Day 12 Zuni, NM to Rehoboth, NM

We had a short day today of 44 miles with a couple 8 degree hills throw in to keep us honest. It was a nice ride today and I rode with John, Dan, Chris Mulder (from Holland, MI and joined earlier this week), Joel, and Harold Veldman (Allendale, MI). Rehoboth Christian School who is hosting us tonight is just outside of Gallup, NM. We rode through Gallup to get to Rehoboth. Since it was a short ride today, many of us stopped for coffee in Gallup. We rode on a section of the Historic Route 66 and past some old attractions from that hayday. One was an old motel that the movie stars of yesteryear stayed at while filming old Western movies. The town has beautiful mesas and rock formations surrounding it and made it very convenient for filming. Rehoboth is just a couple miles out of Gallup and is a very beautiful campus. Their new sports building is top notch and has a fitness room and equipment that is also used by the local police and fire fighters for training, as well as open to the community at certain times. The school is pre-K through 12 and has about 500 students. It is much larger than I anticipated.

The school gave us walking tours of the campus. In the middle school building is a room dedicated to the "code talkers" of WWII. They were Navajos that used there distinct language to develop a code system that the Japanese could not break. There are 30 of these vets that had attended Rehoboth Christian School at one time or another. The school hosted us to supper in their fellowship building. They also arranged a bus ride for us into Gallup to watch traditional Native American dancing that is put on each night. Tonight is was the Zuni Tribe's turn to perform.

I had to admit that I cut out of part of the performance to sneak some pizza to buildup my carbs intake in preparation of tomorrow's near 100 miles day to Shiprock, NM. I was not being disrespectful.

We experienced another shower (they seem to be following us) this afternoon, with some hail and wind, but all the bikers were in before that. This is the first rain that Gallup has had in many weeks.

I want to write a blog entry soon about our experiences with poverty along the way this past week and how our group is struggling to understand it and how to address it.

Love to all and please keep the prayer support going for our cause and safety. We really do appreciate it.

Julie and I are so sorry we could not be at our grandson Tyler's graduation ceremony from Senior Marine Officer's Training Camp in Quantico, VA today. We love you Tyler and are thankful you were able to complete this goal of yours. His family was able to attend.