We entered New Mexico with a climb into the Rocky Mountains. We went to a Diner and got a massive burger followed by the biggest brownie I've ever seen. The waitress didn't think we'd eat it, we proved her wrong, obviously.
We met a couple of guys at a petrol station. They were really interested in our trip, we chatted to them for a while and the conversation turned to war. They assured us that if it wasn't for America, we'd be speaking German!
We continued climbing and reached Pie Town, a little village in the middle of nowhere. We were told about The Toaster House, a fantastic house owned by a lady called Nita. She's moved out to a nearby town but leaves her house open for passing travellers. It's such a nice thing to do. She has loads of her possessions in there, including a sound system with a great music collection. The house is kept stocked with food and bathroom stuff. We lit a fire and listened to Bruce Springstien, the Eagles and Pink Floyd. Unbelievable place!
We left the Toaster House after leaving a donation in the donation box and writing in the guest book. We had an amazing tailwind that day and a big descent to Soccorro, where we met Mrs Burliegh in a supermarket. She asked us straight away if we needed a place to stay then went back around the supermarket to double the amount of food she'd bought! We had a great night with the family. The eldest daughter, Erika had just been cycle touring herself, along the Pacific Coast so we shared stories. David, the Dad, told us the history of New Mexico, it used to be Mexican, then owned by Texas when Texas was a country. Texas gave New Mexico to the USA and it became a state.
Erika guided us out of the town the next morning and we started climbing over the final mountain range of the trip. The Burlieghs were a great family, bright, very sociable. They didn't have a TV, maybe this made them more outgoing, none of the family were in the slightest bit surprised by having 2 strangers sleeping in their living room.
The climb up was fantastic and very remote. We had lunch on the side of the road. There was a headwind up the rest of the climb and it was tough until we reached the top at 6,700 feet. The descent at sunset was amazing.
Next day we climbed the last big climb of the trip. No more mountains! It was a big moment, downhill and flat from now on. We descended to Lincoln and saw the courthouse where Billy the Kid had been captured, imprisoned, then escaped after killing a load of policemen. There is a hole in the wall still where his shotgun shell exploded.
We made fantastic progress that evening and did 111 miles. We reached Roswell, a city famous for the supposed crash landing of a USA just after WWII. As we entered Roswell, we noticed people giving out free pizza so went to get some. They turned out to be the Salvation Army and put us up in a Motel for the night! We went to a pub to try and meet Alien/UFO fanatics and were told to go to the UFO Museum tomorrow.
We did, and went into their library, where we talked to someone about Aliens. She believed that there were 5 different types of Alien and that one had lived in Roswell after crash landing in 1947. They can apparently communicate through telepathy with humans! More realstically, most people think what happened was that a US Army weather balloon was being tested and crash landed. There was a big cover up because they didnt want the new technology to get out.
We left Roswell and camped in a guy called Dallas' garden that night. I pitched my tent underneath his massive RV! The next day we reached Texas after about an hour.
New Mexico was brilliant. It's a big state with population of about 2 million so it's really remote. The desert mountain scenery is awesome and there's loads of interesting history of gangsters and corrupt policemen. The best thing were the people though. Everyone was so friendly. Really looking forward to Texas now.
We met a couple of guys at a petrol station. They were really interested in our trip, we chatted to them for a while and the conversation turned to war. They assured us that if it wasn't for America, we'd be speaking German!
We continued climbing and reached Pie Town, a little village in the middle of nowhere. We were told about The Toaster House, a fantastic house owned by a lady called Nita. She's moved out to a nearby town but leaves her house open for passing travellers. It's such a nice thing to do. She has loads of her possessions in there, including a sound system with a great music collection. The house is kept stocked with food and bathroom stuff. We lit a fire and listened to Bruce Springstien, the Eagles and Pink Floyd. Unbelievable place!
We left the Toaster House after leaving a donation in the donation box and writing in the guest book. We had an amazing tailwind that day and a big descent to Soccorro, where we met Mrs Burliegh in a supermarket. She asked us straight away if we needed a place to stay then went back around the supermarket to double the amount of food she'd bought! We had a great night with the family. The eldest daughter, Erika had just been cycle touring herself, along the Pacific Coast so we shared stories. David, the Dad, told us the history of New Mexico, it used to be Mexican, then owned by Texas when Texas was a country. Texas gave New Mexico to the USA and it became a state.
Erika guided us out of the town the next morning and we started climbing over the final mountain range of the trip. The Burlieghs were a great family, bright, very sociable. They didn't have a TV, maybe this made them more outgoing, none of the family were in the slightest bit surprised by having 2 strangers sleeping in their living room.
The climb up was fantastic and very remote. We had lunch on the side of the road. There was a headwind up the rest of the climb and it was tough until we reached the top at 6,700 feet. The descent at sunset was amazing.
Next day we climbed the last big climb of the trip. No more mountains! It was a big moment, downhill and flat from now on. We descended to Lincoln and saw the courthouse where Billy the Kid had been captured, imprisoned, then escaped after killing a load of policemen. There is a hole in the wall still where his shotgun shell exploded.
We made fantastic progress that evening and did 111 miles. We reached Roswell, a city famous for the supposed crash landing of a USA just after WWII. As we entered Roswell, we noticed people giving out free pizza so went to get some. They turned out to be the Salvation Army and put us up in a Motel for the night! We went to a pub to try and meet Alien/UFO fanatics and were told to go to the UFO Museum tomorrow.
We did, and went into their library, where we talked to someone about Aliens. She believed that there were 5 different types of Alien and that one had lived in Roswell after crash landing in 1947. They can apparently communicate through telepathy with humans! More realstically, most people think what happened was that a US Army weather balloon was being tested and crash landed. There was a big cover up because they didnt want the new technology to get out.
We left Roswell and camped in a guy called Dallas' garden that night. I pitched my tent underneath his massive RV! The next day we reached Texas after about an hour.
New Mexico was brilliant. It's a big state with population of about 2 million so it's really remote. The desert mountain scenery is awesome and there's loads of interesting history of gangsters and corrupt policemen. The best thing were the people though. Everyone was so friendly. Really looking forward to Texas now.
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