Pueblos, craters & storm racing (10/7/23 Sat)

Slept well and even a little late this morning. Had coffee in camp and then packed up a dry tent.

First stop was Walnut Canyon National Monument. It's another cliff dwelling area, but you could walk around and see a lot of different dwellings. The walk I took was out and around what would be an island if the canyon was flooded with water. Lots of "houses" bricked into the cliffs overhangs. I also loved seeing more of those plant signs that describe both how to ientify the plant and it's uses. They seem to be at all the parks in AZ.

Realizing that I had some time, and seeing the cost of the meteor crater I back tracked some to visit Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument which is connected by an 18 mile back road to Wupatki National Monument. Sunset crater was a volcano that erupted and left behind lava, burnt trees, and a cratered mountain peak. The lava fields are kind of cool. The regrowth even cooler. Looks like the area also suffered a recent forst fire as well. It's interesting to view natures scars.

The next stop on the back road was another pueblo perched on a rock in a fairly open plain. I thought that was all that was here, but behind the ranger building/gift shop was another small town of buildings and a round sports area. They are very cool ruins, with various interesting solutions to problems like: smoke, rain drips, food storage, security, and heat retention.

On my backtracking from Walnut Cayon I took a wrong turn and rode a section of Rt66. Before the backtracking I was set up well to be way infront of the approaching storms. Now i would be just barely infront of it. Unless I decided to go to the meteor crater after all. And that is what i did.

Meteor Crater Natural Landmark isn't cheap, and I am. But I did want to see it. At $27 it didn't seem like something I could run in an snap some photos. All the national parks are free with my pass, this private attraction cost dearly. The road to the crater is about 6 miles in, and they count you down with signs. In fact they have plenty of signs on the highway and even broadcast information on an AM station. And a very polished website as well, all round good marketing. So the building is very large and stylish. Inside they have gift and gem shops, coffee and beer stops, movies and 4D motion rides, plus museums, interactive displays and live tour guides. Oh ya and theres a very large hole behind the building. It was a good stop and one could spend a lot of time wondering around. I spent more than I should and the rain and lightning was nearly ontop of me.

Suited up for rain, I raced to get ahead of it. The wind from the edge of the crater had been enough to push a person around. My bike and the tractor trailer trucks on the highway got pushed around too. I leaned the bike towards the wind and sat upright; so that wind gusts would bring the bike more under me, not blow it out from under me. The wind was from the right, so passing a line of trucks provided a wind brake. However there's a low pressure,or eddy that pulls you into the truck when you're on it's leward side. So each truck gap was a bit of a lean reversal to keep the bike blowing more under me.

On the edge of the front there was wind and rain. The wind made sand storms that looked like smoke from fires. The semi's and I pushed on. Then I saw a sign for Winslow AZ and figured I needed fuel and stopping on a corner there sounded funny. Then a billbord for Mojo Coffee Roasters and Cafe flashed by. I wished I saw where, but when I got off the exit I was at it. In I went, but they had just closed. Still sold me coffee and a breakfast burritto, and allowed me to hang out of the wind for 10 minutes to eat it. I sent Anne a text that I only had one woman on my mind. Got gas and continued racing to get and stay ahead of the storm clouds.

In Holbrook, AZ I passed a motel of TeePees and nearly stopped for the night. Not sure why I didn't turn around. The next stop was at an RV campground with a city permit that denied tents. Onward to the next campground at Lyman Lake State Park. I secured a campsite and was surprised to see a covered picnic table at every site. The sky was dark, but I thought I was ahead of the storm. I had cell signal so I started a call with Anne before some lightning seemed to take out the cell tower and I was offline.

There was occasional light rain showers and winds. Eventually I setup my tent and sat typing at my covered picnic table. Then the wind got so bad it pulled stakes out and collapsed part of my tent. I had to grab everything and try to secure it. I suspect we had 50mph winds. It seemed like my bike could get knocked down, and the wind was coming at it from the rear. After I got into the tent the wind blew harder a few more times, and then everything went calm. I still have no cell to check weather or update my website. But is calm with no rain.