day 29: Grants, NM to St John’s, Arizona

65.8 miles – 1,283 ft climbed – wind: not bad at all

A man’s spirit can endure sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?

Proverbs 18:14

Got up this morning and did laundry at 7:15. Not my favorite way to start the day, but it always feels good to have the laundry done. And even though the 2 washers and dryers looked a little sketchy, they got the job done. That duct tape did a great job holding the door on the dryer.

When I got back I found Bruce climbing on the front of Harvey cleaning the front window. He kinda reminds me of a roomba. You know, those little round vacuum things that just bounce all over the place cleaning? I always tried to teach my kids to see a need and meet it. I think the way this plays out for me is that I see a need and write in on a list to do at a convenient time. Not Bruce. He stops whatever he’s doing and meets that need. Right now. ADD comes in handy as an adult.

It was 32 degrees when we got up this morning. For some reason I thought it was going to be hot like in the 90s from New Mexico to California. Bruce is glad he stuck in all his warm biking gear. Not exactly color coordinated. I think if he had something blue he would have covered all the colors of the rainbow. Plus he decided to wear his Go-Pro today. Should get some awesome pics. He waited until around 10:00 to leave so that it would be a little warmer. Still only 48 degrees.

Bruce and I decided to go ahead and stop at the Ice Cave. We walked a short trail out to see a volcano and then out to the Ice Cave. The Ice Cave is made of lava and it keeps ice cold all year long. It was 76 steps down to see it. And then 76 steps back up.

From the Ice Cave Bruce took off down a really great hill. On East 53. East. Problem is … we are going west. So then he had to go back up the hill. Bummer. He always says he likes hills so maybe he did this for the fun of it. Maybe. We saw at least 3 signs saying there were Elk in the area. I kept my eyes peeled. They lied.

About a mile past the entrance to the Ice Cave we crossed the Continental Divide. So it’s all downhill from here, right? I almost missed this important photo op. No problem. Since no one was around, I just backed Harvey up and took the picture. Then looked in my rearview and saw a semi barreling my way. Uh oh. Pedal to the meddle Harvey!

We had planned to boondock some place in Zuni which we thought was a town. I guess it is a town, but also an Indian Reservation. The Indian reservations in New Mexico have been hit really hard by Covid. So hard that they have closed many of them. Including Zuni. When I got close I could see a sign saying to mask up before you reached the check point. So I did. They said that I could drive on through, but not stop. They gave me a piece of paper that I was instructed to keep in my dashboard at all times, unless I wanted to risk possible jail. Then I must give it to the next police check point at the other side. I told them my husband was coming along on his bike and asked if he could ride through as well. They said he could as long as he did not stop. When I asked how far it was to the other side, I could swear the guy said 50 miles. Bruce decided to go ahead and ride 10 more miles and then I’d go pick him up. I picked him up at 12 miles. We drove 3 more and then came to the check point. Apparently he had said 15 miles.

After leaving the Zuni Reservation we drove a mile or so and then … we crossed into Arizona! State number 8! And of course being in Arizona means … another time zone. This is our 4th time zone. I’m not sure if Arizona is officially Pacific time or if they are just the same as Pacific right now because they don’t observe daylight saving time. But it still means an extra hour of sleep!

Since we couldn’t stay in Zuni and it was starting to get dark, we drove to St John’s and found a fairgrounds that had RV hookups. And here we sit. Watching Longmeyer.