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Day 17- Las Cruces

 A Sunny start to the day meant our tents had a chance to dry while we had breakfast. Caballo State Park is lovely but is on a river and there was a lot of moisture. Also, they must do horse camping there because there was definitely manure on our site. Lucky for me this was not much of a problem.

The ride was pretty straightforward. Very flat today with just 755 feet of elevation over 58 miles. We are in chili growing country and there were produce production plants all along the beginning of the ride.




At 20 miles we found ourselves in Hatch which claims to be the Chili Capital of the World. It’s a very small town, just two roads really, and contain some of the best street art I’ve ever seen. They were chilies drying  at many establishments and lots of touristy things to buy. It’s a good thing I can’t carry anything more on my bike.


We stopped at Jim’s Groceries. For $1.49 I got a delicious bacon and green chili breakfast burrito. It was everything I imagined it could be and it went straight to my legs.  Around the corner was Sparky‘s restaurant. Sadly it was closed as it advertised itself as the home of the green chili cheeseburger, but it was adorned with all sorts of signs and statues that delighted  us no end.


As usual I made a new friend…

We eventually moved on and enjoyed the landscape of mountains in the distance. We had to dodge a couple dogs. This could be an early warm-up for Texas. So far a big voice has kept them at bay but Terry has let me use his dog zapper, for which I am eternally grateful.



When we weren’t gazing at mountains we were cruising through pecan groves. They smelled a little like potatoes at first. They seem to go on and on forever.


The ride ended at a KOA high on a hill with lovely tent sites. We met Matt, who is recovering from his day 4 accident, at the Icebox and enjoyed craft beer and barbecue.

 40 miles tomorrow and it’s new state day!
Things I learned today:
  • I’m still usually the caboose, but I’m a much faster caboose now.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 12, 2022 at 3:13 PM

    Wow. Sounds like a really lovely day and the campsite area looked nice too. Keep on going little caboose...I think you can, I think you can. Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary DeRomeOctober 12, 2022 at 3:41 PM

    Such an amazing and entertaining blog! You go girl!

    ReplyDelete

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