St. John's to Zuni, NM.

Last night the city of St. John's, AZ opened up their pool for the Sea to Sea bike riders from 4:00 - 6:00 pm.  It felt very refreshing to play around in the water for a while.   Some of the sea to sea riders decided to do a diving demonstration off the diving board.  It was hilarious!  Some of my favorite dives I saw were:  The sitting budha, the flying superman, and the watermelon.   These were performed by several men in their 50's.  At dusk, the city had their first ever "movie in the park."  They showed the cartoon "American Tale" on a large white sheet on the side of the building next to our tents.   Those who went to bed before 10:00 pm heard the sound of the movie until it was over.   It looked like the people of St. John's were having a great time in the park.

Today :  July 4, 2013  Happy Independence Day!  I hope you all enjoy the day with your families and friends.  The city of St. John's, AZ has a tradition of starting the day with the firing of a canon at 5:00 am.  They pull the cannon through the town and fire it off.   This morning I think they fired it off at least 12 times.  We all woke up with the first cannon firing at 5:00 am.  (I thought I was back at CCS for the Fifth Grade Civil War Day.)

After a quick breakfast, I was back on the road again at 6:00 am.  Today I rode with Rod Ledeboer, Jerry Pols, Doug and Joy Lutke.  We did "leap frog" activity for a while which made the time go faster.  We had several long climbs today but it wasn't too bad.  It took us about 3.5 hours to ride the 53 miles from St. John's, AZ to Zuni, NM.  We crossed into New Mexico - leaving Arizona behind.

 The landscape has views of several beautiful mesas that we can see in the distance.  This is pretty desolate country.  There were no towns along our route today and very little traffic.   When we crossed into New Mexico we also entered a new time zone.  We are now one hour difference from the Central Time Zone (Minnesota).

We entered Zuni, NM at about 11:30 (Mountain Time).  We are staying at the Zuni Christian Mission School.  They just competed a beautiful addition to their building last August.   We are sleeping in various classrooms in the building. They have air conditioning and showers (Yeah!)  The Principal, Kathy Bosscher and their Development Director, Kent Bosma, took us on a short tour of the local area.   I was here once before when the CSI Leadership Convention was at Rehoboth about seven years ago.  I visited the Zuni Mission at that time.    We are on the Zuni Indian Reservation.  The Christian Reformed Church started this mission in 1897 to bring the gospel to the Zuni Indian Tribe.  The school currently enrolls about 70 students.  85% of which come from families who still practice the native worship practices.   All of the students receive tuition support to attend this school.  Families must pay at least $600 per year to have their children in the school.  This is a very poor economic area.  Many of the homes are small brick buildings with several generation of families living in them.   It is a great ministry that this school and church is providing to these people.  It is challenging but they have seen many people forsake their native beliefs and become believers in Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow we will be biking from Zuni to the Rehoboth Christian School which will be a short ride of about 45 miles.   Coming through this area is a good reminder to all of us as to why we are riding on this trip.  We are seeking to raise funds for organizations that have programs to support those who are living in these conditions. One such organization is  "Partners Worldwide."  You can learn more about this organization at their website: http://partnersworldwide.org/who-we-are/about-us/

Quote of the Day:  Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet a sweaty thing.  :)    (This is applicable to the number of dogs that are around this town.)