When we left Grants NM, we were on a side road next to I 40. It's nice not to ride on the freeway. The weather was beautiful, sunny, not too hot and we had a nice tailwind. We stopped at the post office to mail goggles back to Cousin Jon, in Imperial Beach CA. He had loaned us a couple of pair just in case we ran into a dust storm in the desert. We almost had to use them going into Grants when we ran into the area with terrible side winds and dust blowing. While we were inside the post office, I looked out the window at the bike and saw that it was laying on the ground. We ran out and picked it up (no small task!). Thankfully there were no injuries. Someone must have bumped it. I don't think the wind could blow it over. It's sort of a scary thought when we realize that if this bike breaks we are stuck right here. But no worries, all was good.
There was a lot of downhill for us today. I think Albuquerque must be in a big hole! Grants was at 6400 feet and Albuquerque is at 5400 feet. The temperature turned up the lower in elevation that we got. We had to get on the freeway after awhile. Just before getting on the freeway we stopped at Laguna Burgers for lunch. Awesome hamburgers! The worst part about the freeway is really the trash on the side of the road. We stopped several times to check tires. Sure enough we picked out several small wires, thank goodness we didn't have any flats today. We stopped at the Route 66 Casino Hotel to get out of the heat for awhile. The casino was a hopping place. It was also a truck stop/DQ.
When we got back on the road, we were on a side road off I 40 again. We also had a huge climb of three miles, gaining 500 feet back. That was a hot one! Whew. After the "last hill", we had a huge downhill into Albuquerque. We were trying to get close enough to the pickleball courts so we would just have a shortish ride in the morning to the courts. It made for a long day, but it was worth it. We checked into a motel (yep no camping plots again!) and walked over to Denny's. We didn't think we were hungry but Hap didn't have any trouble with his spaghetti meal or me my grilled chicken salad. But after this long day, no wonder!
Albuquerque-Albuquerque
Before we left the motel, we walked over to Denny's for a breakfast sandwich. We thought we were going to have a quick, short (14 miles) ride to Manzano Park pickleball courts. The city had just put in an 18 court complex. But as it turned out it was 14 miles of mostly uphill. Of course it was! We were warmed up when we got there that was for sure. Google routed us an "around the barn" route, with lots of twists and turns.
The courts are amazing. And just so happened there was a guy there with a bunch of demo paddles. So we got to try out some new paddles. It was so much fun to be able to play again. There was a lot of people there and lots of opportunity to play. At home we play 3-4 times a week, so not playing for 3 weeks has been tough. We sure do love the game. After playing for about four hours we decided we had enough. I found a hotel a few miles away. On the way, we stopped at a Jimmy Johns for some great subs. We also stopped at Walmart for some microwave food for dinner. What a great day!
Albuquerque Day TWO!
The plan for today was to go to church and then go find some people to play more pickleball with. We walked over to the Copper Pointe Church, and had a great service. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Taco Bell. Who knew they had Burrito Bowls? Guess they are tying to keep up with Chipolte. As we were walking Hap tripped over the sidewalk and fell, hitting his head on a chain link fence and cutting his hand on the fence. Scared me, he sure took a tumble. But you know Hap, Mr. Motorcyle Racin Hap, he tried to roll, which saved him from a worse injury. He was ok, just a pretty deep cut on his hand. At the hotel, I got out my first aid kit, cleaned it up, put some steri strips on it and hopefully it will heal ok. I think he made need stitches but we'll see.
I walked over to Target behind the hotel, to get some dinner supplies, laundry soap and more bandages. The rest of the day we just rested, did laundry and ate! Tomorrow we plan to play more pickleball in the am and then do a short ride to Moriarity NM.
