Day 13 of Riding

We had a restful afternoon & evening in Kayenta, Arizona yesterday; enjoyed a dip in the refreshingly warm pool, (so many pools so far have been COLD!!!) stocked up on bananas again, (we're at 82 now)  and I even had time to do some laundry!

This morning, after packing up and breakfast, we were on the road back to Mexican Water, AZ to pick up where we left off on the ride yesterday.  We had some cloud cover in the east, it was a comfortable 72 degrees, it was a BEAUTIFUL morning!

As we traveled along this morning on US Hwy 160, the road was mostly smooth with a good shoulder and not too much traffic.  We'd had several cars easily pass us as we were both mostly on the shoulder.  One particular car drove up beside the trailer, slowed to stay beside us and HONKED an irritated honk. I turned to see only the passenger with a hardened, dirty look on their face. I tried to understand why they were so disgusted with us since we really weren't in their way or slowing them down.  As I pondered why this should bother me when we have many cars carefully pass us, some with friendly waves and honks; I thought:  Sometimes we can be a HONKER in life, right?  When something or someone irritates us, sometimes we are short tempered and maybe "HONK" at someone with our words, attitude or actions.  It reminded me of what scripture tells us:
"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."  Hebrews 3:13 NIV
I don't want to be hardened, how about you?  I think I'll try not to be a HONKER.

Around 10:30 am we arrived at Four Corners.  We took our turn to take a picture where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet.  Russ even rode his bike around this "circle" crossing state lines while I videoed his trip to all four states in a matter of seconds!  We had fun and enjoyed a nice break there.

 Taking a break in the parking lot of Four Corners, notice all the flags. 

 We were welcomed into Colorado around 11:30.

As we crossed over into Colorado, the shoulder was rough and NARROW, the road was curvy and hilly.  It was a "PRAY WITHOUT CEASING" kind of road!  Thank the Lord, it only lasted 8 miles!

 After the first 8 miles, the road was wide and newly resurfaced with a bike SUPER HIGHWAY for a shoulder!  It was GREAT!!

 We took a break and got some liquid into Russ again.  He did a LOT of sweating today! It was 109 degrees on the bike by this time.

Beautiful mountains, fabulous road!!!

US Hwy 160 turned north and joined with US Hwy 491.  We lost the "super" highway shoulder and just had a shoulder.  If you look above Russ and the mountain ahead of him, you can see smoke from a fire on the other side of the butte.  We arrived at our motel in Cortez, Colorado at 2:45. The motel owners told us the smoke & fire we were seeing started last night from lightning.  Since we have arrived here, clouds have moved in and there has been a light rain.  From what information we could gather, we felt that it was safe to travel into Colorado on our original planned route.    

 We saw many horses, cattle, some goats and prairie dogs today.  It was a beautiful day!

We are relaxing this evening at the White Eagle Inn in Cortez, Colorado.  Russ logged 74 miles today.  Tomorrow morning we will continue on US Hwy 160 to Durango.  Thank you, Lord; we don't have to drive to our starting point tomorrow! We've had to do that because of the remote areas we have been traveling through.  Hopefully, that is behind us!  So far, we are exactly where Russ had planned for us to be, when he planned for us to be there.  We've been blessed with good roads, excellent weather, safety and protection.  With all of your prayers for us, that really is no surprise.  We appreciate your encouragement, support & prayers!

Until tomorrow, blessings to you!

Russ & Carol