ride with us through the last leg of monument valley.

Out of Colorado, Pete's land. Through, up and over the southernish neck of the rocky mountains. The mountains that have kept me company all the way from the Yukon Territory, Canada.... Colorado is up there with Alaska, for shire beauty and hugeness. Up there in sky, where just stepping down a few steps from a house is a chore for the lungs. We rode south leaving the mountains and altitude. entering the plains and the vertical red rock mountains that glow at sunset. One night in Norwood, (a tad lovelyer than norwood se25). stayed with john and berry at the back narrows inn. an inn built in the wild days of 1880. The wood structure still the same as it was then. A huge beautifully engraved, ornate stove greets you on entry, built in those golden days. We had nowhere to stay before then. all was closed or no vacancy. A small town , one street big. John says to me, "speak english and we'll see what we can" , i knew we'd be mates after that. Their guest hadn't shown up for a banquet, so lucky pete and i scoffed the lot. steaks, trout seasoned perfectly, shrimp kebabs, melon and strong subtle tasting beer. A night of laughs and stories then south once more the next day. Colorado turned into Utah. the mountains became bigger red and bare of pine and spruce. Utah became desert , which meant Arizona couldn't be far off. Through the Valley of the gods, an aptly named desert dirt road through huge monoliths, acting like bringers of doom or gods caring for the world around them or just strangely shaped mountains, like in the shape of hands and upside down boots, that water and wind have designed over millions of years. The best dirt road so far. skinny and hilly. loose gravel, sliding the bikes from one road shoulder to the next. steep ups and downs close together, that any experienced motocross rider would be air born out of. corners that slide the rear then the front end, scaring the rider into doing what he shouldn't. Pete realised there is a problem with the front end on his bike, named number 5 , by the way.. mines named number 8. He was thinking it might be the back load of luggage that's making the front end light and insecure. A problem he overcame and road the road flying up dirt and dust in his wake. off and out of the valley of the gods into monument valley , via the weirder that all the rest Mexican hat, into monument valley. no descriptions needed for this place. just think back on those 50s and 60s even earlier westerns we all grew up with. A night in the Indian reservation town of kayente, no beer aloud, prices of accommodation and food all raised and a few nice meetings with inquicitive people. The ride the next day was the ride taking us into phoenix, arizona, where Debbie, petes sister, kindly invited us both to stay at her house. It was a bigger than usual ride, 400 miles needed instead of the 300 regular days. I have done a couple of big for miles days this trip and it sucks the life out of me leaving a wild talking , endorphined person. superb, but not all the time. We made it. 3 hours in total darkness. me with no back light, where pete came to the rescue, riding behind me with his back light, so as speeding rascals in trucks and cars didnt squash me without noticing. he was there like a rock, reliable and consistent. top rider ! it was a spell binding riding in the dark following the centre lines in the dark, where my speedo decided to stop also. a fleshy computer game. 12 hours in the seat, flat bums and big smiles sweating like never before in the 9pm 90f heat of phoenix. Debbies house is beautiful. close to all that we need , like the bike shops, newspaper offices and the next AON office to visit. We visited Aon Phoenix. An office 30 floors i recon high. Aon have 20 people working there. we were welcomed by Karen Mildenhall after meeting the friendly , helpfull receptionist, ( i wish i remembered her name). Karen spoke with us, showed us the magnificent views from their office windows and wished us good fortune in our ride. A nother great stop in the Aon chain. All are interested after we invade their day with strange requests. Visited the Arizona republic newspaper, where they couldnt see us coz of deadlines. another email there then. Pete has sorted out his front end problems. he has helped me with my brake problems in the 106f heat. and we are almost ready to hit the Mexican border. Thats a place that we both have premature worries about. The reputation, language barrier, all that comes with mexico. A place we are looking forward to, the real challenge starts here i think. Mind you its not as dark thoughts provoking than bombs going off the other day in Cali, Colombia. HEHEHEHE ! Lets hope if there are any new born revolutions, we are on a cozy balcony looking down with cameras in hand rather than at a road side cafe beers in hand. Its all gotten better, if that was possible, now pete is along side. he has a perfect knack of making situations easier. and has the best ideas !