Day 5

Yuma, AZ to Dateland, AZ - 68 miles

Started pretty early this morning.  Wanted to minimize traffic on the roads getting out of Yuma.  Yuma is a nice city, but has very little in the way of trails or bike lanes on the east side of town.

Fortuna Foothills preceded Telegraph Pass.  Had some more elevation today.  Worked through it.  Definitely feel stronger.  It was a gradual climb to the top before heading down.  Reminded me of Bozeman Pass if my memory recalls.  The interstate climbs usually aren't as bad as some of the other highways with seemingly extreme grades.  Many of them follow the old railway lines.  Probably a reason for that.

Old Highway 80 connects with I-8 at the Ligurta exit after Telegraph Pass and was the bike route for the middle part of the day before a stint on I-8 again to Dateland.

The right side of my face has been feeling the sun all week.  With the low, southern angle, and facing east as I go, my left side remains shaded.  That means one side is becoming red and the other is much less red.  I'll have to figure out how to remedy that.  Maybe how I smell isn't the reason people look at me like I'm weird.  Who knows.

Went through the middle of nowhere only to end up in the middle of nowhere in Dateland.  This village is known for a large number of date palm trees.  The only real establishment in the village, the travel center, is a popular stop that sells regular dates, stuffed dates, date rolls, date sauces, and even date shakes.  I passed on all of them.  Maybe I'll reconsider in the morning.

Camping tonight.  It's the only option here as there is little else around.