56.2 miles – 840 ft climb
O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.
Psalm 104:24
I can’t believe we are in our 7th state! We passed into New Mexico around 12:30, which promptly became 11:30 because we also passed into our 3rd time zone! Today was a good day. Bruce was glad to only ride 60 miles today after yesterday’s grueling ride. Today was a walk in the park. Although we are anticipating the climbing part to really start increasing, today he only climbed 840 ft. While checking the route for Thursday we realized that Map my GPS and google maps had his route from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque riding on the shoulder of I40. I’m not sure why that happened because it’s against the law to ride a bike on an interstate. So we did a little re-routing and found a different route. Unfortunately no RV Parks along it so looks like we will be boondocking. Thank goodness for our new cell plan that allows for unlimited hot spots. But now we don’t get to go through Santa Rosa. Which is a bummer. Although I’m sure there will be interesting things to see in Vaughn and Chilili. Not!
Since we got to Clovis so early it was a great time to get caught up on laundry. Again. I’m pleased to report that a week’s worth of biking clothes worn for 80 mile bike rides in the sun don’t actually stink as bad as you might think. Unless I have become nose blind. Which is possible. I am prepared with Fabreeze for fabric and multiple air fresheners in case it gets worse. At the Laundry Basket I met 2 new friends, Denise and Dawn (or maybe Donna). I love that all across our country, no matter where we come from or what we look like, we are all pretty much the same. Living life. We all have hurts and dreams and opinions. We had some great conversation. Which is always nice while you’re waiting on your 2 triple load washers to finish up.
Along the road we passed a bunch of these places with a huge pile of something covered in white with tires on it. At one of the places we saw big trucks dumping something and also stacks of hay-like bales. We couldn’t tell if it was some kind of grain or left over crop maybe baled for animal food. If anyone knows what these are, please comment. Because inquiring minds want to know.
We also passed multiple feed lots. Bruce was ahead of me and he warned me of the terrible smell. Almost made you throw up. I am happy to report that I smelled nothing. It’s a whole nother ball game when you’re tooling along in Harvey at the speed of light. Or 57 mph. Whichever.
Tonight we are staying at an Alpaca Farm. It’s part of the Harvest Host program where farms, wineries, museums and other places of interest allow RVs to spend the night. Rosemary, the owner, made us oatmeal raisin cookies. Bruce’s favorite. Alpacas are funny looking little creatures. Rosemary & Ric know each of their 50 alpacas by name and said they all have unique personalities. They told us that Alpacas don’t really like to be touched. By people or by each other. Here are some pictures of our new friends.
We drove the cycle in to town for dinner at Leal’s Mexican Restaurant (pronounced Lee-al). Rosemary suggested the Stuffed Avocados and man were they yummy! Avocados stuffed with fajita chicken and cheese and deep fried. No calories there! Bruce had a combo plate with a taco, enchilada and burrito. Because he biked 60 miles today. Which I did not. I’m not sure I even got 6,000 steps in today. A salad tomorrow!
After dinner we sat outside and visited with our RV neighbors, Grace and Charlie from Tuscon. They are on their way home from a 2 month cross country adventure to visit multiple family members and stay at Harvest Host wineries. They are pros at this RV thing. It got dark as we sat out talking to them. It’s funny how much the temperature changes when the sun goes down. It was 50 this morning, got up to 91 today and then back down to 53. You’re welcome for that little weather report.
Pray for Bruce tomorrow. It’s gonna be a LONG day!