July 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th

July 12th

Slept in until 8:30 which felt great!  On my way to the shower I ran into my neighbors who informed me they had to get a hotel due to the previous nights storm taking out there tent.  It was a doozy!  I headed over to the post office and got the package of tubes, patches and a tires from my mom, thanks mom!!!  Headed back to the campsite and replaced my tube and minutes later the tube exploded!  It was so loud my ears were ringing and it set off a car alarm about a half a mile away.  My hand was inches away from the tire when it happened so I was just relieved to not get injured.  The 2nd tube was the wrong size but it managed to work.  I was nervous about not having a back up and having the wrong size tube in my tire.  My good friend Sara from Weed made some calls and got in touch with Wendi at Chile Pepper Bike Shop in Moab, Utah.  The bike shop offered to donate some tubes and even arranged to have them delivered to Bluff the next morning!  Thanks so much Chile Pepper Bike Shop!!!  I now had another day off in Bluff and went to the gas station and had an excellent homemade enchilada.  Yum!  Stopped back at the campground and did my previous blog update and then relaxed for a while in the shade.  I went back to the very awesome San Juan River Kitchen for dinner and then went back to my favorite spot in Bluff which is Twin Rocks.  This was my third night in a roll watching the sunset in this very beautiful and sacred spot.  After sunset I went back to the campsite and met my new friendly neighbors and got some good sleep.
http://www.chilebikes.com/

Thanks for the tubes and patched Chile Pepper Bike Shop!

Repairs

The tube blowout!

View from the campsite

July 13th

After a shower and getting packed up I stopped at the office and my tubes had arrived!  After a stop at the coffee shop I was on the road again.  I would like to thank the awesome town of Bluff, Utah for a really nice and relaxing and unexpected 5 nights.  I had a great time visiting the local businesses, meeting people, hiking, relaxing, and learning about the history of Bluff.  Shortly after starting the days ride it started to get really hot and once again there was no shade.  There were many hills but the first 20 miles were not too bad.  After a stop at a gas station I turned onto another highway and had some very strong headwinds.  It was still another 80 miles to my destination and I was concerned I would not make it.  The scenery was very pretty but the ride was incredibly challenging as the headwind became stronger and stronger.  70 miles into the ride I was completely exhausted and decided to attempt to hitchhike.  Within 10 minutes a really nice woman that lived on the reservation picked me up and took me 15 miles down the road to the town of Many Farms, named for the many farms, go figure.  I made another gas station stop and within a few minutes was approached by a couple of people who were curious about my trip.  They told me they were headed to Canyon De Chelly which is where I had planned to camp for the evening.  I was offered a ride and hopped in the back of the pick-up truck with my bike and trailer.  Relieved to not have to ride the last 15 miles on dangerous highway with no shoulder!  I arrived at the campground shortly before sunset and got set up quick.  There was a hill just behind my campsite so I hiked up it to get a better view of the sunset as well as the almost full moon.  When I got to the top I met Melissa and Kalena from SanFrancisco.  They were on a cross country trip to New York and back to California by car.  We hung out for the rest of the evening sharing stories and they shared there beer with me, thanks you two!  We stayed up pretty late and I really enjoyed there company, always nice making new friends on the road.
http://www.bluffutah.org/

So many stray dogs on the reservation!

June 14th

Woke up just after sunrise and was invited to Kalena and Melissa's campsite for coffee.  They also made some very tasty oatmeal with peanut butter and vanilla yogurt.  Thanks again you two!!  We hung out for a while getting a slow start on the day and listening to Led Zeppelin.  Great way to start off the day!  After a stop at the visitor center and saying goodbye to my new friends I headed off on my bike to see the canyon.  It was an uphill climb with incredible views throughout!  Canyon De Chelly ( pronounced Canyon De Shay ) has inhabited people for 5,000 years and still does to this date.  The original people to live in the Canyon were the Anasazi, a Navajo word meaning ancient ones.  The ruins of these anicent ones can be viewed on the canyon walls throughout the park.  I met a guy named Jeff who worked for the park service and we hiked into the canyon to view the White House Ruins.  It was an amazing site and really made me wonder what it would have been like to live back then in such an amazing place.  After the hike I biked down the hill back to the campground and took a nice nap in the shade.  There was a cafeteria nearby where I stopped for some strawberries, yogurt, and wifi.  Made it back to the campsite in time for the sunset / moon rise and heard the sound of ceremonial drums and singing off in the distance.  It was very meditative and relaxing, perfect experience just before going to sleep.

Kalena and Melissa making breakfast

Cottonwood and Kalena

White House Relics ( in hole on canyon wall )

June 15th

Woke up early and headed over to the cafeteria for some coffee and a bagel before heading out.  It was a chilly morning, only about 45 degrees.  I headed downhill to the town of Chinle and then swithced highways.  Right away I noticed it was quite dangerous.  There was no shoulder at all and a lot of fast moving traffic.  I was in fear of my life and decided it would be best to try and get a ride.  Within minutes of hitchhiking a really nice Navajo family picked me up and was headed to Gallup, New Mexico.  I hopped in and we talked about the Navajo as well as many other things during the ride.  Martin and his family dropped me off just outside of Gallup and I rode the short distance into town.  From Gallup it was just another 10 miles to Red Rock Park which had a campground.  On my way there I came across a SnoCone stand, perfect treat on such a hot day!  Got to Red Rock Park early afternoon and took a much needed shower, felt great.  I did some hiking around the park and then headed back for another SnoCone and some Navajo frybread.  If you have never head it you should try it sometime.  Got back to the campsite and some clouds started to roll in making it really comfortable.  I met some other friendly campers from Illinois and talked for a while and then relaxed at the campsite.

Park Office

Church Rock

Land of Ants