Four Corners Tour – Ride Day 9 – Tour Day 6 – July 20, 2015 – Monday

Start Time: 7:08 AM MDT
Stop Time: 5:11 PM MDT
Start Location: Tucumcari, NM
Stop Location: Winslow, AZ
Lodging: Homolovi State Park Campground
Breakfast: Campsite (bagel with cream cheese)
Lunch: SUbway (turkey sub on flat bread)
Dinner: Campsite (PB&J on flour tortilla, apple, cherries)
Miles Traveled Today: 493
Weather: 71-91, 3/4 Sunny, 1/4 Rain

States visited so far on this tour.

Route: US-54, I-40, AZ-87

If you thought I was exaggerating about the Texas bugs in yesterday’s post, here is an example of what I was dealing with (a grasshopper the size of a chihuahua).

Knocked out another state today, and the morning temperature in New Mexico was very welcomed. I was not expecting such mild temperatures through this portion of the ride, but loved every minute of the cool crisp breeze.

The big event of the day was finding that Flat Bed Ford in Winslow, Arizona, and find it I did (no wasted time finding it thanks to a very nice and well versed attendant at the Arizona Welcome Center). 
  

Unfortunately there was no girl in that flat bed Ford, much trying to take a look at me.

I was also a little disappointed that the local diner closed at 3:00 PM (a local resident was nice enough to let me know that it was a breakfast/lunch diner, and closed at 3:00 every day).

Homolovi State Park was my destination, and as you can see from these photos, shade is not one of its attributes. It was also another stake down the tent night, but the breeze felt glorious in the heat of afternoon as I circled the park to get in my 10,000 steps.

Hit a few of these storms today, all dropping pretty intense amounts of rain, but all lasted less than 5 minutes. One good thing about them is you can see them for miles before you hit them.

Since the diner was closed, I resorted to another campsite meal.

The hardest part of this trip is not riding 400 miles a day, setting up and breaking camp, two lane roads through small towns with lots of red lights, or dealing with the elements, but being away from my family.

BUT, I got a real pick-me up this evening when I got to do something really, really special.

For those of you that don’t know me, my youngest daughter, and my grad-daughter live with my wife and I, and have for two years now.

I love having them there, and really love the nightly bedtime routine with my grand-daughter. She likes for one of us to sing for her as we tuck her into bed each night, and after talking with her briefly on the phone (all conversations with The Princess Buttercup on the phone are brief), I heard her ask my wife to sing for her bedtime.

So, I asked if I could sing to her over the phone, and she agreed. What an incredible blessing to be standing in a Desert in Arizona at sunset singing Jesus Loves Me to this Angel Baby.

Today was a road slug free day, no one cut me off, no one passed someone in the oncoming lane without room to get around, not even a single tailgater.

Thank you Lord for a beautiful day (even the rain was welcomed), and for parting a path for me to travel safely.