The louge

September 12th/09 - Espanola, New Mexico
Comfort Inn
Mileage: 134.4 km
Total mileage: 2705 km

Staying at a hotel tonight. I feel like a wimp. That's three hotels in a month. I guess I'm just treating the Princess right.

Deby did extremely well today. Kept right up when she was in the rear, and there was no catching up for me when she was out front. I think it has something to do with hormones. (I can't believe I actually typed that for him. I think it has to do with a civilized number of kilometers the day before, so my legs were not protesting all day!)

It was all downhill today from Chama to Espanola with only a few smaller uphill grades. Broad valley with beautiful pastures interspersed with forest all the way to Cebola. The valley then narrows with more or less continuous forest to Abiquiu. Some remarkable red rock mountains and rock walls along this stretch. From Abiquiu to Espanola the valley broadened out again and the Sangre De Cristo mountains began to show themselves off to the southeast.

Deby has put herself in charge of calculating the mileage now that my rainproof Sigma computer has given up the ghost. Deby watches the signs, and counts the mileage markers as we travel. This is probably not new to her. (Nope, I knew in the first 10 miles the day the Sigma quit that it was in miles, but let him figure it out at the end of the day by doing an extra couple of miles using the mileage markers to convince himself). I think she has been counting mileage markers since we left Grand Forks. In any case, I think she is more accurate than the computer was.

Rivers have now become Rios, and dry gulches or washes have now become Arroyos. Every name of every town, city and mountain range has become Spanish. Interesting country of diversity. Even most of the people are now obviously of Spanish decent. Man, oh man, they talk fast.