12/08 Today could have been one for the record books but the last 20 miles got a little hilly and messed me up. For the first 75 miles my average speed was 16.4 mph. My average for the entire 91 miles ended up being 15.7 mph which isn’t bad and still might be my record. Couldn’t have done it without some very flat land and a cooperative breeze (and my awesome legs helped too).
There wasn’t a whole lot to look at as far as scenery but the sheer vastness of the desert was very impressive. There’s a well-formed volcano about 15 miles east of town that I’ll have to get some pictures of tomorrow. No smoke billowing out of it or anything. Crossing into Baja California Sur also pushed me an hour ahead into the Mountain time zone so I have to change my clocks yet again. Hit a military checkpoint and this time I got stopped. It was only because one of the soldiers was a touring rider. 
He couldn’t come over from his post but he was pretty excited to see my rig and kept telling the other guys that he also rides. At least that’s what I gathered not knowing Spanish or anything. They waved me through after a couple minutes.
Ran into 3 touring riders from California out for a short run down the peninsula. Didn’t catch their names. We ended up grabbing lunch in one of the towns which was cool because I haven’t spoken at length with anyone in a few days. I left before them and didn’t see them for the rest of the day so I’m not sure where they ended up.
Tonight I’m camped out under the stars next to a river. Yes, a river. With frogs, crickets and birds–the whole works. Listening to it is so relaxing. The sky is lit up with stars and there’s no moon so it’s just a damn fine night. There are date palms everywhere so I’ll have to snag some in the morning (or buy some in town). Technically it’s probably not an actual river since it doesn’t seem to have a current but its sure a nice place to camp next to. The CG alongside it was hit pretty hard by the hurricane that came though here earlier this year but the guy that runs the place is trying to get things back in order. It’s very sandy and there are no showers but it probably looks a lot better than it did.
Met 2 really great couples who are also staying here. They are in RVs and are heading down Baja until it warms back up in Washington where they’re from. They will probably read this later so guys, just know that I get names right about 50% of the time (or wrong 50% but I’m an optimist). I know the two guys are Randy and Randy. I think the 2 women are Madelyn and Wendy. They invited me over for dinner and then we hung out by the fire and chatted. Really nice people. I really thought it was great that they brought boxes of school supplies from the States down here for one of the local schools. They said the teachers and students were thrilled. They’ve passed me a couple times on the road so hopefully I’ll run into them again.
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