Surrounded!

I didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday (Friday) because we camped at Blackjack Campground just beyond "The Pass", that is, the pass that is 14 miles up from Three Way.  At first we thought we'd camp at the USFS Ranger Station in Three Way, but we arrived there just after 11:00 a.m. and there is absolutely nothing to do in Three Way.  So after getting water and snacks at the one and only Three Way store, we forged on up highway 78.   There are some pretty steep climbs (7-10%) and we were down in our last gear a few times.  But we were fresh after a rest day, so all in all, it was a good day, especially since the weather decided to cooperate -- it was overcast all day and the temperatures were really nice.  Even so, we sweated like pigs going up (do pigs really sweat???).

So we top The Pass, and just a mile or so past that we pulled into the Blackjack Campground.  This is a forest service primitive campground, no water, vault toilets.  Got the tent set up and were starting to work on our "gourmet" dinner of pesto pasta and instant mashed potatoes.  By the way,  the instant mashed potatoes they're coming up with these days are absolutely scrumptious.  We had garlic parmesan ones last night.  Hey, and we actually got COLD for the first time on this trip.  It was pretty chilly up in those mountains.

Anyway, several pickup trucks loaded with kids -- boys age 10 and up -- started pulling into the campground driving around obviously looking for a site.  Then more truckloads of boys starting coming in.  And of course, a pack of them set up camp in the site right next to us.  Rick says, "Looks like a Boy Scout Camperee", and sure enough, one of their leaders came over to apologize in advance to us.  He told us there would be about 100 boys in that night and they'd be running all over the place and get pretty noisy.  We were SURROUNDED!!  But it really didn't matter too much; we were too tired to care and crashed out at 8:00 p.m. anyway.

So this morning we headed out for Silver City.  We got a late start (8:20 a.m.) because it was pretty chilly this morning and we took time to make breakfast (cheese grits) and have hot tea/coffee.  The ride started out very beautiful and we crossed into New Mexico about 4 miles from the campground.

Now I really feel I need to mention this spot just to the left of my cervical spine.  It has been a problem for me ever since we started riding distances multiple days.  It is an irritating pain that seems worse when I'm fatigued and sometimes gets stabbing.  It's been with me so constantly that I've decided to name it "Spot".  Yesterday with all the climbing, Spot was just fine, go figure.  But today starting out with downhill and flats, Spot decided to get mean.  So that, for me, took today's rating down from what could've been a 1.

We made it to Buckhorn in 2 hours, stopped and had brunch.  The store there has pizza and does made-to-order burritos.  Very yummy.  Then we headed off for more hill climbing; not as steep as yesterday, but seemed for longer miles.  We left Buckhorn at 12:40 p.m. and didn't get into Silver City until 5:00 p.m.!  And, just as we reached the Continental Divide, it started to rain.  Arriving in Silver City, we had no idea where to go for a good beer and the kind of food we like.  We ended up at "Diane's" which was very good - good bottled beer and delicious pasta among other things, but fairly pricey.  It was dark and still slightly raining when we left there and went searching for a place to stay.  I said that I required a motel this night.  I really was on my last legs  Spot had been "talking" to me all day, and my right knee started "talking" also and it has never spoken before.

So....safe and sound finally in The Drifters Inn.  We were going to head out to Caballo Lake tomorrow (77 miles) but I'm not so sure about that now....