after a grueling day yesterday, i chose to take a short day. only 54 miles. it was in a somewhat desert climate and the wind was against me, but alas, it was short. i felt like i should celebrate my passing of the first 1000 miles with something special, so i booked a night at the KOA and jumped in the pool. i also had the chance to catch up on laundry, meet some new people and relax before the big climb through the big horn mountains tomorrow. it will be the biggest climb for me yet and i will wake up early so that i can hopefully cross the pass before noon.

i met another cyclist today that was riding in the opposite direction. his name was ben and he was riding from philadelphia to san francisco. we both seemed overly excited to run into another and we talked for about 15 minutes about what experiences we’ve had and gave advice to one another. day 15 done.