day 2, 05.16

slept very well last night, from dusk to dawn.  only woke up once in the middle of the night and fell back asleep pretty quick.  plenty warm and comfortable.

was on the road by 8.  seemed to have lost cell phone reception; it stayed lost for the whole day.  assume i'll get it back in the morning after i get down the road a bit.

early sunday morning, about 9, riding down the two lane, i saw a pile of dust kicked up in the distance.  as i got closer, i saw a dozen or so cowboys rounding up cattle and putting them in a roadside coral.  real cowboys, looking tall in the saddle. would have/could have been a good picture, but i didn't take it.  sometimes i fail to take advantage of the opportunities presented.

rural nm is alot like se colorado and arizona:  poor.  the houses and buildings are just thrown about, materials are just a mish mash of whatever was available at the time.  patched together.  used and broken equipment just left strewn around, no where to take them, i guess.  

el malpais.  the bad lands.  this is a strange area, filled with lava flows, pumice rock.  some areas are quite rough.  but no volcanos, this is not hawaii.  the pluelo indians were native to this area.  the laguna and acoma to the east, zuni to the west.

as i rode, i was struggling a bit with feeling tired, maybe working a little harder than i thought i should.  somewhere along the line i realized that this reminded me of last year, around taos.  i realized i was riding above 6,000 feet again, only this time i didn't have an acclimation time.

25 miles later i was crossing the continental divide, elev. 7,882 feet.

el moro national monument is incredible.

it's so interesting that the native americans built their pueblos on top of the mesa.  i know this was common, certainly was more defensible, but a long way down to the bottom where food and water were.  el moro was important because there's a small pool of water at the base.

the pathways were built by the ccc

i spent the night at a 9-space, rustic campground in the national monument.  

i had my very own nomadland moment there.  her name was madelaine, not fern.  I met her when i first pulled in, along with another woman who was playing a very nice spanish guitar, out there in the desert.  after getting settled, climbing el moro, eating, and getting a short rest, i went looking for someone to talk to.  the guitarist had left, heading south in search of flowering yuccas, madeleine and i were the only two there.  apparently i caught her at a weak moment, having a cry.    her brother had just relieved her of her full time job taking care of an elderly father.  family disagreements.  62 years old, now she was homeless, camping and living out of her car with her dog.

the shadows are growing long and the wind continues to blow.  time for some hot tea and to bed.  tonight will be in the upper 30's. tomorrow will be a long ride, 70 mi. through zuni pueblo and back to the interstate.  no idea where i'll sleep.

up to pee, the stars were incredible.  dark skies.  i can see the band of the milky way for the first time in years.

can't id this one: brown body, putty chest with dark mark, black tail wings.  russet head.  short beak.  on the ground and robin sized.