The Roads Less Taken: TENMA Return

The Planned Route

The Actual Route

For all I have talked about the scenery on this trip, the real story of this trip has got to be the story of the kindnesses shown me by so many people...most of them absolute strangers. Today as I was passing through Cuba, NM, I noticed that the route projected on my GPS screen did not match my expectations. So I pulled over and stopped to see what was happening. It has been my habit to research my route plans on-line, mostly using Google Maps, and then re-creating the route in my Garmin GPS by listing the key towns I need to hit in a route table. Today...it didn't work. The route I got on the GPS didn't match.

As I sat on the side of the road poking at the GPS trying to get to the right zoom level to find the illusive Route 126, a pickup pulled to a stop on the other side of the highway...the divided highway...and a sturdy-looking woman climbed out and walked across the road, the median, and my side of the road to ask "Everything OK?" I assured her I was fine...just checking my navigation. I was looking for the road to Fenton Lake State Park. "Route 126, I think." I said. "Oh, you don't want to go there on that. It's a bad road. It is paved for about ten miles but then gravel and then dirt with lots of washboard and potholes." Suddenly the light came on. I have my GPS programmed to avoid putting routes onto unpaved roads. 1000 lbs of bike on street tires on dirt is a bad idea on a straight road. On mountain curves it would be suicide. "Well, that explains it", I said, "It looks like I need to keep going on 550 for a few more miles and then turn to Los Alamos, instead of going there via Fenton Lake." "Oh, you are going to Los Alamos? Yea, that's a better way... On Highway 4 through Jemez Springs. It's pretty up there."

That lady saved me a bunch of time at least...and maybe from an accident. She took the trouble not just to stop...she had been going the same way I was. She passed me, stopped, turned around, drove back, got out of her truck, walked across four lanes of traffic and a rocky median because she saw a guy standing on the side of the road. Amazing.

So the other change in route was today's destination...my Mom's house in Lubbock. I decided to skip the night of camping I had planned so I could get home one day early. I miss my girl. I would rather do that one night camp-out with her later than do it alone tonight. Last leg for home tomorrow. Yay!

And yes, the scenery was amazing too.