Gray day with lots of sand

7 Aug From a very peaceful night in Pacasmayo, we drove all day and arrived in Chancay, which is about an hour north of Lima. The drive today was through more desert-like terrain, although not labeled on my map as a desert. Occasionally, we drove close to the Pacific, but today was a gray dreary winter day. By the end of the day, we've both come to the conclusion that it is time to shift from shorts to long pants. Oh how I'll miss shorts, because I have no idea how we're going to wash Roger's long pants. Where there was irrigation today we saw more sugar cane, corn, carrots, onions, cabbage, and asparagus fields. Yes, fields of asparagus. Around Huacho there were buildings between the highway and the coast. As we got closer, we realized that these buildings were chicken ranches. Then we passed a couple of feather bearing semi-trucks and were convinced that all the chicken was headed to Lima. Regardless, the population of Peru eats a lot of chicken. Finding a safe place to spend the night was a challenge. The first place we stopped the man told me to go back north towards Huacho or Barranca. Of course, there was no way we were going to back track. Then we decided to look for the hospital or police station in Chancay and Roger missed the turn. Roger saw a National Police pickup on the side of the road and flagged them down. We both got out and asked the Police (there were 3 in the truck) where to spend the night and they told us to follow them to a Grifo where they knew had an overnight lot parking. When we got to the Grifo, we ended up giving a tour to the three police and the Grifo lot owner. One cop said to another cop, that our RV was nicer than his house. This makes us feel bad, because we have passed a lot of housing that do not have running water or electricity. I did ask the Police about driving around Lima (and not through). They all said to stay on the PanAm Hwy, which goes east of Lima. They also said to leave Chancay no later than 6 am, because traffic is terrible in Lima. Random thoughts: - The P count for today was 4 - Things I miss most about home: Regularly talking to my Mom and stopping by to see George and Luree My washer and dryer!!! - Gas can be bought with a credit card probably 95% of the time. Roger always has to show his passport when he uses a credit card. A paper copy of his passport works just fine. I've secured his passport for obvious reasons. Gas more expensive in Peru than the USA. How we miss the gas of Ecuador.