Extra Credit

After a sightseeing day, we rode into Albuquerque and visited a couple of Peter’s friends. We crossed the Rio Grande. Albuquerque is colorful and has artwork on the overpasses and along the freeways. Went into UNM and got invited to spend the night in Cedar Crest at Professor Dent’s house. Which meant showers!

I noticed that whenever we stopped in minimarts or diners, everyone is pretty friendly and almost goes out of his way to say hello. The weather is perfect.

Steve Dent, one of the longest tenured professors at the UNM School of Architecture, has a very interesting home. We enjoyed visiting and seeing his colorful, energy-efficient designs. Plus showers! He made coffee in the morning and we were in heaven.


So, yesterday Peter started off early and Mom, Dad and I went to hike around at an historic Anastazi sight, Tijeras Pueblo. It was sunny and we took pictures of lizards.
Then I left on MyBike while M & D went to the library.

That’s when things first went horribly wrong. I headed toward the signs for hwy 333/Route 66 and rode uphill seven miles to a fork in the road. There weren’t any turns mentioned at the Ops Briefing, so I called Peter and we figured out that I had gone The Wrong Way. I turned around. It was, of course, uphill to get back to where I started. So, I had a little 14 mile warmup. Then the wind picked up. A head wind that was snapping flags. (If there were any.)

There were dead snakes on the road. As I was getting past the town of Edgewood, the saddle BROKE OFF my bike. I picked up the pieces and found that the bolt had sheared. I called the sag wagon, since we have a spare bike that I could take the seat from, and rode back about a mile to the McDonalds. It’s always best if there is a Scottish place where you can do bike repairs.

Mommy made some lunch for me and I put the spare seat on and started again. In a downpour. More dead snakes on the road.

The last 10 miles of the day took about an hour with the wind. I was watching the trip meter on my handlebars, stopping every 2 miles to rest. I was actually counting the tenths of miles. It was so slow and tedious. But, I kept telling myself – it wasn’t cold and I wasn’t hungry and it wasn’t dark, AND I wasn’t lost!


So. I saw 5 dead snakes altogether, went 14 miles out of the way, broke my saddle, got soaked, and advanced about 30 miles for the day. We found a truck stop that had showers and promptly took one. That helped. Having a shower can fix almost anything.



Peter met a guy who is running across the country from Huntington Beach to Washington, DC to raise money for a friend with cancer. His sister and friend are driving his sag wagon, and he has a sponsor paying for hotel rooms every night. He had a very interesting conversation and the sister interviewed him for their blog. 

New Mexico SightSeeing

We have been able to look around New Mexico a little over the past couple of days.  On Route 53, we stopped at a giant bluff to see El Morro National Monument.  We took a 2-hour hike up and around the 200-foot butte to see the partial excavation of an 800-room Indian pueblo.  The views were spectacular. There is a natural pool of water at the base of the monument, where travelers had stopped on their way across the desert and then carved their names in the sandstone walls.  We saw inscriptions left there by natives, Spanish conquistadors, Missionaries, Cavalry soldiers, and settlers.

Yesterday, after picking up Don & Jeannette in Albuquerque, we stopped at University of New Mexico, where Peter showed us a little of the campus.  It has changed quite a bit since he earned his architecture degree there in 1985.  We had lunch at The Frontier, a student hangout across the street from the school.

Today was a rest day, which we spent in Santa Fe.  I got my pedal crank rebuilt and it doesn't squeak any more!  We toured the central plaza and saw the cathedral that was built around 1610.  We ate Santa Fe cuisine and went to a couple of art galleries.  We also went to Trader Joe's and stocked up so that Jeannette can work her culinary magic in the camper.

Found out that Santa Fe is the oldest state capital and also the highest in elevation.

Found out that if I'm wearing my helmet, it doesn't bother me as much when I hit my head in the camper.

Tonight we are staying at an RV campground at a casino.  It's only $10.

Continental Divide

Karen rode over the Continental Divide today...a great accomplishment to pedal to it from the Pacific Ocean!!!  I am so proud of her.  Here's a picture of her going over the divide.  Our other camera has her in a picture with the sign indicating the 7,000-foot divide.

We are going to come back in July so I can ride these 4days I have had to drive since Lanny had to leave.
Staying in the Walmart parking lot in Grants, NM tonight.
- Peter

We had a Reservation

After crossing the state line into New Mexico, I rode on through the desert in the Navajo Nation.

We were headed for the only town in 50 miles, Zuni-Pueblo.  Peter drove ahead and schmoozed the lady at the visitor center into letting us camp out in the parking lot.  He has a way with the ladies.
We toured the visitor center and found out that when you visit the reservation, you have to buy a permit to take photographs.  Also, no sketching is allowed in town.  So we didn't need to sharpen our pencils after all.

As we were sleeping on the main drag, we discovered that the biggest activity in Zuni at night is driving.  All night.

In the morning, we were greeted by feral-looking Res dogs.  We gave them snacks.  Then they wagged their tails and begged us to take them to white man land.  They obviously had seen PetSmart on television.

My bike has developed a pedal crank squeak.  I keep cleaning it and oiling it and it isn't helping.  I think I'd better get some kind of tune up in Albuquerque.

Well, the strangest thing so far is getting used to being suddenly ravenously hungry.  The feeling reminds me of being pregnant.  All other systems shut down, except the food-grabbing system that obtains and shovels it into the mouth unit.  Must Have Food.  Drinking about a gallon of water per day if it's not too hot outside.  Drinking much more when the broiler is on.  Also using a lot of sunscreen.

The reason Peter is driving is because our driver, Lanny Langston, had to go home.   His mother-in-law passed away on Tuesday night.  Wednesday we drove him to the Flagstaff airport, then went back to Snowflake, AZ where we had stopped riding before our rest day.  I picked up riding again and Peter decided to drive the camper and rest his knees.

On our rest day in Snowflake, a guy who looked uncannily like the Michelin Tire Man told Lanny that bicycling across the country is the stupidest thing he ever heard of.  Hmm.


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Peter's Post
It is very disappointing to not have ridden the bicycle the last two days and it will be two more before I can ride again when Don and Jeannette meet us in Albuquerque and assume the RV driving duties. On a serious note though, the RV driving has allowed me to clearly see what a strong cyclist Karen is.  She is truly a "cycling savant!"  She powers over hills that would surely challenge even  the most highly trained and experienced trans-America riders. She has the stamina and determination that allow her to push forward no matter what... it is impressive.  ( I am not at all saying these nice things about her in hopes that she will take my turn tonight doing the dishes and disconnecting the RV poop tube in the morning... I would never do such a thing.)

Passing through several Indian Reservations as we have the last few days has been a sobering experience.  Here in the natural beauty of the breathtaking landscapes of the Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and Apache Nations, you can't help but wonder how these areas of  incredible poverty and seemingly primitive living conditions can still exist in 21st century America.  Everyone is friendly and helpful to us though.  We have noticed that even the most run-down house with numerous dead ponies (old cars) in the front yard will have at least one really nice, expensive car out front.

The desert wilderness we have been passing through has raised a persistent question:  How in the heck did the pioneers and early explorers ever make it through this part of the country without the support system we have?  We have the RV with a fridge, a toilet, lots of water, and even a shower! Not to mention the Internet, 3G phones, and most-importantly, conveniently spaced mini-marts with their glorious ice machines.

Our New Best Friend

Blue Puppy meets the Res Dog