Day 20 Santa Rosa, NM to Albuquerque, NM 114.3 miles

Spent today riding the shoulder of Interstate 40 for over a hundred miles to Albuquerque. It's the only road traveling West through this part of New Mexico, so I didn't have much choice. Riding the shoulder wasn't as bad as it sounds; it's over a lane wide in most places and it feels safer than some of the sections of 66 that lead into the larger towns. I wouldn't want to do it all the time though, it's too noisy and there's lots of roadside debris. I always get loads of punctures from the wire bead of shredded truck tires and broken lamp glass.

Repairing punctures is bad enough but it made even more tedious by having to look out for tarantulas. I saw five on the roadside whilst on my way to Albuquerque. Don't ask me for pictures, I'm not going anywhere near those things.

Had an amazing decent through the mountains into Albuquerque, it's very pretty round here and has a very Latin feel, you could almost be in South America. Albuquerque has been the only city I've enjoyed so far on this trip since Chicago. English is the second language round here and a lot of the advertising billboards and cable TV stations are in written and spoken in Spanish. It's the polar opposite of Illinois.

Church in Albuquerque old town

Crazy motel on Route 66 in Albuquerque

There was a lot of aircraft flying over Albuquerque, most of them military. There must be an airbase nearby. Saw these strange things flying overhead. I want one.