odometer: 1621 – 1649 ( 28 miles, 45 kilometers)
elevation: 2360 meters
Today was a short day. I stayed on highway 285 and toiled against a brisk 25 km/hr head wind until I reached Antonito around 1pm.
There are no real stops between Espanola and Antonito. Given the day’s wind condition I knew I could not make Espanola. I took the extra time to reflect and weigh reasons to continue on to Antelope Wells, NM versus returning home from Albuquerque, NM.
These were:
- There is no good transportation from Antelope Wells. The options are convoluted and costly involving finding shuttles back to a city large enough to have an airport.
- I had diminishing interest in the terrain. Although the GDMBR would be more interesting it was isolated, dry, and more difficult. The highways were increasingly monotonous without any real interesting destination.
- There were events at home that draw me back.
I stayed at a hotel with an interesting southwestern/Mexican flavor. I had my lunch and supper just across the street at a popular restaurant serving Mexican food. I was amazed that one waitress could handle the till, bus, and serve customers at 10 tables or so.
Great architecture there in Antonito! It seems to have an interesting history according to it’s Wikipedia page. Let me know if and when you decide to head home from Alburquerque.
I am packing my bike in Albuquerque now – 4:30pm MT. I will be fedex-ing my bike and taking the earliest flight to TO (which will likely be tomorrow morning)
… middle pic looks a little like Gaudi…