two for the price of 1

Sorry last week I did not report last week. I wrote it but then we
did not have internet for me to email it in. In the last two weeks we
have gone from flat Kansas to the Rockies to the desert of Arizona.
It is amazing to watch the landscape change in such a short time.

I had some of the best rides of this trip while in the Rockies. My
favorite stretch was from Gunnison to Durango. In these two days we
started off along the Blue Mesa Reservoir, and then road into Box
Canyon. We then went over Red Mountain pass on the Million Dollar
Highway. That section of road cost a million dollars a mile to build
back in the 1930's, which was profitable because of all the mining in
that section of the Rockies. The roads that we were on were amazing
with wide shoulders, and newly paved. This gave me room to climb up
safely, and then go down the other side fast. I got a new top speed
of 44.8 mph. It was great fun. The views were amazing everywhere we
looked.

After Colorado we crossed the four corners into Arizona where I stood
on a bronze circle and took a picture of an arbitrary spot on the map.
There I heard Polish, French, and Japanese so I knew I was in a
tourist place. The four corners lies on the Navajo Nation's land. We
have been on it for the past few days, and poverty is more evident
then at any other point of the trip. Along the roads that we were
riding on there are many empty bottles. We were informed by a cop car
that we had to be careful and ride far on the shoulder, because they
have a problem with drunk drivers 24 hours a day. Unfortunately the
shoulders were not always bike friendly. So far we have had not had
any incidences. It has been hard riding through such an area, because
I know that there are many issues that confront these communities
before affordable housing.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Grand Canyon, and camping on the south
rim. I am so excited, but also the realization that I only have 11
days left before San Diego is slowly setting in. Soon I will be
headed back to Maine.