{"id":210,"date":"2010-09-06T21:07:39","date_gmt":"2010-09-07T03:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/ChainsBreakingChains\/?p=210"},"modified":"2010-09-06T21:07:39","modified_gmt":"2010-09-07T03:07:39","slug":"day-3-a-flag-planted-under-the-georgia-okeefe-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/2010\/09\/06\/day-3-a-flag-planted-under-the-georgia-okeefe-skies\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 3: A flag planted under the Georgia O’Keefe skies"},"content":{"rendered":"
I went to bed last night with the power still out in the camping site. \u00a0Do not ask how, cause I do not know the answer, but somehow I got the AC window unit to work, even if it was at a low level. \u00a0No dreams of chasing kids around my tent, and howling coyotes. \u00a0It was a pleasant night. \u00a0I slept well until my alarm rang at 6:30. \u00a0It was still dark outside and I knew the sun would not come up for another 30 minutes. \u00a0No sense in attempting to get ready, so back to sleep for another 30 minutes.<\/div>\n
I finally got my self out the door, and headed out. \u00a0I stopped at a gas station for coffee, banana and breakfast bar. \u00a0This time, they all were how they should be, but there was no Larry McMurtry mistique either. \u00a0However, bikes are always conversation startes, and I met a guy from Michigan who was taking his down to Phoenix, where he would spend the next 16 months learning how to be a motorcycle mechanic. \u00a0Cool career choice, hot place to follow it, but overall great combo.<\/div>\n
The to Palo Duro canyon was an almost straight shot south from the gas station. \u00a0I got there within an hour, with side winds hitting hard and strong. \u00a0This time though, I did not have to play the old arcade game of Asteroids trying to avoid tumbleweeds being blown across the road, as it happened last year in Arizona. \u00a0Only a few small dry and pale branches came shooting across the tarmac. \u00a0I\u00a0entered\u00a0the park, paying close attention to the park ranger, who warned about the six water crossings in the park, since silt and slime make them tricky to cross, even for cars. \u00a0Since I was headed to the Light House trail, Palo Duro’s best known feature, I would have to cross two of these. \u00a0The descent into the canyon was sharp and curvy, but the BeMWu handled it with aplomb and soon I came to Water Crossing #1. \u00a0Small detail, there was no water. \u00a0It still merited a slow drive through, as indeed, silt and sand were all over it. \u00a0Less than a mile later, Water Crossing #2. \u00a0This one, had water but it was an easy slow cross still. \u00a0Just after it, the trail head to the Light House formation. \u00a0Leaving motorcycle boots, armor, helmet and jacket behind, I set off on the 6 mile, round trip, hike. \u00a0The thermometer read about 95, and it was only 9 in the morning. \u00a0The trail was fairly easy, and I made quick progress. \u00a0Along the way I saw numerous large black scarabs, which had fallen victims to bands of roving ants. \u00a0Birds and crickets offered their melodies, and people \u00a0walked or rode bicyles on the trail. \u00a0A particular group of bicyclers caught my attention and I engaged one of them in conversation. \u00a0What caught my eye was the fact that they were not riding mountain bikes. \u00a0Instead, their bikes seemed like fancy street models. \u00a0This guy explained that they were members of a ‘single sproket’ bike club and Amarillo, and had decided to bring their bikes up to the Light House for a photo shoot. \u00a0This guy in particular liked his bike so much that he was carrying it, riding it, all the way to the top. \u00a0After about 2.5 miles, the trail turned into quite a steep climb, but eventually I made it.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>What a wonderful sight. \u00a0Up on a red rock platform, a wide column that accounts for the passage of time through its layers of rock and mineral deposits stands majestic for all to see. \u00a0I sat there for a while, and reflected on God’s creation and love for his children. \u00a0After a while, I climbed up a rock fin and found a dry bush, where I planted the second of the 27 flags for 27 million. \u00a0How appropriate, I thought, to plant one of the flags here, since one of the things we, as abolitionists, aim for, it the creation of safe heavens and lights of hope for those who have fallen into the clutches of slavery. \u00a0As I was getting ready to start my descend, the bicycle kids finally arrived, and oe of them allowed me to photo his wheels, since they had orange spokes. \u00a0What a great idea.<\/div>\n
The walk back to the trail head, even though it was mostly down hill was exhausting, and I often had to rest in whatever shady spot I could find. \u00a0At the begining I took the time to follow some dry creek beds, playing with clay flakes, and crushing leaves of wild sage, experiencing the delicious smell. \u00a0but as the day got hotter, the beauty of the morning hike evaporated, and all I could think about was making it back to the parking lot. \u00a0This made me reflect on what the life of the victims of human trafficking is like. \u00a0Indeed, when the situation get opressing, one of the first things that vanishes is the beauty around us. \u00a0The prophet Isaiah does indeed tell us in chapter 63 that God will turn ashes into crowns of beauty, and so it is our call, as the hands and feet of Jesus, to bring beauty back to the lives of those who are held captive.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>One the way back, I started feeling that the seat of the bike was getting really hot. \u00a0This is rather unusual as I have no heated seat. \u00a0I finally had to stop, and pulled the seat up, since the battery and wiring harness are under it. \u00a0I thought something is going amiss here and if I do not fix it things will go terribly wrong. \u00a0To my surprise the wiring and battery were all very cool. \u00a0The seat itself was also cool. \u00a0So what the heck was going on? \u00a0I soon found the culprit. \u00a0Just before leaving, I had bought a gel cushion, which I wedged between the seat and a sheepskin cover. \u00a0To my surprise, while the rest of the components disperse the heat very well, the gel is quite an effective heat trap, and it was quite efficiently warming up, making my behind warm up too. Once the gel was removed, we were back in business. \u00a0Further up the road, riding North into Amarillo, I had to make one last photographic stop for the day. \u00a0The Texas plains stretched as far as the eye can see, and as the clouds hung in discrete patterns across the blue, I knew I was seeing a live Georgia O’Keefe painting.<\/div>\n
I made it back to camp and rested for a while. I made a quick trip to the Big Texan again, for buffalo burger and a tater. \u00a0As I made it back to camp, I met these two other bikers who were just riding in. \u00a0Both ride Suzuki Bandits. \u00a0They are brothers, and they work on making really fast bikes. \u00a0They are on their way to Wendover, where they will help a 68 year old guy sull fill his life’s dream, to become the Worlds Fastest Hayabusa.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I went to bed last night with the power still out in the camping site. \u00a0Do not ask how, cause I do not know the answer, but somehow I got the AC window unit to work, even if it was at a low level. \u00a0No dreams of chasing kids around my tent, and howling coyotes.… Read More »Day 3: A flag planted under the Georgia O’Keefe skies<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journey"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2o6Hc-3o","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaderiderjourneys.com\/2endslavery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}