Zuni, NM—Although there were only two significant hills today, I bet we had gained a couple thousand feet before the day was over. But the big story on Route 602 this morning just had to be the astounding number of horse trailers pulled by speeding pickup trucks. One after another they rumbled by. It turned out there were two rodeos in the area, one of them right on Route 602.
We actually made pretty good time today, and we rolled up to the 4-way stop sign in Zuni at 3:30 on the nose. A lot had happened. My wife MaryAnn, who had driven us out to the Arizona state line yesterday and spent the night with me in Gallup, left for our home in Albuquerque in the early afternoon. Shuming Chen went with her. Shuming had done great, but the miles and hills were a little hard on her.
We also figured out that because we weren’t camping on this part of the trip we really didn’t need the full set of panniers, left the front ones in the car and put everything in the rear ones instead. This was a bad idea in my book, because it made the bike a whole lot more unsteady, especially going downhill at a good rate of speed. And we did hit 38 mph at one point today.
There was a Giant gas station and convenience store at the top of the second big hill. We stopped, of course. They were selling food to benefit muscular dystrophy. We bought at least one of everything on their menu: a banana split, 2 hamburgers, and 2 pieces of fry bread sprinkled with powdered sugar. Oops. The only thing we didn’t buy was a Navajo taco.
Really nice people…and a really good cause. Of special note was cashier and server Marilyn “Monroe” Benally, who promised to read this piece if I mentioned her.
In Zuni we are staying at the Inn at Halona in the center of the Pueblo. A great place but if you are thinking of staying here, I would suggest making a reservation. They only have eight rooms.
The host is Roger Thomas and his wife Elaine Dodson Thomas. Roger said that a dance was being performed tonight and that it was rarely done. Well, Mike and I went over there.
We stood at the back of the crowd on a rooftop. Rooftops surrounded the small courtyard where the dance took place. Some sat in chairs on the ground floor, most were on the rooftops. It was such a special time.
I admit to not know much about Zuni dances, but I do know something about people getting together and smiling and laughing and knowing they are a part of something bigger than themselves. It truly was a rare and beautiful event.
There is only one problem here in Zuni. Because of the heavy rains here, the internet went out today and is not currently working. I hope it’s fixed by morning so I can post this in a somewhat timely manner.
Oops. I just spilled almond butter on my only pair of pants. It doesn’t look good.
Tomorrow we head east to El Morro and beyond…more beautiful country! We’re staying at a place called Ancient Way some distance east of El Morro. Hope to see you then.
