Mosquero NM

I'm really starting to love New Mexico!! The landscape is so beautiful and it keeps getting better with each day that we ride. The ride into Mosquero was really awesome! We found out that where we are going has a grand total of a 95 population and we are staying in the local school which has about 40 students. The beginning of the ride was amazing! We had a tail wind on a completely empty road and for the first 43 minutes of the ride, we hadn't been passed by a single car. This was also the ride that we hit the half way mile marker. We had officially rode 2,090 miles and had that many to go! It's insane how fast the summer is going and how quickly we made it to NEW MEXICO FROM FLORIDA! It just blows my mind every time. Every time we got to a tree, Connor and I would freak out and say that we found the only tree in New Mexico! So we found about the 5th only tree in New Mexico several times. Today was also one of the longer days so we had two lunches..both of the lunches were under one of the 5 random trees that we on the side of the road on the 89 mile stretch. After leaving first lunch, we had a lot of climbing to do and some rewarding downhills but the best part was one of the last hills in a long stretch of climbing had the most rewarding view at the top. As soon as we made it to the top of the hill, the landscape opened up and everything was insane! We were in the middle of a huge plain and there were huge mountains and plateaus off in the distance. It was the first time getting to see some real elevation and we were clearly in the foothills of the Rockies. The landscape continues to amaze me! Throughout the ride to second lunch, we were all coasting downhill, amazed at the mountains and all of the beautiful land. Second lunch was about 8 miles out from our first "real climb". We had been warned the night before about this hill that we had to go up so every one was very hesitant leaving the second lunch. The whole way up to the climb, we were greeted by some extremely strong headwinds (almost like a warning to turn back) and fighting to go more than 8 MPH. Then, we got to the hill! It was 2.5 miles straight uphill and we climbed 900 feet in that short of a time! It was extremely difficult but luckily, half way up, Maddi was there with the water coolers and gatorade so we could take a quick break if we needed (and my Camelbak was empty at this point). I wish that I was able to get this part of the ride in a picture but it's almost impossible! The rest of the way into town was all with head winds but getting in was amazing and I fell asleep on the gym floor until dinner and then ate some ice cream and fell back asleep until the morning. It was an exhausting climb!