Day 10

Saturday 11/5:  The wind was still blowing, and with it a pretty good rain, when I decided to break camp.  I tried to get a ride for over two hours when a Navajo family stopped; a pretty amazing family.  A man, his wife, her two sisters, and their mother were on their way to a wedding in Monument Valley.  They talked me into going through Tuba City, and then to Flagstaff, and from there to Phoenix, Tuscon, and Sierra Vista.  They were adamant about the fact that I would have a terrible time catching a ride by going south on 191.  I took their advice. They also made me take some money, and one of the sisters gave me a beautiful necklace for my daughter. The wind was blowing like crazy at Monument Valley and after about an hour two young guys, in a way too small of car, gave me a ride to Kayenta.  This was one white knuckle ride!  The speed limit is not a real issue with these guys.  My next ride was in the back of a pickup heading toward Tuba City.  It was only about 30 minutes, but I was pretty sure I was going to freeze to death.  I got two more short rides front elderly gentlemen before my last ride into Tuba City.  This ride was from five young people in a small king cab pickup. They literally squeezed me in.  They were nice kids, but I think they wanted me to party with them.  I had only been out of their pickup a couple minutes, when Barbara offered me a ride all the way to Flagstaff.  Barbara works with people who are dealing with STDs.  She's a very nice lady, whom I am sure does a lot of nice things for a lot of people.  Every ride I got this day was from Navajos.  All of them were nice to me and treated with kindness and respect.  I got into Flagstaff with less than an hour of daylight left.  They had about 6 inches of snow on the ground and it was supposed to get down to around 14 degrees.  I decided to violate my "no motels" rule.  I justified it because I was going to pay for it out of my savings and I was dead dog tired.  That cheap motel room was wonderful with it's hot shower and warmth.  All that warmth.  Hopefully, Sierra Vista tomorrow.   223 miles  1,790 total