Today I’m riding in honor of Vic and Gen Albiero.
If you would like me to ride in tribute of your loved one, please email a photo to [email protected] or [email protected], include the person’s name and a brief note if you like, and send your contribution securely by clicking HERE.
The entire $100 donation, is tax deductible and will go toward Alzheimer’s programs at Cedar Community.
 |
| Pat Summit Photo courtesy: NPR.com |
From the Washington Post:
Pat Summitt, who won eight national championships as head coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team and had more wins than any NCAA college basketball coach in history when she was forced to retire at age 59 because of a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, died June 28 at a senior living home in Knoxville. She was 64.
Read more HERE.
He was visited by one of his 35 grand kids. “This pretty girl is Miss Shelby,” he said “I also have great grandkids,” he clarified.
I looked at Bill for approval. He nodded and said, “Bring another spoon.”
Video of Park Lake in Santa Rosa. It seemed like the popular place for families on a hot summer day.
 |
| Route 66 stamped into concrete sidewalk |
Beau and Melissa from the First Baptist Church in Santa Rosa gave me a place to stay Sunday night.
Just down the street from the church was a local tourist attraction called the Blue Hole. It’s a circular bell-shaped pool, about 130-feet deep and the water temperatures in the 60s. A lot of people use it as a local swimming hole and for scuba diving.
There’s rumor this is where Billy the Kid once swam.
Santa Rosa is a very small community of about 2800 right on the Historic Route 66.
On an interesting but sad note the old hotel signs with the illuminated pipe neon lighting are still here, but so many of them are closed and in very poor shape.
We had breakfast at the Spic & Span. The brutal art murals were along the parking lot walk across the street.
Do you know the city of Santa Fe has banned plastic bags at all the stores. Not even Walmart can carry them.
Today I’m riding in honor of Cliff and Ann Hale.
If you would like me to ride in tribute of your loved one, please email a photo to [email protected] or [email protected], include the person’s name and a brief note if you like, and send your contribution.
The entire $100 donation, is tax deductible and will go toward Alzheimer’s programs at Cedar Community.
Click here to submit your donation.
 |
| Ladies of Las Vegas working their phones looking for innertubes. |
I came upon this Big Jesus Sale. Just had to stop and check it out.
Found quite a few Big Jesus wooden carvings, nothing I could carry on my bike so I decided to push along.
A sales person met me at the door and clarified. “The owner’s name is Jesus – HAY-SOOS – the Mexican pronunciation. He was having a big sale.”
Correction noted.
Sometimes I don’t see any traffic for 20 minutes.
This was my first solid day of biking following my clunky fall. I can pedal fine but there’s some soreness that makes me walk with a bit of a hitch in my giddy-up.
The Turquoise Trail is a more scenic route from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. It passes through small, eccentric and artsy towns and comes highly recommended by the fellas at the bike shops.
While I am not pedaling over the Sandia Mountains or the San Pedro Mountains I am in between and that still means some significant hills.
By the time I reach 21 measly miles I’m tanking. I’m in the very, very small town of Golden. Al is the friendly face behind the counter at Henderson Store. Its been family owned and operated since 1918 and has a high-quality collection of Native American arts and crafts.
What really trips my trigger is he has a porch with shade. I find a quiet corner, under a swallows nest tucked into the corner of a wood beam, and I totally fall asleep. I’m out of the intense sun and no newts or lizards are running across my face so I think I’ll be okay.
I’m sure it was a combination of things – the early start to the day, the heat and the hills and the altitude…. something which I completely forgot to factor in when planning the tour.
Following my brief siesta I come across the home of ‘the mayor’ of Golden. #sarcasm. He’s the local eccentric that has a glass bottle display in his front yard with a confusing series of signage. ‘Welcome,’ ‘No trespassing’ and ‘Free information about Golden.’
Eleven more miles and I’m into Madrid; an old coal mining town established in the 1890’s that was left abandoned in the 1950s and later revived by hippies in the 1970s and turned into a hot spot for movies and artists.
Some interesting tidbits about Madrid:
– In 1913 there was the first mine accident and in order to boost moral the owner of the mine built the “first lighted baseball field and score board west of the Mississippi. Because Route 66 ran through Madrid the Red Sox and White Sox stopped to play against the Madrid Miners.
– A tradition started In the 1930s to illuminate the town for the Christmas season. Free electricity was offered for the villagers if they would put up Christmas lights. The people embrace the tradition and it kicked off a lighted Parade, which in its heyday there were 150 floats and the parade stretched a half-mile. Major airlines rerouted their flights to include the Christmas town of New Mexico. On one of those flights Walt Disney heard the story and later came to see the site. He returned to California and the ideas for Disneyland’s Toyland light parade and street lights was born.
– A couple other Hollywood names also came to Madrid. In 1976 David Bowie’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth” man was filmed on the coal tailing piles south of town and in 1979 Perry Como hosted a TV Christmas special in Madrid.
Photo gallery of some of the art in Madrid:
TheBiKeWriTer is a travel-by-the-seat-of-your-pants website. Few plans, lots of spontaneous adventure, great people, with a little bit of history and humor thrown in. Follow along.
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv
