 Mira, come over to my tent and warm me up. It's freezing! It's cold out. It's cold. It was cold all night. Just kind of shivering a little bit. Yeah, it's all I got to say about that. It's time for the morning stick. Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you so excited? Okay, here we go. I always love waking up to you. You make cold mornings more comfortable. Okay. Buenos dias, John! Make a little fire for your hands. Yeah, totally. It takes the edge right off. How'd you sleep? I slept all right, man. Yeah, good. Yes, there it is! The sun! Oh, it makes such a difference. Woo! Welcome, sun! And happy Thursday. Yeah, Mira, hi! Are you excited for the sun, too? Here, give me a stick. Oh, room play-keep boy. Give me a stick. Give it to me. Give it to me. Fine, I'll chase you. Oh, look at that beautiful sun. Good morning, Shadow. How are you? Look at those long legs. Impressive. I know I need to pack this all up. But my fingers are frozen. I've done it. I packed up. Thank you. Beautiful patch of flat ground with the view of the canyons. John's usually ready long before I'm ready. He just very politely waits for me. Thank you. You got cameras to manage. It's all good. Yeah. That shows people what's going on out here. That's right. And Mira, are you ready? You want one last stick? Come on. Come on. You rascal. Okay, it's time for the morning bounce. How you doing, Mira? You ready? You ready for a big day? Hello, baby. Yeah, we're gonna ride bikes. And here we go. Happy Thursday. No flatties. No crashes. No whammy says John Freeman. Did you know that's his last name? It's John Freeman. He's a free man. So we are still at the very tippy tip Northern Arizona. At some point we're gonna turn and head south. That's where this route goes. Yeah, but until then we're just gonna noodle around this canyon country. And probably tomorrow we will actually enter the Great Navajo Nation. So John, how many times, I guess it depends, is Mira in and out all day? How many miles does she run? Kilometers in your case? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, basically she runs anywhere from half to a full marathon a day. So people know what that is. And then it's not always full-tilt running. Like you're on the hills that we're about to hit here in a bit. She's walking. Single track, she's running. But on asphalt or fast gravel, she's in the basket. We've been riding rolling terrain up and down and this extra 40 pounds on those short little hills really is quite tough. So I have her out. And it could be upwards of a hundred times in and out of the basket throughout a day. So it's a lot for her. And that's why the least people have asked the least in the harness. I can ease her down onto the ground and help her lift into the basket a bunch. And that way it's not as hard on her joints and that just uses much energy. And the leash is connected to your waist, right? Yeah, exactly. So it's not going to pull me over. It's not going to get tangled in the bike. Those are all safety hazards. And you know, people have a leash in their hand walking their dog. And I know, baby, I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, so it's working out pretty well. And this harness doesn't rub on her. Some harnesses will rub the fur off a dog. And so we found one that works out pretty well. Yeah, yeah, we love you so much. Yeah, you ready for this hill? Heading up and over. Oh, you dropped something here. Give me a hug. So we're going up that little switchbacky and then up. It's not the Rocky Mountains, but these little hills are steep. Come on, Vera. Mouche. Mouche. It's always hard with a GoPro to show the grade of a hill. But this will give you an example. Look, it came from down there at a very short amount of time. It is beautiful. And these bad boys, some almonds, get a little protein, a lot of salt. Hits the spot. We've been climbing pretty much since we left camp today. We've already gone up, let's see, 2,000 feet. That's a lot. That's a lot. And we're up at now 6,500 feet. And, yeah, that's high, way higher than where I live in Boulder. Boulder's like, you know, 5,200 feet. Is this your stick? Is this the one you picked out right here? That's the one you want? OK, go get it. You've got to be like a ninja getting this thing out of her mouth. You're going to give that to me? I'll throw it if you give it to me. I promise. Let's see here. Oh, you're too fast. Oh, how are you doing this morning, John? Pretty good, right? Yeah. I like your shirt. Thanks. Yeah, I like your shirt, too. We're bros. Where's your blue shirt, huh? We need to give you a blue shirt, don't we? Yeah, we sure do. Oh, yeah. So I knew we were going to get close to it, but I didn't know where. But we just ran across the Arizona Trail, which runs the length of Arizona, kind of like the Colorado Trail. I think it's about 800 miles. And yes, you can bike it. So maybe someday I'll have to make that happen. But for now, Western Wildlands. That looks like some nice single track. And the border is only 10 miles away. We're pretty much at the start of it. What do you say, John? OK. I can carry Mira and the bike through the Grand Canyon. Oh, that's right. Yeah, no bikes allowed in the Grand Canyon. So everybody who rides that trail has to carry their bikes on their backs. Your tires cannot touch the ground. Or maybe Mira will put you on her back. Yes. That's a way better idea. Yeah, so sweet. Start recording, Mr. GoPro. It's time to party. So we've just encountered a bit of a whammy. It's not a devastating whammy, but it's a whammy. John was looking down and realized that one of his