Raining, Biking, and Hitchhiking

April 26,

We packed up the tent this morning and were on the road by 7:30. We were well rested and well fed and the sun was shining. We were hoping that the forecasted thunderstorms and wind wouldn't come to fruition -- but they did.
Despite a strong headwind, we proceeded with high spirits and strong legs. Then we turned around the bend. The wind hit us like a wall. We struggled against it, uphill for another hour until we felt the first drops of rain. We pulled to the side put on our rain gear, looked at each other and stuck out our thumbs to hitch. There wasn't much traffic on the road but the third truck that passed us (about 5 minutes later) stopped and offered us a ride about 15 miles to their ranch. The people in the truck were a wonderful older Navajo couple with their grandson. We tossed the bike in the back and rode off. We started talking and they offered to take us an extra 35 miles to the next road junction and we happily accepted. Along the way they told us stories about growing up in Navajo Nation and pointed out all the interesting cliff formations. Some notable ones were a big glass bottle, the profile of a big man laying on a mountain, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln with a big nose. It was really great and we were extremely thankful to get out of the headwinds and rain (which had started to steadily fall). When they dropped us off there was a break in the clouds and the wind was at our backs!



We peddled along the last 25 mile stretch toward our campground at Navajo National Monument. There were some more showers as we went along, but nothing strong enough to dampen our spirits. As we climbed toward the campground, the showers turned into a downpour and at every curve in the road we longingly looked for the visitor's center. Soaked to the bone from the cold 35 degree rain and winds, we arrived and warmed ourselves under the hand dryers in the bathroom. By the time we had explored the exhibits in the visitor's center, the rain had let up and the sun was peaking through. We set up our tent, ate an early feast and napped until the sun shining on the tent beckoned us to go and explore a bit.







We went for a short hike, saw some Anastazi ruins (from afar) and headed back for a nice hot cup of tea before bed.



It was really wonderful that we were able to hitch a ride for part of the way because it would have been a cold, wet and windy 90 mile ride. For the next couple days we will continue riding through Navajo Nation which means that we are only allowed to camp in the few campgrounds scattered about the region so will need to do some longer (but forecasted sunny) days.

Looking at a map of the country we are starting to realise how big it is. Realistically, we can't make it all the way across in the time we have left. What we are planning to do is rent a car in Albuquerque, drive to Iowa to visit family... and then we will take it from there.