I'll start with the best.  This is Scott riding through Monument Valley this morning.  You can tell the sun is low in the East.   Brian took this photo with his iPhone.  Gorgeous country!

 

This is where we did the transition at the border of Utah and Colorado a a small trading post 'Ismay'.  There was no town.  

 

The view across the street from the trading post.

 

This is the Ismay trading post.  We never would have guessed it was open but a local pulled up, went in, and came out with soda.  So we went in. It was basically a bunch of empty wooden shelves from 80 years ago with a few items stacked here and there, and a nice but quiet guy (part Indian?) in a cowboy hat standing there.

 

View to the other side of Ismay.  See the pile of broken glass.

 

 

 

A few miles up the road as Brian and I started riding towards Cortez.

 

Brian started out strong and in great form.  This was his second leg of the day after an incredible ride in Monument Valley from 4 a.m. till about 7 a.m..

 

This is the river valley we rode up.  Cortez CO that we're heading towards is right by Mesa Verde, the #1 Indian pueblo cliff dwelling site in the world.  We are maybe 25 miles away from there at this point.  You can see the river cliffs are pocked with numerous cliffs...  I bet this area is packed with indian sites.

 

the other side of the road

 

 

 

Our first sighting of the San Juan mountains (they lie North of Durango).  We are not riding through these but they sure add to the scenic beauty of Western Colorado.

 

We stopped in a small town just a couple miles from Mesa Verde.  Notice the friendly yellow sign!   We often get friendly cheers from drivers and pedestrians.   99% of the drivers are safe and curteous.   In Arizona to the west of Sedona was the main place I noticed some 'Get off the road bikers!' yells from drivers.   We smile right back.  Everyone should learn to 'share the road'.

 

This is on the drive on down into Durango.  A nice high mountain valley.

 

After 6 days on the road preparing for this race and being in it, it finally occured to me to do a self portrait.  Here I am hanging out the window of the SUV about 1 pm.  See, I do feel refreshed after my sleep this morning!

 

Yipee!  Thanks to God for the opportunity to do something like this race across a beautiful country like this one!

 

Well, gotta go.  Should try to rest a little, we have 1 last big night ahead of us.