Day 29

Horses visited me again last night. The sound of hooves hitting the ground and snorting woke me up and like before, I didn't really know what to do. I heard them walk off, and I slowly peeked my head out of my tent to try to see them, but they were already gone. The àastars were brilliant, but I didn't want to let more bugs in, so I went back to sleep. In the morning, I decided to go to the next town before going to the four corners monument. That way I could get food and water before heading to Colorado. Also, I wanted to send a post card from the post office there. I wanted to get a custom post card that had a picture of me standing on the for corners monument, to prove that I was in all four states without going through the trouble of finding a post office in each state, but I wasn't sure if they would have that. I ended up just buying an Arizona and a New Mexico post card and mailing them both from Arizona- oh well. There was another town that I could get to that was in New Mexico, but it would add about 30 miles to my trip and I wouldn't be able to go back to the four corners, so I decided against it. That wasn't very smart, because when I got to the monument, it was packed with people. I didn't want to sit around for an hour to  get a picture, which I would inevidibly have to pay for, so I just got back on the road. I spent the evening watching lightning as I peddled up a gradual hill. It rained really hard for some parts- the first rain I had to peddle through in a long time. Eventually I was almost to the town I wanted to get past when I realized there was no way. I would have to camp before the town and stock up in the morning. I found a dirt road, and alongside it, woods. There was a fence, but it was just barbed wire that was on the ground- not very effective. It was getting dark, so I figured I didn't have a choice. I pushed my bike into the woods and quickly regretted it- the mud was crazy. It stuck to my shoes and my bike tires, until it wouldn't really even roll. I walked around, looking for a good place to set up my tent. There was what looked like the remnants of a burned down building nearby- I didn't want to camp too close to that. I found a place somewhat under a tree. I went to sleep with confidence that no one in their right mind would randomly walk out here because of the terrible mud and hoping that it wouldn't be too hard to get it off my bike tires.