Rancho del Padre Spring

Day 9 Grants, NM - Mororiaty, NM
Miles - 85
How many we spotted along the fields - Dogs = 15 Horses = 22

The hotel we stayed on the 8th night was your typical iconic Route 66 Motel. Southwest Motel. It was cute and just adequate. Its what you think of a typical hotel room back in the 60's. Our room was full with our suitcases and then the food and blue box container, plus the extra bicycle.

We loaded up and was out of the parking lot pretty much on time, at 6:50am. As we were heading back on Route 66 to go to the Wow Restaurant, Neil Tomba suggested that we get a breakfast meal at the upcoming McDonalds. I then texted Jeff in the other car and they followed behind us. Glenn was out checking stuff when I ordered him the 2 burrito meal. I ate 1/2 of my Egg McMuffin. We headed out of town on Route 66 to the East. We were basically on the service road taking it north of I40 and also south of I40. At one point we were on about 5 miles of just a very poor road, and lots of washboard. It was very bumpy.

This day, the cyclists rode for Chessman Wealth Stragesis. And the cyclists rode their bikes with special t-shirts designed for this special day. I know there was another day, where Neal was wearing a special shirt for a friend of his that recently passed away. I don't know the whole story because We were not around when Neal was being filmed for the documentary.

We took a wrong road and then Neil spotted a man working on his head light on his car in the yard. Neil turned around and asked if he could have a conversation with him. There was a shade tree and we parked the van there along with the bicycles. Neil immediately to started filming. He was talking to a Jeff who grew up in the area and had recently returned to the area.

I sent a text message and a photo to Kris to start praying for Neil to have the right words to say. We were there about 45 minutes. His sister came out and gave us free tortilla. Very delicious. Neil gave them two t-shirts and his card. They gave Neil a pottery. Neil cried. He was moved by his kindness

We continued down the road and had to put the bicycles in the van for about 20 miles until we came upon the Carl Jrs. I ordered a salad to share with Glenn and a strawberry and chocolate shake. The salad was perfect for us. As we packed up to continue on Route 66, the wind was picking up. It looked like it could rain any moment now. Glenn followed the cyclists through Albuquerque. We got separated several times but caught back up together.

While we were going through the neighborhood, Neil waved to a guy that was working on his Winnebago bus. Glenn said a few words to him also. The cyclists turned around. We back a little bit so we would be out of the camera shot. The other car had to make a stop at the FedEX building so, they connected back with us. We were here while Neil carried on a conversation with the bearded man for about 45 minutes. As soon as we left, it started to rain. They got on their rain gear and continued east.

We did make another stop at a gas station for a potty stop, and Neil talked to this guy too. Only was a 10 minute conversation. We made another stop at Jack in the Box for the girls to go potty. Now it was time to head out of Albuquerque and start climbing. We were back on Route 66 and at one point, I feel asleep. They said I was asleep for 45 minutes and they even stopped to change a tire I believe. I didn't even wake up.

Occasionally I will send text messages to Dad to ask him if he knows where we are. He is looking on the Find My Friends app and can tell immediately. I love to read his comments to Glenn and Vela in the van.

We ended up on some very rough and challenging roads. Rocky and just only good for road bikes. Once they got to the top of the pass, Wes and Caroline got in the van. Neil continued on. We then hit a very steep road. I couldn't believe that Neil got up it. 19degrees slant. He made it to the top. And then we made another turn and Neil got in the Van. We started to head back to I40 when we got to a spot in the road that Neil said "50/50 Chance". We didn't take the chance. We returned back the way we came into that area, and headed to I40 and on to our hotel - named the Sunset Motel. Again, it is your typical Route66 motel form the 60's and 50's.

For supper, we got all the food out on the table and we made ham and cheese sanwhich and chips. We also had grapes, PB&J, crackers etc.

I have been sitting in the corner of the room for the past 2 hour to catch up on my blog and my FindPenguis account. I also had to call AppleSupport for help with getting my photos transferred from my phone to my MacBookPro. Glenn has already taken a shower and is snoring. He helped clean up the bicycles and I think he'll wait until the morning to clean up the van. We have a call time of 6:30am. Luggage has to be loaded and ready by 6:30am.Read more