After leaving Durango this morning I rode south through the Ute and Navajo nations. I have to say that the land we gave them is pretty sad. Desolate. No trees or water. Just a few small, dusty settlements resembling FEMA villages. The wind out here is insane. Bucking the bike and straining my neck muscles. Every time I encountered a truck passing in the opposite direction I had to grit my teeth as the wind blast blew me a foot or two towards the shoulder. I ended my day by visiting the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. I enjoyed several short hikes around the geological sites and was really impressed with the abundance of petrified trees. I’ll post some photos when I have better internet. At last, I scored some free camping in a field behind a rock shop called the Crystal Forest just out side the park.

One weird thing that happened to me today was when I was filling up with fuel in Farmington NM. The pump got stuck and would not shut off, spraying gasoline all over me and the bike. I had to jump off and hit the emergency shut off switch. My riding pants got the worst of it but the whole bike is covered in an oily, smelly film (which quickly collected all of the dust in New Mexico :-) 

I’m headed to Tucson tomorrow to visit a friend and to replace the tires on the bike. I left home with tires that were half worn with this stop in mind so that I could start my trip into Mexico on new tires. Hopefully they will last me all the way to Argentina.