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Santa Fe has lightning fast 5G. Austin was the only other city to have 5G that we have experienced so far. Sitting at the mall, soaking up the 5G got us caught up on all of our internet communications and news. We get zero connection at our campsite.
It is almost sad how we have become so dependent on our technology. I think back to how well society functioned just 150 years ago without electricity, cars, computers, and the like. Now, we would be totally crippled without all that. Cyber warfare would be more devastating than a shooting war when you really think about it.
Anyway, we didn’t get the van washed, although the rain and snow accomplished some of that. We spotted a couple of those very tall do-it-yourself car washes in Santa Fe where Saturn and the kayaks on top would fit, but we just haven’t quite got it done yet. We didn’t finish polishing up V-Jer. We didn’t refill our empty water jugs. We didn’t even drive the 15 miles or so up the end of our road yet. It is the Santa Fe National Scenic Byway and these scenic byways have all turned out to be wonderful roads.
After our back-to-back days bingeing on a giant grilled steak burrito and an angus beef burger, it was back to meatless. We built a tasty scrambled egg, refried bean, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, jalapeño breakfast (at night) burrito on toasted white corn tortillas. We are really fruit and veggie-a-holics. We are obviously not vegetarians, but we usually use meat sparingly, more like a condiment and more likely poultry than beef. And we do like seafood.
Here’s a tip for ya. I have noticed that many many many cars coming down these steep hairpin-turn mountain roads smell of melting brakes. One pickup truck stopped near our campsite gate the other day with smoking brakes. It is a distinctive odor.
I noticed that most people come screaming down the roads riding their brakes the whole way - their brake lights blazing bright all the way down. There are a lot of little shrines along these steep mountain roads mourning lost loved ones that died in car accidents. I wonder if any were due to brake failure?
So, I developed a different braking technique. First of all, I do go much slower. My grandpa speed really saves on the brakes. I brake kind of hard to slow way down, then coast as long as I can before getting too fast, brake, coast, brake, coast..... If I stop along the way down, say for an overlook photo opportunity, I touch my wheel hubs and they are cool to the touch. This is especially important when I have V-Jer tagging along behind me.
Tomorrow - Taos!
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