This is me ;-): Southwest Dirtbag Roadtrip: Part III

       Escaping the rain and cold of the mountains I cruised north along I-25. Dinner was pizza in Albuquerque with a good friend, before driving up to Los Alamos to see another friend. I literally chilled here for a few days watching the first snow dust the surrounding mountains. One day included a hike in Bandelier; approaching the ruins from the FreyTrail was a wonderful way to arrive at the ruins.
      Leaving Los Alamos was a beautiful drive under sunny skies over the Jemez Mountains. Passing through the Jemez Pueblo a surprising number of cars were parked along the roadside of this small isolated village. I almost didn’t stop, finally making a U-turn on the outskirts of town. I am so thankful I did! Walking into a local gallery I stepped right into the local feast of San Diego. My hosts fed the group assembled an excellent array of modern and traditional dishes and then we went off to the pueblo plaza. Hundreds of artists were selling their wares, mostly jewelry. The main attraction was in the town plaza, where surrounded by adobe buildings with red rock cliffs in the background, around 150 dancers in regalia promenaded upon the dirt surface. An interesting merging of Native American religion and Catholicism, it made for an incredible sight! For hours I watched the festival before driving on to Chaco Canyon.
      It was a very cold night, but I stayed warm sleeping in both my sleeping bags. I was quite impressed by the parents in another campsite who were daring to camp with two young children. Exploring the ruins of Chaco was a pure delight! Although I have seen many Ancient Puebloan ruins wandering about the Southwest nothing even comes close the scale and complexity of this distant hub of civilization. My last hike of the trip was on the mesa overlooking the New Mexico desert. It was a fitting place.
      By late afternoon I drove out of Chaco headed for Farmington and friends. It was a wonderful evening spent talking of life beside the San Juan River. The next morning I viewed Durango from the mesa, but drove on by my home and into the San Luis Valley. I spent that night in Leadville with a friend and after grabbing an incredible Mexican hamburger at the Taqueria in Avon I met up with my brother Mark in Denver. The next day mountain biking on Green Mountain I had the third crash of my cycling career. It was small wound, but a gusher. Continuing the tour of Colorado I drove up to stay with friends in Fort Collins and then with one final stop the next day to see friends in Laramie it was due east to Michigan. A most pleasant roadtrip!