Kayenta, AZ

Today we got to go to Kayenta where we met up with the NC crew again. They had 70 miles and we had about 90 for the ride (and we caught up with them!). We had a really awesome ride ahead of us. Long, but a lot of fun. I rode with Katie up until 1st lunch and we had a lot of really great descents. There was this on descent where the downhill curved around a huge mountain. All the way down, there were signs warning of falling rocks and about half way down the hill, there was the reminents of a recent rockslide so I was pretty nervous the whole way down because I didn't want to get hit by a rock! It was a lot of fun though. On the route, we also stopped at a museum where it was a bunch of old school, western cottages and huts. We didn't really try to learn anything, we just goofed around for thirty minutes, playing on the carriages and in the cowboy outfits. After first lunch, I jumped on with Laura and Greg. The very first part of our ride, we were greeted by a huge climb...at the top, I was the sweatiest I've ever been on this trip! Luckily, the climb was quickly followed by a massive downhill into one of the most scenic and beautiful places I've ever seen. Unfortunately, I can't even capture it all with a picture but it was clear that we were starting to move into canyons and rock formations. We then made it to a place called Mexican Hat, which was a town that existed purely because of a rock formation in the distance that looks like an upside down Mexican hat. This is also where I made the best mistake of bike and build and chose to eat a gas station hot dog before a ton of climbing. We climbed up into monument valley, which was amazing! On the way in, there was a ton of shops on the side of the road selling jewelry and souvenirs. I bought a rock that had a carving in it...which sounds silly but I really like it! Monument valley was really amazing but at the time in the afternoon that we got there, the heat was starting to become unbearable and everyone just wanted to get into the host. When we finally got there, all of NC was there, greeting us happily! We went to sonic for milkshakes and then after dinner, I accidentally fell asleep in the middle of the doorway to the main room. I slept straight through a bunch of people doing wrestling lessons and swing dance lessons. I later woke up for some water and then fell asleep again. It was such an exhausting day and I wish I had more time to talk to the other team but I could barely keep my eyes open!!