Tuesday March 31, 2015

I am a Great Aunty again. Congratulations to my nephew – Justin. Mum and baby girl are doing well.

We left Mesilla at about 8:30 after a lovely breakfast cooked by Jim. Jim and Jenia are a really nice, caring couple. They allowed us to stay an extra day, which we really needed.

As we were leaving Jim and Jenia’s place this morning Ralf had an encounter with a cactus, so now he is in a bit of a prickly mood as he is trying to pull the needles out of his leg and foot. He used to want a cactus garden!

It was a fairly flat route today to Hatch. We crossed the Rio Grande again and followed it for a short while, this section actually had water in it, not much but some.

We passed the Seldon Fort, we were going to investigate it, but it was closed.

We met three touring cyclists – two guys travelling together and one guy on his own. The first two, told us that the camp sites after the Emory Pass are closed due to flash flooding. This means a slight change of plan and a much longer day than we anticipated after we climb the pass. We will do a longer day tomorrow, then climb the pass on Thursday and head straight for Silver City – 93 kms and some big hills.

Hatch has a population of 1,648 and is at an elevation of 4,055 feet. It is renowned for its green chile and holds a festival each Labor day in celebration.

Hatch should be famous for the amount of  “giant” sculptures it has.

We are at the Kings Pillow Inn in Hatch. When we arrived, he had to check if the rooms had been cleaned and asked us to come back. We asked the price and he looked at us and at our bikes and suggested $50.00. I came back with “$45.00 for cash” and he took it. I should have said $40. It is a bit of a sketchy place. The manager was drunk, and told us to make sure we took the bikes inside the room and lock the doors! There is an old guy wandering around, begging. Our first beggar in the US.

The end of another month of cycling in the US and a new record of 1,709 kms cycled in one month. I think we will be in San Diego around the middle of April, at this rate.