Day 6 - Santa Fe, NM to Albuquerque, NM

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I know for most people reading this blog, you'll think to yourself that we took the day off only riding from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, but it was a busy day. We got up this morning and started at the Santa Fe National Cemetery to visit dad's father's gravesite. We looked up the location and headed over to the site, spending a little time there and taking a couple of photos. Our initial plan was to head straight down to Albuquerque, see his father's house, visit Old Town, and then continue west towards Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. We started chatting with one of the maintenance employees at the cemetary about our trip, and he mentioned that we should do a loop north towards Taos and see the Rio Grande Gorge, so north we went. It was a beautiful ride and the gorge was impressive. Not quite the Grand Canyon, but still pretty big.

We ended up getting back down to Rio Rancho and dad's father's old house around 3:00pm, and we knocked on the neighbor's door but in the past 21 years, there are new people living there. So we knocked on the door to his house, and the current owner answered! Elyse was extremely nice and gave us a little history on the house. It has changed hands about 4 times now and she's been living there for the past 10 years. There are still some original folks from the neighborhood around since it was built in 1972, but most are now gone. A lot of the quirks about the house (electric meter in the screened in patio, gas dryer, avocado green paint) are all still the same, so it was interesting to speak with her for a while.

We left and headed on to Old Town where we walked around and wandered through some shops and some of the historic sites, then headed off to dinner at the Standard Diner (another Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives special). Dad had the bacon-wrapped meatloaf which was awesome, and I had the New Mexico Mac & Cheese, which had a Guinness and Irish Cheddar cheese sauce with smoked salmon and green chilies. It was another great meal to cap another good day of riding.

Finally, we got to the hotel around 6:00pm, and decided it was time to relax, so we hit the hot tub and the pool which felt great on every sore muscle in my body since being on the bike for 6 solid days now. Another 15 to go, so we'll see if my butt and shoulders can handle it.

Tomorrow we decided we're going to continue on Route 66 and not push it too hard, going about 320 miles to Flagstaff before we make a quick day trip to the Grand Canyon on Saturday and then continue west through Arizona on our way to California and Sequioa National Park.

Overall, the trip has been great, and the next 2 weeks should continue to get better and better as the scenery changes.

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Photos

Dad at his father's grave
21 years later and finally made it to visit.

Rio Grande Gorge
The bridge we crossed, currently under construction.

The old house
A great conversation with Elyse about the history of it since 1991.

Old Town
Great area with lots of shops and restaurants.

Standard Diner
This used to be an old gas station on Route 66, and now it's serving fantastic food.

Comments

[Jordan and Mary]

House
That must have been a unique experience seeing the house after soooo long. Too bad the neighbors weren't still there to once again see little Kevin. Enjoy your trip and stay safe. Looking forward to still more interesting stories and pictures