Mountain moto ride

The weather forecast for today was 100F (38C) in Albuquerque, so I took my motorcycle Zippy up to the Jemez mountains to cool off.

Pictures:

1. Stopped at the Jemez pueblo (Walatowa in their native language) for water. I wanted to park my bike by the red cliffs, but when I tried to put my kickstand down, it was deep red mud, so I took a picture from my seat.

2. Had a green chile cheeseburger at the old Los Ojos bar in Jemez Springs. Saw this mosaic on the floor there.

3. The Jemez mountains were formed by an ancient volcano. The crater collapsed into a caldera, which is now a broad expanse of meadow that goes on and on, bordered by aspen and pine forests. While enjoying this view, I got a phone call from my son Nigel reminding me that today is "National Lasagna Day" (really) and to stop and get ricotta cheese on my way home.

4. While leaning into the twisties, my ADHD tendencies allowed me to spot this large herd of elk out of the corner of my eye! I stopped to get a foto and they spotted me from a distance and fled into the trees.

5. Rested in the shade on the way back down the mountain.

6. At the bottom of the mountain, it was really heating up, so I stopped by the Jemez river to remove and soak my tee shirt in the water. With my mesh motorcycle jacket over the top of my wet tee shirt, I was a human swamp cooler all the way home.Read more