking clothes and packed, she continued preparing a delicious bacon, egg, and cheese torta with tortillas, in a single skillet, which she then turned out onto a cutting board for serving.  It was delicious.  Then she served up some accumulated wisdom about the road we were to travel.  South of Palo Verde, CA 78 is a twisting curvy road, she told us, with many shor

steepisode hills that doesn't afford drivers much visibility.  Further, there is very little shoulder, and sometimes even worse there's a curb that keeps you from easily moving off the road.  Further, since it's a link for truck drivers to and from Yuma, there would be many larget trucks on the road.  And finally people driving large RVS and towing traIles would be on the road heading for the sand dunes with recreation on their minds. We should expect those conditions for the next 30 miles.  One thing you have to like about Nancy, she doesn't exaggerate.  Our experience on CA 78 lived up to her description.

Fortunately before we left I had my flat for the day, a depressingly low rear tire that both Barb and I worked on repairing before we even got on the road.  Jerome 17 Barb 0.

On the positive side there was fantastic scenery all day.  We gradually climbed as we skirted the Palo Verde, Midway, and Chocolate mountains, before descending into Glamis in the heart of the Algodones sand dunes.

Fortunately, the convenience store and restaurant in Glamis were open, so we stopped for lunch, breaking up what would have been 64 tough serviceless miles.

Then we  descended below sea level into the heavily agricultural Imperial Valley.

Finally we arrived hot and thirsty in Brawley, and headed for the first place we could find for a few sodas, and to check directions to our warmshowers hosts for the night, Bill and Theresa Meister.

Bill was out of town for the day, but Theresa welcomed us warmly and introduced us to the family's three dogs,  and half dozen parrots.  Then we both showered, ordered a pizza for supper, and got to hold Peaches, one of the family's cockatoos while we waited for the pizza to arrive.

We're now finishing a load of laundry and will then be getting a well deserved rest.

Tired, but happy we're through the long desert stretch.

130 miles to San Diego.