Back on Route - Ojo Caliente to Grants

We slept in to 7:30 this morning. The beds were super comfy and we were awake late watching the western classic, Shane, filmed in the Tetons. We knew we had an easy day planned and felt no need to rush.

30 miles down the 285 and then up the 84 rejoined us on the route at Abiquiu. We had studied the route for today from Abiquiu to Cuba and the description was intimidating - rough and rocky. We figured the rain may have exacerbated the situation.   After yesterday's tough ride we decided to opt for the easier route and take the paved 96 into Cuba.

In Cuba while filling up at the gas station I asked a guy for a nice place to lunch. He pointed us to El Brunos. We chatted for a while and found out he is the fire chief, a veteran who works with Wounded Warriors, and has a 5,000 acre ranch with a guest house and 17 miles of trails. He invited us to come up and stay! If it wasn't so close to the end of our journey I would have taken him up on the offer. Maybe in the future? Thanks James Sanchez!

From Cuba we took the Chaco alternate route on the 197 then the 509. We expected it to be more interesting. It was quite barren with not much to see.

We passed a mtb'er about 15 miles from Grant. It appears he too was leery of the rocky dirt and effects of the recent rain on the dirt roads.

We pulled into Grant (not much here either), grabbed a hotel, and got horizontal.  It is nice to have a short day.

Tomorrow we head to Pie Town and maybe Silver City. We need to figure out if our full tanks and a 2 gallon spare will take us 253 miles. If not, we will need another plan.