Well, we've made progress today and are here in Ocotillo, but haven't begun to cross the mountains yet.

We had a feeling it might be this kind of day when we went to bed last night with a forecast of decreasing winds. They did decrease for a time, but we awoke about midnight with our tents deformed under the pressure of what were reported as 26 mph winds.  It was as bad as  anything we'd encountered yesterday afternoon.

Still the winds abated sometime later and when we woke this morning at 4:45 to get an early start.  I now appreciate better what farmers and dairy folks have always said. Daylight savings time doesn't give you an extra hour of sleep when you're basing your day on using the available sunlight to best advantage.

As we enjoyed a quick breakfast, we were treated to an amazing flight of egrets moving along the narrow lake where we were camped and heading from their roosting sites to fields in the area.

We packed and left with the sunrise at about 6:30 and things didn't seem so bad, but shortly after we turned west on I-8, the winds steadily increased, and we found ourselves having to shift to lower and lower gears, until we were again creeping along in our granny gears.

It took us 3 hrs to ride the 19 miles to Ocotillo, where we were greeted with the following sign:

The DOT issues these advisories when the wind speeds are above 35 mph in the mountains.  Didn't look promising.

We pulled into Ocotillo and the first promising restaurant in sight.  While we sat and ate a second breakfast, we considered options.  The winds were predicted to get stronger until late afternoon and then decrease overnight.  Barb started a conversation with a local woman and her friend in the booth behind her.  Was the truckstop near the interstate open 24 hrs?  Was there a restaurant?  Showers?  Yes, we were on bicycles and have been traveling cross-country for the past 9 weeks.  Typical questions and answers.  The women excused themselves, paid their bill and left.  A few minutes  later a gentleman from the bar approached our booth.  "My wife tells me you're on bikes and looking for a place to stay tonight.  We own a second home about a mile from here, and you're welcome to stay there tonight if you'd like."

Ellen and Barb

And that's how we've come to be in a beautiful home owned by Jim and Ellen.  We've showered,  made dinner, watched a little TV, and monitored the winds for most of the afternoon.   Tomorrow we'll try to leave the home as we found it, and begin our climb. This experience has been typical of the hospitality we've experienced on this adventure.  It's renewing our faith in people.  Far from being cold or remote, people we've never met have extended us kindness after kindness.  It's been one of the best things we've encountered and one we will never forget.

Resting well and warm.