Wednesday, March 9, 2011

3-9-2011 Albuquerque to Tucumcari, New Mexico

Today we had a full day of things to do and traveling.  We got up and ate breakfast at the continental breakfast at the Super 8 and then headed out to drive the Turquoise Trail out of Albuquerque which passes the little town of Madrid (this is the town that was used for the movie "Wild Hogs").  Once we got to Madrid we stopped in front of the diner (this diner was built specifically for the movie and is not used now but still standing).  John unloaded the bike and we took a couple of pictures in front of Maggie's Diner and then rode the bike for a couple of miles.  We have never ridden the bike in New Mexico so we wanted to make sure and ride it so we can say that we have not biked in New Mexico.  So far we have biked in 20 states in the USA.  We will also bike in Texas tomorrow to make it 21.

From Madrid we went to Abiquiu, New Mexico and we drove back in the canyon to the little cabin that we stayed at several years ago just to see if we could find it.  From there we headed to the Christ in the Desert Monestary to attend their 1:00PM prayer service where the Monks all come in the little chapel and do chants.  It is amazing and as you sit in the little Chapel you see three crosses on top of the mountain behind the chapel.  It is just a beautiful serene place and we were so happy to be able to go there on Ash Wednesday.  To get to the Christ in the Desert Monestary you drive off of the main road and drive 13 miles back on a gravel road that follows the Chama River with bluffs on each side of the road.  It is a beautiful place.

We then drove to Espanola and had a late lunch and then continued on to Tucumcari where we are staying at a Rodeway Inn which is really nice.  We paid $45.00 plus tax for a king size bed and there is a refrigerator and microwave in the room and it is spotless.  Very nice - when traveling you just don't know what kind of room you are going to get but this one is one of the nicest we have been in so far.

Tomorrow we will leave New Mexico and head to Texas and then on to Oklahoma!

What a great day!

1 comment:

  1. You're following in our tracks. We stayed in Tucumcari also. Econolodge. What a grim little city except for Del's café. We are still in Oxford, MS

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