dry-bought bags had fallen off. Probably on that steep bumpy downhill that we both bombed down, and I didn't see it. So he's going to ride all the way back. It's pretty far, and then up a really steep hill and get his dry bag, which is a bummer. But we know where it is, so it's just about going and getting it. I'm just going to stay here and chill, if you were wondering. That was a steep hill to go down. It's going to be a bear for John to go up that thing. Hi, guys. Which way are you going? I don't really know. Did you find it? Yeah, those motorbikers. So the road's been empty all day, right? Yeah. Drop an important bag. Road's full of traffic. People picked it up. Oh, that's so nice. Well, no. They almost took it. I would have been out of no food. That was the food bag? Yeah. It was nearly at the top. Oh, my god. Yeah, so all that way, it's like. Dude, you rode all the way back up there? Yeah. Oh, my god. Yeah, all the way back down. So I put clothes in it now to bulk it up, so it's better. But these things happen, you drop something, you realize it's lost, and you're like, oh, I can't go back. But this is important. And yeah. Well, hey, we're still healthy, we're still happy, we're still alive, we still have the Wonder Dog. Yeah, thank you for the hugs, sweetie. Did you have a little extra bonus mileage just now? Let's go. Let's go that way. Watch me or go over this. Oh, no big deal. It freaks me out when she just puts her little paws on this thing and dances across. But you are a very, very talented dog. I should never doubt you from here. You should never doubt you licking the salt off of my gloves. That tastes good. Look at that smile. So these cliffs right here are called the Vermillion Cliffs. How do I know that? There's a Vermillion of them. Dad joke alert. What are you looking at, John? Looking for condors. Condor viewing site. So I can't catch it with my camera here, but there are condors just flying around up there amongst the cliffs. But since I can't film the condors, I'll film these cows. Look at those majestic cows roaming the Arizona desert. All right, how big is Mira compared to a California condor? She's pretty close, or maybe not at all. Give her some wings. They're not the prettiest bird, as you can see. It says here, California condors have been around for 1.65 million years, but by the mid-1980s, they nearly disappeared. Their slow demise started thousands of years ago. In prehistoric times, the California condor ranged from Canada to Mexico. That little black dot is a condor. Hello. I was just thinking, like you're talking to the camera here, these trips aren't easy. We find some kind of enjoyment in every surface. At every point, it's like the attitude to come into this stuff. That makes all the difference. We've had some horrible washboard, big rocks. They were like, oh, we're going to be back on the road. You could say, traffic, whatever. But no, man, it's great. It's like, you just ride your bike, taking things in. That's why you go bike packing. That's right. Yeah, it's great. You appreciate the little things, like smooth pavement. It's so nice. Well said, John. Well said. What do you think, John? I think this might not show up well in the real estate listings, but it'll do for us. A little pull out here off the side of the highway. It's flat, and we have a view of the cliffs. We'll take it. We're not going to have too much road noise. This road's not too bad. OK, I call this the cliffside manor. Doing some laundry up there up top. I'm actually just drying clothes out. I'm going to wake up in the morning and have a view of the Vermilion Cliffs, which is pretty sweet. And check this out. I'm wearing the shirt of my favorite dog. Mira, I'm wearing your shirt. Yeah, you're on my shirt. You're so famous, you have your own shirt. Hi. I bet you really want this, don't you? All right. Good job. Nice jump. Mira, let go. Let go. Do you want to play or not? Fine. Mira, I love you, even when you're difficult to play fetch with. You're just playing a different game. You're playing keep away. This is so cool. This is so cool. Here we are on the side of the road. And my new friend Craig right here pulls off. We've been in contact a little bit. He said, I'll try to meet you and bring you some snacks. And it all worked out. How are you doing, my friend? Nice to meet you, buddy. Hi, Michael. Can you give me a high five? Want to give me a high five? And what was your name? Nicolette. So wonderful to meet you. And you're getting married, right? Congratulations. And so where are you from, my friend? We call it Tichigia, which is Ruff Rock, Arizona. So right now I'm a teacher in Chuba City. So just right down the road. Right on. And so you're from the Navajo Nation. Yes, sir. This makes me very happy. Yeah, we've been looking forward to it all day. Really? Moments like this make me happy. And you guys look great together. Look at you. I can tell you're going to get married soon. You have that shine. You are a cute little guy. Go get him, Mira. Go get him. Go get him. Go get him. So how did you find us? Find me. I was bored during quarantine. And I was looking for Grand Canyon rim to rim videos. And then yours rim to rim to rim popped up. And then I started watching the White House, the White Mesa Trail. Oh, the White Rim. Yeah, the White Rim. And then from there is history. We watched the love cycles. What else? Running with Ryan. Oh, that's so cool. So do you two ride bikes and do fun stuff outside? Yeah, we do. We love being outside. We ride bikes. We hike. We mountain bike. Mountain bike. We try to. We kayak. What is that? OK, make