South of Silver City, NM

BETH writes - Rode 5 miles to Silver City to the bike shop, where they repaired my bike. With a shifting bike and a good breakfast at a local cafe inside me, I was off to the desert, the Chocoen Desert, one of the largest in the country. To my surprise and pleasure this desert was drastically different than Wyoming's Great Basin. After 15 miles on the highway I entered a Yucca forest with small prickly pears and Rabbit bush (like sage brush, but soft with green color and yellow flowers - its an invasive which indicated over grazing) I rolled on a low grade up and down along the Continental Divide for thirty miles. I found a nice flat spot in which to camp and Mom and Fran were along shortly. We played cards, read, and enjoyed the cool breeze and clouds as the sun set behind us in the clouds.

JAN writes - Beth took her bike to a bike shop and was able to get it working properly. She headed out of Silver City in the late morning, but Fran and I did some museum hopping and hit a few shops. We met up with Beth in the middle of the desert. She found a place where we could pull off the road and set up the tent without being on a cactus. The scenery has taken a drastic change. We are still over 1 mile high and right on the continental divide itself. It was still hot when we made camp and there was no shade, and no facilities or buildings in sight, but we set up a dry tent with no threat of rain. We played cards and watched the sunset before getting a good night's sleep. Picture is of cactus with bird next near camp site.