Epic Bike Ride Rest Day June 10

Thoughts from Mark:  The camping spot last night was just under 10,000 feet elevation, and I think it might have affected Kelly and I slightly.  It had rained for most of the night last night, and we were running out of clean clothes, so we decided to take a “rest day” and drove into Chama, NM.  At first we tried to find a restaurant in this town, which is supposed to have a population of over 1,000 people.  As we drove on the main street, we noticed a diner, and stopped there.  There were several cars in the parking lot, but it was closed.  We saw a sign for a pizza place across the street, but as we walked up to it, it turned out to be a pharmacy, and the pizza place was no longer there.  Probably because we were so hungry, and a bit loopy from all of the riding, this seemed incredibly funny to us, and we had a long laugh.  Eventually we found a very friendly restaurant, and after explaining to our server what we were looking for (laundry and a shower with a place to park the truck), she told us to “Go talk to Ernest at the Chevron.”

After finishing our lunch, and buying more groceries, we went to talk to Ernest.  He was working on a car in the garage, but could not have been nicer.  We explained our situation, and he charged us the very reasonable $25 for a spot in the camping area behind the Chevron.  Ernest was a huge UNM basketball fan, and he and Kelly started talking about their favorite Lobo players from back in the day (Luc Longley, Charles “Spider” Smith, and Kenny Thomas).  Once we got to the campground, we were approached by another camper, Delores, who was very interested in what we were doing, where we were from, etc.  She and her husband, Don, had done a lot of traveling, working for the military.  A short time later, Don approached, and said he wanted to donate to the cause.  He gave us a $100 bill, and said he would be cheering us on!  We walked across the street to see a local blacksmith’s shop, but it was closed.  There were some display pieces, as well as some wooden bears that had been carved from wood, in various sizes.  I don’t have any talent in this area, but I can certainly appreciate the skill some people have.  After some dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we took showers, and called family, since we finally had cell service again.  It’s going to be tough to get back on the bike tomorrow.