day 4 - riding with biden, 05.18

cold night, my feet were cold.

up and packed, then down hill into the vally to sanders and I-40 by 7:00.  thought it was later cause the sun was up so high.  turns out arizona does not follow DST, unless your a navajo, so their an hour different.

sanders is not a big town, mostly an interstate interchange.  the coffee house google promised was not there.  but since i didnt eat night before, i went into the local grocery store chain called 'bashers'.  i got an egg, potato and bacon buritto.  worst burrito i ever ate.  enough salsa doesn't exist to cover it up.

i did have a frontage road to ride on for the next 5 miles before i got funnelled back on the interstate.  i also manage to have a mild wind for the first 10 miles or so before the winds slowly picked up.  wind, wind and wind.  i'm sensing a theme.

12 mi. and i stopped at the navajo travel center, only stop available.  debated a moment, then had a second beakfast, a tuna sub from subway.  i know, it's not really tuna, but it's a good meal when riding and you can load it with that rarest of commodities, vegetables.

10 more miles down the road and i was at the petrified forest np.  originally i was going to ride the whole 26 miles through the park, but with the winds, i decided just doing the north 3 mile out and back would fulfill my needs.  the northern section doesn't have the petrified trees, but it does overlook the painted desert and includes the historic hotel.  (btw, i love my $10 lifetime senior pass.)

the visitor center was small and i wasn't buying any gifts, but i did get an ice cream bar.  and i hung out and rested a bit.  turns out that it too is on the historic register for archiecture, having been designed by richard neutra.  "a classic example of the international style.", if you can use one style to qualify another.

then i started back up, heading down I-40.

among the many mysteries to this old feeble brain is why does arizona still have coal fired energy plants.  the state has all the free renewable resources one could ask for, how can it not possibly be running everything on wind and sun?

i finally made it down to holbrook, where i splurged ($33) and stayed in a Koa campground.  and a nice campground it was, too.  my neighbors were kathy and mary ellen from walsenberg, co, where i stayed 2 nights last year.  apparently right across the highway from their home.  they want to sell us their tent, it's too big for them.

and i met mary, who, along with her husband and dog, winters in tucson.  then they make the pilgrimage back to their house boat on the detroit river, of all places, every summer.

hot shower, home cooked meal of ramen noodles and sitting under another incredible sky.

less than 100 miles to flagstaff, but 15-20 mph sw winds expected for the next few days.  i'm heading wnw.  "breezy" is thursday forecast, with gust up to 30+.  breezy.

i would never recommend riding east to west across arizona to anyone.