Thoughts on San Quintin, New Top Speed, Breeze through El Rosario, and Starry Nights in the High Desert

After my San Quintin dinner binge, the hotel owner was telling me that another guest was staying in my room. I tried to tell him that is okay, but I would like a discount. It turns out he wanted money from me as the guest would be my escort. I politely declined his offer even though he made a gesture that I was gay. I stayed in San Quintin simply because my map had the city highlighted in yellow, but I am pretty sure there was nothing of interest there. However, in relation to the next 263 miles, it was undeniably the best thing around.
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I made a long climb to enter into another military zone. I actually got stopped and questioned this time. When asked what I had in my panniers, I now know that I told them I had a doctor in my back left one. I think my Gringo speak threw them, and they let me pass. I descended from the top of the hill to catch some major speed. Before I knew it, I hit 46.2 mph and never peddled or tucked.

I took this photo from the first market I came to pointing at the hill that I flew down. I still had a lot of velocity as I was approaching but chose to give it up as I had no idea if there were other markets in town.
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I was now in El Rosario, and I stopped at a family taco shack. I somehow racked up 180 Pesos worth of food (5 plates and a Coke will do it). When I was done eating and looking to get back on the road, the mother started with a line of questioning. Was I married, what am I doing, how can you eat like that and be so skinny, etc. Then came the flattery. I was handsome and strong. Then came the final questions. When will you be here again, and will you take my daughter with you? My response, not very soon but if she has a bike, she is welcome to draft.

I never got their names, but they certainly got my money.

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As I am leaving El Rosario, I stop to shed a few layers. I see a man with a large shovel quickly approaching, and I wonder if this is where my first hand to hand combat battle will ensue. It turns out that the one-eyed street cleaner named Jorge with solid English skills just wanted to tell me that it´s not cold, it´s just windy. I obviously know that it is windy as it is directly in my face telling me not to travel this road.

This photo is taken at the top of a hill looking back at the road I just traveled.

I have seen no sign of civilization in 4 hours, and I really have no idea where I am or where to sleep. I decide to travel until 4:30 and head off the road and camp in the desert. My odometer reads 903 when I quit for the day. I find a nice spot among various kinds of cactus and set up my tent. The night´s sky is amazing as I watch the moon rise from the horizon.

A small red cactus which are sparingly scattered in the desert.

The beginning of the next day was basically more of the same. I traveled through high desert with no signs of civilization. However, after I make a particular climb and descent, I was magically in a boulder field.

In the middle of the boulder field is a pueblo called Cataviña. This pueblo is the first place I have seen in over 100 miles with more than a single family as the entirety of the residential population. I know this because I stopped at El Progreso where they told me it was just their family there. By my presense alone, I was overwhemling the permanent residential population with a 14% boost in population by transient tourism.

In Cataviña, I loaded up on water and some chips. After the purchase, I realize that I am down to 58 pesos. Cell phone service is non-existent and using a ´telephone caseta´ is 17 Pesos per minute. I can hardly afford the phone so I borrow the WiFi at the only hotel in town where I write a quick I am safe email and make my ESPN Pigskin Pickem picks. I hit the road again. I wish I could say that I camped amongst huge boulders, but I left them behind. I ended up rummaging through a bunch of thorny brush setting up my camp 976 miles from San Francisco. I decided to not use my rainfly tonight as I wanted to see more of the night´s sky, and it turned out to be a wonderful decision. Before the moon ruined the party, I was blessed by a display of shooting stars every few minutes with the Milky Way as the backdrop. It is a pretty surreal experience to witness little fragments of rocks composed mainly of iron being pulled in by Earth´s gravity and ending in a quick blaze of visual glory. The only improvement I can suppose would be if Whoopi Goldberg was there live commentating.