in el paso i had an awesome time with Emiliano's family who looked after me and took me out. Had a great night eating mexican food and checking out the city from the mountains with Emiliano's sister and Jesse. The following day i decided to go up to santa fe in northern new mexico so i rented a car and drove for about 4 hours north. santa Fe is a cool city with loads of adobe houses (native american style mud houses with wooden beams) and i strolled around the square and surrounding area in the afternoon. luckily alan who i contacted through a cycling website let me stay in his house at very late notice.
woke up early on thursday and drove up to taos (on the scenic route) passing snow capped mountains and stunning vallies with bare rock faces. in taos i checked out some of the art and museums and went to visit some 'off the grid' sustainable earthship housing. was cool to see loads of these houses made out of recycled materials such as tyres and bottle etc. later in the day i went to jeff's organic farm where i stayed the night. Jeff is an artisit who owns about an acre of land which he farms vegetables and chickens. there were about 5 people living there and we ate an incredible dinner made be chooch. had a really relaxed time sitting by the fire chatting to the characters. i wish i wasnt renting a car and i could stay longer!
yesterday i drove all the way back to el paso and got on my bike at 1pm. i cycled over 80 miles in the afternoon following the rio grande river past las crusas and hatch. i couldnt make it as far as the lake i wanted to get to so i managed to stay in an old trailer owned by a mexican family. they were really kind and cooked me some dinner. wish my spanish was a bit better as i could only communicate with the children.
today i have a long climb up to emory's pass which is the highest mountain of the trip. it is 8500 feet so i am a bit daunted by the task! now i am in hillsboro so i guess i should get back on the saddle.
woke up early on thursday and drove up to taos (on the scenic route) passing snow capped mountains and stunning vallies with bare rock faces. in taos i checked out some of the art and museums and went to visit some 'off the grid' sustainable earthship housing. was cool to see loads of these houses made out of recycled materials such as tyres and bottle etc. later in the day i went to jeff's organic farm where i stayed the night. Jeff is an artisit who owns about an acre of land which he farms vegetables and chickens. there were about 5 people living there and we ate an incredible dinner made be chooch. had a really relaxed time sitting by the fire chatting to the characters. i wish i wasnt renting a car and i could stay longer!
yesterday i drove all the way back to el paso and got on my bike at 1pm. i cycled over 80 miles in the afternoon following the rio grande river past las crusas and hatch. i couldnt make it as far as the lake i wanted to get to so i managed to stay in an old trailer owned by a mexican family. they were really kind and cooked me some dinner. wish my spanish was a bit better as i could only communicate with the children.
today i have a long climb up to emory's pass which is the highest mountain of the trip. it is 8500 feet so i am a bit daunted by the task! now i am in hillsboro so i guess i should get back on the saddle.
