Day 81

Let me start this blog off by letting the whole world know that we were ONE Bingo ball away from mule rides at The Grand Canyon. Now when I say one ball I don't mean "Oh if this one had come up we would have won", this ball came up! It was the final round and the rules were get a straight line in the first 10 balls, or cover your whole sheet after the first 10. Each ball was previewed on a TV screen, then announced. You can't yell Bingo until after the ball is announced. 6 balls into the final game Andy had 4 in a row horizontally in the center, all he needed was O-72. Sure enough after the 6th ball was announced, out rolled O-72 in the preview screen! We had done it, WE WON BINGO! Unfortunately before O-72 had a chance to be announced a soft voice proclaimed "bingo". The previous ball had yielded a winner that was not us. It was very unfortunate, we discussed how the loss might not have hurt as bad had we not seen O-72 in the preview screen. We still had a great time, and got to know a lot of the locals.

This morning we woke up around 7 as usual, packed up and hit the road. We returned to the Denny's we had eaten at for dinner last night, and enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Andy ordered the weakest breakfast out of all of us, but had the last laugh when Ken and I couldn't finish ours, while he reaped the benefits of leftovers.

After breakfast we slowly made our way back on the road. It was very slow going at the beginning due to consuming well over 1000 calories for breakfast, and a lonnnng gradual uphill climb. This hill seemed to never end, and peaked at 7500 feet, 1200 feet higher than we started at yesterday. After about 6 miles we thought all the hard work of the day was over, we had made it to the top of the hill! Unfortunately as we got to the top of the hill our shoulder disappeared. As we've said before, the shoulder is one of the most important features of roads for us. Bad weather and hills pale in comparison to a non-existent shoulder in a heavy traffic area, especially when you're carting around two baby strollers. We cautiously made our way through The Navajo National Forest, hopping off the road when cars came by, and especially when over-sized loads hauling pieces of The Crushinator drove by.

We made it about 2 miles outside of Ganado when a green VW pulled off the side of the road. It was Josh & Pat, Ken's long time friends from Chingacook. Josh and Pat are on a cross country trip of their own, cruising around the U.S. hitting up National Parks and visiting old friends. They'll stay with us tonight and tomorrow in an effort to get a taste of what The Nation Run lifestyle is all about.

We got into town and got a nice lunch at a deli inside a Conoco station. We swapped from our respective adventures and discussed our plans for tonight. We decided to split up and try and figure out a safe place to rest our heads. Josh and Pat went to a trading post, while Andy, Ken and I inquired at the fire station. We were immediately welcomed at the station, and were told we could stay at a house associated with a church one of the volunteers worked at. We met back up with Josh and Pat and relaxed at the station as we waited for our host to finish up his work.

On our way to our resting place we got a tour of the area and learned a lot about The Navajo people. We even saw an old Navajo building that dates back to the 1500s. We were all pretty glad we got to check this place out, there's a lot you miss running on the main roads.

From what I understand Pat is currently cooking up some pasta for us right now and I am very hungry. The plan for the night is to eat, shower and sleep, hopefully we can accomplish all those goals, but if I had to choose I'd go with eat.

Also I would like to wish a happy birthday to two very special people in my life. My nephew and Godson Liam turned 3 today, and little Danny Verdi turned 26. Dan celebrated his birthday by running in The Boston Marathon. Dan finished the 26.2 course in an impressive 2:47, much faster than any of us could dream of right now.

Keep movin',
-Durkin