Day 4: Brawley Rest Day

Day 4: Brawley Rest Day

May 20, 2015
Miles: 0
Brawley


We took a rest day in Brawley today.  I'm glad we did, because yesterday was a long and hot day.  We rode just under 63 miles and that is the most we have ridden so far this year.  Last night Di fell asleep shortly after we checked into our hotel room.  An hour and a half later she woke up and after I teased her a bit for falling asleep we went to get some take-out Chinese food.  Back at the hotel I propped myself up on the second bed and started in on the food.  The next thing I know its 2am, all the lights are off, the food is gone, and I am still propped up in a sitting position.  Well, I guess I was tired, too.    

We got up around 7:30 and went downstairs for breakfast.  The Best Western offered scrambled eggs, waffles, bagels, english muffins, toast, fruit and coffee and juice.  The food wasn't very good, but I ate everything in sight.  After a while Di was done and went back to the room.  I stayed and ate everything some more.

I finally reached the point where I couldn't eat anymore, so I stuffed some fruit into my pocket and went back to the room to get my bike so Di and I could explore Brawley.  Main Street goes right through the center of town and is two miles long.  Many of the shops were out of business and and some stretches of the road looked sketchy.  Every cross street off of Main Street is too busy and there just seem to be too many stores.  Perhaps a better name for Brawley would be Sprawley. 

Main Street homage to the cowboy

We did find a really good cafe - The Rock Cafe.  Di and I got ice coffees made with their strongest coffee, but we each had to have an espresso shot added to make them strong enough.

Di happy to have ice coffee and WiFi

 Di needed to wash some clothes so we went to the Brawley Laundromat and hung out there for about an hour.

Di likes clean clothes

I didn't need to use the laundromat because I'm a guy and, naturally, my clothes don't get dirty.  Ha-ha, just kidding.  Its because I'm a guy and using the laundromat is way to simple.  Instead, I use the free soap offered by the hotel, wash my clothes in the sink, rinse them out in the tub, and hang them on the clothesline I erect in the bathroom while showing off my knot-making ability.  I think this is a great idea, but even so, I am forced to ignore Di's complaints that she gets dripped on every time she wants to use the bathroom.

A guy's laundromat

We have a tough day ahead of us tomorrow.  Our ride will be around 65 miles and we will be in the desert for the entire time.  We are going to leave early, around 5:30am, to beat the heat and the wind.  We will encounter only one store tomorrow, so we will take all our food and water with us.  I will be taking four bottles of water, another gallon of water in two separate containers, and a large bottle of Gatorade.  Di also will be taking four water bottles, a half gallon of water in another container and two large Gatorades.  For food we will be taking four bagels, a jar of peanut butter, four bananas and four Cliff bars.  For dinner tomorrow night we will be having a gourmet dinner of Mac 'N Cheese.  Yum!  Tomorrow also marks the first time we will be camping out.  Di is really looking forward to that.

We probably won't have Internet service tomorrow, so we probably won't post until Friday.