So here we are in Tucson, living a life of luxury with Gary’s cousin, Linda, and her husband, Kelly, who are treating us like royalty. LA was OK – we stayed in a hotel near the airport with a shuttle bus to and fro for convenience. After a fitful night (jetlag + spotlights shining in through filmy curtains) we hoofed it down to a small Cafe. The coffee was so strong that the spoon stood up straight in the cup but that was OK, I only needed a sip to wake me up and the freshly cooked omelette and pancakes fuelled us nicely through the morning. Our exercise for the day was a sprint back through a rain shower to the hotel room.

We re-learnt our lesson not to buy food at the airport after we were charged more than $45 US for a sandwich, a croissant and a small bottles of fruit juice at the only food stand at our terminal. Anyway, staff were friendly and the flight was uneventful and landed on time at Tucson where we were met by Gary and Kelly. Now we have 2 days to unpack, shop for food supplies and repack our packs ready to hit the trail on Friday morning.