Farmington 860

"ya TAY". More on this later. It's all good. While having breakfast in Winslow at the world famous falcon diner we had a chance to chat with a few locals who seemed to materialize out of no where. I noticed one of the fellows had come back to look at the bikes several times. Once we got out there he was actually quite knowlegeable about old bikes. Drty gurl had him stumped however. H knew it was a 37 frame but the rest didn't compute. Little did he know how right he was. When I told him there were prices on the Nike from seven different decades he felt a lot better. Gve the man a poker chip! Twice we were cautioned about our route through the reservation. Tis should have been reason for anxiety but for some strange reason I was neither worried or anxious. As the day unfolded it became more clear to me. I will admit the day was very emotional for me. I will digress and fill in the details. Dirty gurl in my concept but she was constructed with the direct and indirect guidance of my good friend mark lafleur aka sharky. I brought a pile of parts to him in sisseton south Dakota. We sat In his basement and talked for hours talking about what I wanted the bike to be and do. Slowly over the next few weeks the bike took shape. After the bike was done but before it had been ridden sharky performed a lakota sage smudge pot ceremony blessing the bike. So from birth the bike has native American heritage. As I crossed the reservation today I felt nothing but peace and energy. The wind from the red hills and the endless canyons whispered in my ear about the heritage fo the land. As I rounded a corner I saw ,much to my dismay, a herd of wild mustangs out for their morning gallop. On the other side of the road an eagle soared over the bluff. I had nothing to fear from this land. This was my first emotional experience today. As we travelled the road we were also warned to watch for sheep on the road. As the fellow issued this warning I saw a wry smile cross kiwi's face. As ewe know the kiwi's have a soft spot for sheep. We did indeed have to stop a couple of times for small herds of sheep to get off the road. I swear I saw kiwi tip his cap to the ladies and one time I was sure I saw him snap a pic of a particularly cute ewe ambling away. He denied one but not the other. : ) we stopped for fuel in gadano. As we sat by the side of the station relaxing a bit I noticed an Indian couple by the side of the building. After kiwi went to get goodies I approached the couple as they were obviously admiring the bikes. They asked me where we were going. I told them d.c. And the man immediately said rolling thunder. I was surprised he knew about the event. As we talked, I began telling him our story and pulled out a poker chip to give to him. As I went through the military significance of our trip he was holding the chip in is hand very gingerly. As I kept talking, from under his sunglasses two tears rolled down his cheeks. I asked him why the story impacted him in such a way. He relayed how his nephew had been killed in Iraq several months ago and he was having a hard time getting through the aftermath. He also told me that In honor of his nephew 75 men from the reservation were leavingFrom gadano next Monday on their way to rolling thunder. In native fashion he and his wife were very uncomfortable about not having anything to give me ,since I had given them a chip. They obviously were of very limited means. Suddenly her face lit up and she wanted me to pronounce a word several times,making sure I had the pronunciation down perfectly. I asked her what the word meant. Her reply: "hello brother" in Navajo. The word? Ya TAY. she had nothing to give but some of herself. As we pulled away I yelled back to her" ya TAY "and she waved,never to be seen by me again. That is the rest of the story. Lunch was in crown pointe and consisted of a burrito and a pack of jerky from the saddlebag. As we turned north to Farmington a bank of ominous clouds darkened the horizon. Rain gear on early is a good sign that you may avoid drops and today was no exception. As we approached Farmington the wind picked up to 30-40 mph. If you have ever been to Farmington the last thing you need is that kind of wind blowing as there is nothing to stop the sand. As the thunderheads moved in we made an executive decision to abandon the budget and get under cover. So here we are in Farmington new Mexico living large and enjoying life. Hope your day was some where close to as fun as ours. Later mates.