sure it's where it is. It's like Halloween. Oh, look at all those goodies. My people. That's awesome. So you teach native youth? Yes, I do. Wow. That's great. Yeah, no problem. Do you teach in English? Or do you teach in your native language? Both. Really? I'm going to code switch back and forth and try to blend our culture with mathematics. However kids re-humanize or re-humanize mathematics and how our kids see themselves in mathematics. There's a big disconnection. And a lot of people are afraid of mathematics. So what we want to do is collapse the fear of mathematics and see it as a fun thing. Just like what books are to reading, plays with mathematics. So you've got to play and have fun with the numbers. Absolutely. What's life like on the Navajo Nation? So does Tuba City, is that counted? Are you on the reservation there? Yes, we are. Well, if you think about it, I mean, technically this whole area is, life is like, well, it's really humbling for one thing. It's harsh, harsh in the sense of there's a lot of us still without running water and electricity, but we think of ourselves as alchemists. We make things work, make magic happen, and look out for one another. And that's how you're given back to your community through teaching. I love it. You call me dozer? I love it. I was like, look at your shirt. Show them your shirt. The Ninja Turtles. Whoa, Ninja Turtle. Oh, that's the one. It's not just Ninja Turtles. Wow, look at that. I like that shirt. So that's what you call North America's Turtle Island. Yeah, Turtle Island. And then, just with Navajo land, Dinepakea, just means land that belongs to the Navajo people. The movie of Dozer out Michael's house. Oh, you did? Yeah, out the TV. Oh, that's so cool. So you've seen me on YouTube? Wherever you are, you're on Stola native land. And this is the traditional homelands of the San Juan Paiute and the Navajo. Just over the mountain, you have the Kaibab Paiute and Utah's Paiute land, Northern Ute land. Arizona is home to, I may not get all of them, but this is also traditional Hopi homelands. Throughout the way, you'll probably see different artifacts from ancient Puebloans. But in Arizona, we have Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai, Yavapai, Hualapai, White Mountain Apache, Yavapai Apache, San Carlos Apache. Look at it. Just, there are several of us here. So be mindful and be respectful. Yeah, what's the best way to be respectful here? Really, just acknowledging that we're still here and just being respectful of our land. There's sacred land throughout. And what's interesting with the routes that you'll be riding on is you'll see old hogan and formats. And more specifically speaking, the Navajos in this area were fortunate enough not to go along the long walk during the 1860s. So you'll see the right across of the rim here of the Little Colorado River. The confluence area of the Little Colorado and the Colorado River. That's a sacred area for us. We just recently beat the, I think it's some tram system that they were trying to do. Save the confluence is big. So we're still fighting for our sacred spots not to be commercialized. So just acknowledge that and share that this is Navajo land. This is Paiute land and native land. Great, thank you. So the Navajo tribe, we're about over 400,000 strong. And we call ourselves the Neh. So the Neh is children of the holy people. Did you just say you got a blue healer so you could have your own mira? Yeah, we did. We got her from a friend of mine in July. Yeah, my friend Diedra. No way. She gave us a little blue healer and we named her Mira too. Because of this mira. No way. She's actually just like Mira, so. Mira, look at that. There's people named after you. I mean, not people, dogs. Sometimes they confuse you for a person. Yeah, Mira, give them a hug goodbye. Say thanks, Mira. Oh yes, absolutely. Thank you guys so much. This was an absolute honor to meet you. Made our night, made our day. Bye, buddy. Have a good one. See you later. Bye. Bye. Bye, Michael. That, my friends, is road magic. That was so cool. Craig was instrumental in helping us talk to the right people to get the permits to go on the Navajo land. We've been texting the last couple of days and he said, hey, we're gonna try to find you on the road. And they did and they brought snacks and they brought so much more. We've been hanging out with them for almost two hours. As you can see, it's dark. And yeah, that was really special. They are good, good humans. And now it's super cold. Now it's freezing. Now it is cold. We are in for it tonight. Okay, I got pants on now. Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna cut it with Mira. Yeah, that is. We're gonna retreat to the tents soon because it is nippy. Hello there. I am in my tent and I am warm and cozy. It's only 6.30, but it's cold out and it's dark. So why not hide in the tents? So today was great. And you know what happened today? Earlier on, my watch turned to 11-11. And it is November 11th, so it was 11-11-11. And I knew something magical was gonna happen. And tomorrow, we're gonna have more adventures. That's what's so beautiful about these bike rides. Every day is just full of adventures and meaningful moments. When I do these bike tours, I think about these moments forever. Right now, I'm thinking about bike tours of 10 years ago and I'm like, oh, I remember that. This reminds me of this. And it's just really special to be able to move across the earth on a bicycle at a slow speed and meet people. And I'm just very happy. I'm gonna go to sleep now or at least try with a big smile on my face.