#but every time i saw this man pining over wednesday i physically wanted to reach into the screen and slap the audacity off his face

[buffysgotfaith]

Sorry if you've answered this already but who do you think the stalker is in Wednesday?

Hi anon! I don't think I have answered this. Honestly I don't think the writers had a plan for the stalker when the season ended, but maybe that's just me being cynical. I think it was just a good cliff hanger to end s1 on so people could theorise between seasons.

I think it would make sense if it was Laurel or someone connected to the Gates family as we saw Laurel had pictures of Wednesday in s1.

But, I also think the only way I would tolerate any Xavier in the story is if it was him. Now think about it, after accusing him of being the killer and having him put in jail Wednesday is probably going to lay off Xavier this season. She's going to assume she misjudged him and he really is a good guy who just has an annoying crush on her. It perfectly sets up a situation where he could get away with stalking her for a period.

She gets that phone and leaves for break and then immediately gets text messages from her stalker. It makes sense for that to mean it's Xavier who is texting her. His arc in s1 also perfectly set him up to parallel Garret Gates. He is obsessed with her, he misinterprets all their interactions early on as her having feelings for him, he literally goes into her room without her permission and he is shown numerous times to be seething with jealousy that she prefers someone else.

If the writers were doing all that intentionally and he ends up being the bad guy in s2 then you know what I would forgive them for trying to make out like he was an actual love interest in s1. Lean into him being a creep and sell me that story.

[dviciousbikefemme]

I suppose a some of you are wondering when this blog is going to start rolling. Well, let me tell you, this trip’s already rolling. It turns out that writing a blog while bicycle touring through small towns in the So Cal mountains is pretty tough. There is a lot of business to take care of before blogging, art making and tarot card reading.

I am learning time management and keeping-track-of-your-stuff management.

Going back to the weekend, our flight got cancelled and we had to rebook for Saturday morning. My sweet friends, Rachel and Geetu, were on standby for taking us to the airport. The flight change didn’t seem to bother them too much. I am so thankful for this care. We had a great send-off.

Because of the rebook, I decided we should stay an extra day in San Diego so as not to rush around getting our bikes built and repacking everything. I was getting over a cold and rain was expected in both San Diego and Alpine on Sunday. We decided to begin pedaling on Monday, March 2nd. My wonderful mother, whose shown nothing but support with this bike trip thing, lent us a place to stay in San Diego both nights with credit card and time share points. It made for a smooth beginning.

We did get about a half day of riding around and exploring the city on Sunday. San Diego felt really quiet with the weather being “bad” at 65 degrees and some drizzle.

On Monday we began riding to Alpine, CA. It was a very challenging first day— challenging physically and challenging emotionally. There were not a lot of friendly folks around on this first day. A lot of oversized trucks and snazzy cars loudly zooming by. A lot of weird glares from folks outside of the markets. I am probably just projecting here but I felt a lot of aggression and a lot of folks performing, what they call, patriotism. What does it mean to be patriotic? “A Trump conservative” is a campaign slogan I saw pretty frequently in San Diego county.

Through all of the climbing and all of the glares we did talk to one nice guy at the food co-op who gave us directions out of Alpine and into a campsite. He warned us of strong winds and spooky canyons ahead and even some forecasted rain in Arizona. Not to worry though, since then we’ve only had rays of sunshine.

That night we stayed at an RV park nestled away in the Viejas Reservation at the Ma-tar-awa Park. It was a treat. RV parks are great to stay in as they typically have places to charge electronics up, do laundry and take showers.

We took our time the next morning and left the Reservation around 10am. I wanted the second day to be short as most of it and the next would be a continuation of gaining elevation. On our second and shortest day thus far, we stopped for soda and conversation, learned that it is not so easy to find our camp fuel canisters just anywhere, rode about 25 miles and landed in a sage brushed campsite just east of Pine Valley. Boulder Oaks crosses with the Pacific Crest Trail so we did see a couple of hikers pass through. We enjoyed a wonderful sunset, watching the hills as they blushed with the sun’s good night kiss and retired into the tent. We woke up several times through the night with cold feet and cold noses.

Wednesday morning we woke up to frost. The temperature really dropped in this mountain valley. We were up early, struggling to pack as our hands were in pain from that cold bite. As soon as we started biking uphill, yet again, we pulled to the side of the road to change and put on sunscreen. We reached the Golden Acorn Casino right out side of our highest point of elevation at about 10:30am. Here we got a meal and talked to a few folks passing through. We then continued to climb and climb and then dipped back down again into a place on the border called Jacumba. Here we saw the wall. It gave us both an eerie feeling. We had lots of border patrol racing up and down the Old Hwy 80 as we continued out of the mountain pass. Soon we reached the I-8. Ahead would be 10 miles of strong winds and a 3000ft+ descent into the desert. It was both amazing and terrifying.

Once we exited off the freeway, we settled early into our new home away from home in Ocotillo, CA population just over 200. We biked into Jackson’s Hideaway RV Park where we were greeted by Miguel, and his promise for a meal later that afternoon. The woman who owns the park showed us the recreation room, where we ended up crashing on the couches. After dropping our stuff off, Miguel offered to drive us to the Chevron where we picked up some snacks and a few beers. He refused to let us pay. We went back and showered off, unloaded and talked to another park resident, Pal, a retired art teacher from Kansas City, Missouri. After some time passed, Miguel came knocking on our door and asked us to join him for dinner. Miguel is temporarily residing in Ocotillo as his work moves him around the Southwest. His job, you may ask? He is working to build the border wall- a man from Mexico. A man who drives into El Centro, CA once a week to send money to his wife and stepchildren has been contracted to build the wall. He says it pays really well. I didn’t have to ask too many questions as he was happy to share a love for this life, even through the suffering. He boasted of his good meals and family longevity. He shared with us grilled chicken breasts, his grandmother’s bean recipe, his wife’s homemade salsa as well as her tortillas (he keeps a pack of frozen ones for every time he goes to visit). He gifted us a pineapple for when we are thirsty. This man’s generosity and kindness overwhelmed the both of us. At departure, we laughed, exchanged contact information and hugs. I hope to talk with Miguel again and share with him our journey.

And here I am at 7:42am on March 5th telling y’all about it. We will begin our fourth day after a cup of coffee and some bike maintenance.