Day Six - Catci and Cattle

We rode 63 miles to Casa Grande, AZ today. We left Gila Bend early in the morning after stumbling in the dark a short time back to Route 8 and slowly climbed to almost 2,000 feet elevation. It was a gradual climb over 20 miles. As the sun came up it revealed gorgeous mountains surrounding us and numerous cacti on both sides of the road. From there we dropped down into a valley taking a side road that took us past miles of cattle (more cows than we have ever seen in our whole lives), eventually reaching Casa Grande!

Day Five - Night Crossing

Waking up at 2am and on the road by 3am got us off to a great start! The bad news is we each got a flat, but the great news is that we had a wonderful tailwind, allowing us to get to Gila Bend by 9:30 am when it was still reasonable to be outdoors. Staying at the very funky Space Age Lodge where we got to enjoy some time in the pool! We are starting to get our biking legs, thanks for all your prayers, we feel them!

Day Four - 3:10 from Yuma

Our alarm went off at 3am, which we didn't plan, so we just got up! We had a shorter ride today, 41 miles. It was only 79 when we started and quickly rose to 99.9 when we arrived in Tacna, AZ! We were so happy to see the Chapperal Motel....ahhh! We sat for a long while chatting with the staff, asking them questions like, why do you live here, it's soooo hot! They love it and don't understand why we live where it's soooooo cold! It is nice to just chill the rest of the day! Had one mountain pass today and had to avoid running over a live lizard and dead bobcat. Feeling stronger and planning to head for Gila Bend, AZ tomorrow by 3am, since we have 75 desert miles and not much in between! Watching the donations add up for Destiny Rescue is very encouraging, thank you so much everyone!

Day Three - One State Down

We got an early start (4am alarm) to try and beat the heat! Our plan was working as temps remained below 90 and we were making good time for the first three hours until Rick got his first flat! Temperatures rose above 100, 109 to be exact, which makes pedaling tough! We had two guardian angels today. A truck driver who stopped to tell us Robins pannier was sitting back at the last bridge we'd come over. The bag had fallen off when we hit a big bump. The woman who worked at a Shell station 10 miles from Yuma, loaded towels with ice to put around
our necks. People have been so
kind! Oh yeah, we made to Yuma, AZ, crossing CA in three days!

Day Two - Mountains to Desert

70 Miles to El Centro, CA. We climbed mountains in the morning, made it to 3,940 feet elevation before a 6 mile down hill cruise into the desert! Today was brutal, never felt such heat, it was 117 degrees! Skipped the campground and stayed at a hotel to get some rest!

For a time we rode along the Mexican border, the border fence is in the attached photo. It was amazing to see!

Nothing Easy About Day One

The Reid's saw us off from the Del Cornado Hotel as we dipped our back wheel in the Pacific! 62 miles and 3,250 feet later, we collapsed at Lake Morena Campground, near Campo, CA. It got to 101 degrees and the climbs were challenging, BIG TIME CHALLENGING!

Heading for Pacific

All packed up and heading to the Pacific Ocean to dip our back tires!

Getting the Bikes Together

Staying with wonderful Sylvia and Jim Reid, they have been so hospitable! Rick is out by the pool, putting bikes together!

All Packed Up!

Got to Cleveland Hopkins Airport and got to spend some time with our friend John Stanonis!

Gaetjens Station

We would like to thank the Russell Shell Station as they have decided to sponsor us as we work to reach our $10,000 goal:
"The Russell Shell gas station is owned and operated by Fellowship members Steve and Kristin Gaetjens. In order to support Rick and Robin Kratche as they bicycle across the country, a donation of $0.10 per gallon will be made on behalf of FBC friends/members/attenders who purchase fuel at the Russell Shell in September. We are offering this donation for cash fuel purchases only. Simply indicate that you are from Fellowship when purchasing gas in September and a $.10 per gallon donation will be made to Destiny Rescue, a mission that saves children from sexual slavery. In addition, if you have service needs for your car, we offer full auto service and will give back 10% of all auto service sales."
14900 CHILLICOTHE RD
NOVELTY, OHIO 44072-9313
440-338-8818

Last big day of training before we leave! Rode with friend Jim Pile!

Crunch Time

With only one week until we fly out to California we are doing some final practice rides and getting everything together.  It seems almost surreal that something we have been planning for for so long is actually happening and we couldn't be more excited... or nervous.  We wanted to thank everyone who has already donated to our cause, we are almost a tenth of the way to our goal and have yet to start!  Thank you everyone for your prayers as we prepare and ask that as we creep up on Day 1 you keep us in your prayers.  We have already seen God at work in the planning of our trip.  He has blessed us with new friends that have offered us their homes along the way and campsites that have volunteered to spread the word about our cause and even offer us a free site.  We can't wait to see God continue to work in this trip.