It’s Sunday. Our day off from running. The skies in Albuquerque are blue. Sandia Mountain has fresh snow on it. The snow is a reminder of yesterday’s storm.
Kris and Olivia dropped David and me off yesterday at mile 138, near the Route 66 Casino off of I-40. The cross winds were crazy strong but the temps were in the 50s so it was manageable.
We ran down to Exit I-40 and there we met Benjamin “BJ” Timoner, a man who has crossed the USA twice on foot. He drove out from Albuquerque to say hello to us. We crossed an old bridge on Route 66 together, a bridge that’s no longer in use. BJ told us a bit about his crossings. He thanked us for what we’re doing. Was so good to spend a few moments with our new friend BJ.
Kris and Olivia drove up 66 toward Albuquerque. The wind was blowing so hard I was afraid it might blow Kris off the road. Glad to have the equalizer hitch on the trailer.
Then the wind hit, I mean it really hit, packing a sandy, gritty punch. Soon David and I were chewing on sand and trying to keep it out of our eyes. We made it to the top of Nine Mile Hill and had our first glimpse of Albuquerque in the distance. The clouds were socked down low on the mountains, typical for Sitka, Alaska, but unusual for Albuquerque.
The temperature gradually dropped as the clouds lifted revealing new snow on the mountains.
Kris and Olivia picked us up only 11 or so miles into our run. Not near our goal of 20 miles per day, but even with the short day, we still met our weekly goal of 120 miles.
We drove into town and set up our trailer on the street outside of Keith’s place. Kris had previously connected with Keith though couchsurfing.org. We got busy helping Keith make dinner and before long we were eating enchiladas spicy enough to melt the polar ice caps. New Mexico green chiles kick hard!
All in all it was a fine day with good conversation, connections, dinner, and friends.
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Brett and his 15-year old son, David, are currently running from coast to America coast promoting a GMO-Free USA. Brett wrote this blog in Albuquerque, New Mexico, enjoying yet another needed day of Sabbath rest. Brett and David blog at RunningTheCountry.com. Support their run and mission at RunningTheCountry.com/donate.