Middle of Nowhere 4th Jan

Thomas has arrived at the Middle of Nowhere. It's official. He stopped today
at the 'Middle of Nowhere' bar. To get there he was supposed to go up 8000ft
into the mountains, ie two Ben Nevises, although the plan allowed them to be
done on two separate days. However the Bens Nevis had snow on, so he went
round one of them by a route that just added 50 miles or so most of them
into a head wind. Seems like he should be going in the other direction
really.

Arizona was really beautiful, no details, think rocks sand sagebrush etc,
might be quite close. He met friendly apaches and was given an Apache
indentity card by someone who had a spare one. Now he just needs a horse, a
spear and a teepee, plus dying his hair black and 20 years of suntan. But
it'll save having to pay £40 in the UK when we get our ones.

Sunday, 2nd January, was 90 miles, not particularly much uphill but on the
other hand quite a lot of headwind. Yesterday was 80 miles but 4000ft of
ascent. He spent last night in a hotel in Demming, feeling a little tired
and seeking comfort, also it was raining. Otherwise it's been the little
tent all the way from Phoenix.

In 20 miles he'll reach the Rio Grande, with El Paso tonight. Texas tomorrow
night. After that, Texas. And some more Texas. And then a whole lot of
Texas... It's still raining and US phone booths don't have rooves so he's
jumped back into the saddle (do Apaches go yee-haw, no, I'm sure they swing
into the saddle in total silence and disappear with a whisper of wet tires).
And off again eastwards.

Dad Tuesday 4th Jan 05