Our day really did start out with a BANG!! It is the local custom in St. Johns that some men fire off a cannon at 5:00 a.m. on the 4th of July!! And guess what, the cannon is set up in our park! So, there was no need for an alarm clock this morning. They shoot it off 13 times for the original 13 colonies. It was really loud, as they use 1200 grains of powder.
Last night the city had music and a movie outdoors in the park we stayed in. We were so tired though, that we went to bed early. It was cool this morning when we started out and heated up into the 90s later in the day.
Our route today was about 54 miles and took us through wide open country were you can see forever. We crossed into New Mexico about half way to Zuni. Zuni is in a valley with high mesas on 3 sides. It is very pretty around. I rode today with John and Dan. There were many up and down hills today. We are staying at the Zuni Mission Christian School. They have a brand new building next to the old one and it is very nice. The bikers are sleeping inside tonight, in any room they can find a space in. The school had an enrollment in the high 80s.
We were given walking tours of the town. It is an Indian Nation town in the Zuni Reservation. There are many that still hold to the old customs and religion of spirit worship. We were asked to not take any photos in town, so I can't show you what is looks like. The Zuni peoples live all in this one town of 10,000 people and do not live spread out as Navajos do. There is only tourism jewelry craft making here for employment. There are a few teaching positions and some government jobs, but over all it is very impoverished. The Christian Reformed staff here is very dedicated and love there work.
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