After staying in the Mayflower room of the Yacht Club, (which was a double wide trailer with interesting framed history of that voyage) we ate oatmeal in the room and headed out. There were a couple of sites we wanted to see before we left town. One of the sites was the Hi Jolly burial site. Hi Jolly brought camels from the Middle East to train them for Army use in the desert around the time of the Civil War. The experiment failed, and the camels roamed the Arizonan desert for several years before dying out. We hit the road with excitement in our hearts, as today we would cross into our last state-California! We crossed the Colorado River on a bicycle bridge next to the freeway. When we saw the California State Line sign, we were both emotional. Even though cars and trucks were zooming past us, we celebrated the moment and took some pictures. The ride to Cibola Wildlife Refuge was uneventful, except that we saw many vehicles towing dune buggies. We stopped a few miles before the campground for a late lunch. The campground was situated on a bend of the Colorado River. We had the campground to ourselves except for the camp host and one other RV, which may have been vacant as we saw no activity from there our whole stay. Everything about the place was perfect, except they had no water! We had enough to cook our meal, but would need water for our long ride into the desert tomorrow. We gazed at the stars for a long while before turning in. Once settled into our tent, we were serenaded by coyotes and owls off and on all night. We were up and at it early the next day. Today’s ride through the desert included riding through Glamis, and the Imperial Sand Dunes. October, we were told, is the most popular month for dune buggy enthusiasts to visit the Dunes, as the temperatures are more moderate- 90’s rather than 110-120 degrees. There were a fair number of buggies, but since it was Monday, probably not as many as on the weekends. This day was incredibly difficult. We climbed countless steep hills, one after another. Without the ability to shift gears, the longer hills were insurmountable for Kelley. Three times she had to walk the final part of a hill when the pedals just wouldn’t crank anymore. Then after the last hill we saw the huge white dunes in the distance.Fortunately, once we were through the Dunes, we were through the hills. In the heart of Glamis, we stopped for a snack and the only store in town. After a bit a group came in on dune buggies. As we were leaving, they began asking about our trip. We left with generous donations to The Alzheimer’s Association from Mike Hugger, whose grandfather had Alzheimer’s and also Peggy Smith. We made it to El Centro after dark, showered and enjoyed a meal near our lodging. Total cycling mileage: 50+82=132 Total hiking mileage: 2+2=4