This morning Chad and I left with the early crowd so we could detour through Petrified Forest National Park. The ride from Holbrook to Gallup, New Mexico went mostly east on I-40, which crosses directly through the park. Chad couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit national park #15. We had beautiful sweeping views of the Painted Desert. It looks much like the Painted Hills of Oregon, but was formed in a completely different way. We didn’t have time to see the Petrified Forest section of the park. Next time.

About 10 miles after returning to the route, way behind everyone else, I had my first flat. 20 miles later, my second. We made it to our 3^rd state on the tour, New Mexico.

Over the next 12 miles I had 4 more flat tires. Of the 11 hours we spent on the road today, I spent 4 -1/2 hours not riding. And I wasn’t the worst!

Altogether it was 99 miles of steady climbing, breathtaking scenery, and frustration. All capped off with dinner of fried chicken (me) and chicken fried steak (Chad) at Cracker Barrel. Where, oddly enough, a busload of French tourists arrived just after we did.

Tomorrow we cross the continental Divide and start the long downhill to the Mississippi River.