Night 11 and Day 12 - Phoenix area

Night 11 was spent in the lovely town of Glendale. (In the Motel 6 as mentioned in my previous blog post). It was a place to stay inside your motel room. With the door super-locked!  I was so glad to have a comfy bed, and was most grateful to be there and safe. After my revolation yesterday, I was grateful for a place to lay my head. Just as a reminder, my revolation yesterday went from : "This is fun!!" to "This is really real now!".
I awoke today very excited about going through Phoenix. I'm often asked, "Do you ever take a day off?". Well, days like today are considered a day off to us. We run minimally, due to the detours, traffic, and turns to get through the city. We will still log between 35 and 38 miles today. It will be more fast walking than running.
After leaving the motel, within 2 miles, we were stopped by the police. This is not a unusual thing anymore. We are a bit odd looking.....so early in the morning (okay, all the time). The policemen proceeded to tell us about the high-crime area we were in, and to be very careful. It wasn't my favorite way to start the day, but we would be mindful and carry-on.
He was right. We watched ourselves, carried our mace, and stayed aware of our surroundings at all times. We went through areas off and on like that. Nice area.....bad area.....nice area....mostly bad areas.
That's the way it is traveling through major cities - or at least the routes we are taking? (Remind me to talk to John about that). I can tell you that the homeless people who are NOT in LA, are in Phoenix. Or so it seems.
Another thing Phoenix has is a lot of is thorns. The "Arizona Thorns" are fierce. I had two flat tires today. Luckily, a bike shop was about 8 miles away, and I went there. (Took awhile, but it was worth it!!). They put in new thorn-resistance tubes, one new tire, and liners in all three tires. So now I've got heavy duty wheels to proceed. The best part is they did it a ga-zillion times faster than I ever could have. Bless them. Thank you Freeride Bike Co!!!!! Love you guys!!!!!! They are now my official sponsor. They granted me these gifts of tires, ties, liners and labor. Free. I cried. They were so kind, and supported what I was doing whole-heartedly. We took pictures, chatted, and they will follow me through my adventure across the U.S. Thanks again, Freeride Bike Co in Mesa, Arizona. I'm official. I have a sponsor.
Overall, I'm very pleased with our day. Each day is such a adventure, I enjoy seeing what each moment brings. Whether it's the big city (like today), or the small towns, I enjoy it all. Its interesting to see how people live. The best part? Seeing the land, the mountains, the desert, and everything else that is to come. It's all so beautiful.
We are staying at a motel again tonight. I'm very happy about that. We will have a hard day tomorrow of climbing. It will be a lot of work pushing the carts up the climbs. And then we will camp out tomorrow night. The beauty of it all cancels out the tough moments.

Hygiene Report:
It's true! Another day in a row with a shower!!! This is great. Teeth brushed. Hair washed. Life is good. I even had shampoo tonight!
And today may be the first time I turn the TV on and watch something?! I'll let you know if that ends up happening. How cool would that be? I hope Big Bang Theory is on. That would make my day complete.

Have a good Monday,
Cyndi