>From: "Christine W" <christineweir@hotmail.com>
>Subject: hi from Taos, New Mexico
>Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 15:31:26 PDT
>
>
>Hi everyone
>
>A report from the wandering bikers! Another internet cafe, sigh, slow pc,
>$6 an hour (i.e. $12 NZ). No wonder my money is disappearing fast! It's
>really hot in here, freezing outside, and there is a guy next to me playing
>internet chess, fancy paying to do that. I might have to dig him in the
>ribs shortly because he is constantly sniffing. I don't know why he doesn't
>just blow his nose on his bike glove like I do.
>
>Anyway, when I sent that last message we were in Sedona, the big spiritual
>energy centre of the country or the universe or something. Well the
>spirituality bypassed me, I wasn't in the mood or the mode. We rode down
>this beautiful Oak Creek Canyon and eventually found a camp ground just
>below road level, the 2nd one we tried, and didn't know the etiquette in
>such places so found a spot and were going to put up our tents there. No
>you can't camp there, said a guy, this is our site. As it was getting dark
>we wern't going to go anywhere, so rode around and found another wee empty
>spot, and a lady said it would be ok to go there. Turned out that all the
>camp sites are numbered and they rent a space and a fire site and a table.
>We huddled under some trees and cooked our tea on the gas stove, nice lady
>lent us a light so we could see to put our tents up! We stayed there the
>next day to have a rest, and it was really great to take a break. It was
>all Forest Park in that area and we weren't allowed to camp anywhere but
>their camp grounds. They charge $12 for a site and there are absolutely no
>facilities, apart from a stinky long drop toilet.
>
>Next day was a big ride up to Flagstaff, up to 7000 feet or so! People at
>the lookout at the top of the Oak Creek Canyon could hardly believe we had
>ridden up there - one of those places NOBODY rides up on a bike, especially
>with a load! Well, I rode up without stopping so it couldn't have been that
>steep. It had a few switchbacks and steep bits and not much shoulder, and
>people warned us how dangerous it would be to ride on, however we have
>learned to ignore what car drivers tell us and to just do it and see how it
>goes.
>
>Flagstaff was really warm, nice place. They had snow the week before and
>have had more since we were there, so we struck it lucky to catch it on a
>fine day. We were surprised that so many shops were shut until we realised
>it was Sunday. Mostly I don't know what day it is because it doesn't matter
>anyway.
>
>We rode out of Flagstaff until it looked like we would be going uphill
>again, and saw a road into a forest and found a nice place under the trees,
>had a very warm night there.
>
>After that we headed up to Tuba City which is a Hopi Indian village, not
>very nice really. We camped in the Quality Inn camping ground, had lovely
>showers, did laundry. As usual in camping grounds there was no kitchen so
>we set up shop in the laundry and cooked our stuff! We had macaroni,
>onions, peppers, parmesan cheese! Yummy meals we have when we can, and
>sometimes we only have sandwiches for tea. I am constantly snacking and
>really enjoying eating so much!
>
>We were in the Navajo Nation for several days, and it was conspicuous by
>the number of beer and wine and spirit bottles thrown out on the side of
>the road. Lots of white crosses with flowers on them, and broken bottles
>all around. They just don't get it. Drinking and driving seems to be the
>local pastime, closely followed by breaking glass wherever they can throw
>it.
>
>We next went to Kayenta, having a very fast ride with mostly downhill and a
>25 mph tail wind pushing us up and down hills. We went over Marsh Pass
>which is 6750' and didn't even notice it. Got into town and the only
>camping ground was a horrible RV park which we didn't want to go to,. The
>guy in a cafe said there is more camping 20 miles up the road and that
>would have been into a head wind so we stooged around town looking for a
>likely spot. Madi saw some people going into a church so we shot in there,
>and they were going to an aerobics stepping class. One lady said we could
>camp on her lawn after the class, so Madi decided to do the class and I
>decided to watch. After biking 123km there was no way I was going to do
>that kind of strenuous exercise. After the class the lady spoke to the
>priest, and he said we could camp on the church grounds, so we tucked in
>out of the wind and set up home! We decided to do a side trip to Monument
>Valley next day, what a stunning place. It leaves Sedona for dead, the same
>kind of red rocks etc and very remote and not too commercialised. That was
>an 80km day trip, with strong wind and rain showers and stunning scenery.
>
>Next day was miserable and raining and we were only about 20k down the road
>when Madi got a flat tyre. There was a craft shop just around the corner so
>we pulled in there to get shelter to fix the tyre, and it was an abandoned
>place, still good shelter. She pulled out her spare tube which had a hole
>around the valve, so attempted to find the hole in the one that went flat.
>No way could we find the hole, and I spotted a house just along a bit,
>which looked empty. We went over there and it was an abandoned house, so we
>squatted there and decided to stay the night. It was a roof over our heads
>and us 2 Leos wasted no time in making it into a nice wee home for
>ourselves for the night. A guy came along and said it used to be his
>grandmother's house and it was ok for us to stay there, although he would
>be happy to drive us to a nearby motel.We preferred to stay there, lit a
>fire, watched the storm go by!
>
>Next day we crossed into New Mexico, camped beside a house of a very
>puzzled Indian woman who checked with her husband if it was ok. They had 6
>kids plus grandma, living in a place about the size of my lounge, several
>windows boarded up because the glass was broken.
>
>From there we went through Farmington, and turned off the highway to go
>through Aztec and up to the Navajo Dam, a nice side trip. The day
>deteriorated and we went through a hail storm and there was thunder roaring
>behind us for a long time. We were now in an Apache Reservation, and
>spotted a hole in a fence and ducked in there to camp in the trees. The
>rain came later, and during the night I woke to hear pitter patter and uh
>oh, it was snowing. We had about 2" of snow on our tents that morning.
>
>A lovely short ride to Chamo and camped in a camping ground by a river,
>nice ride yesterday to San Juan Pueblo and camped on a guy's lawn after
>riding through a town and getting chased by dogs. It wasn't a very pleasant
>place around there!
>
>Today was a few hours ride uphill to Taos, and we are back up to 7000' or
>so. About to go and find a camping ground up a canyon where it looks very
>cloudy and raining, storm is coming. We made a detour from Chamo southwards
>and then went north, otherwise the direct route would have taken us across
>a 10,000' mountain pass covered in snow, no place for a cyclist! Tomorrow
>we go over a 9100' pass, and hopefully start heading down to lower and
>warmer altitudes.
>
>That's us up till today, it could be a while before I get on the email
>again!
>
>Thanks again for all the messages, I won't have time to read them all at
>the moment, will catch up another time.
>
>Cheers,
>Christine and Madi