Rio Grande Ride

It was a long wait, through crossing the river, afternoon rush hour traffic but once out of the vehicle and onto bikes the fun began. A winding, flat (floodplain), dirt and sand path through thick brush and open stretches along the Rio Grande where you could open it up and cruise quickly followed by braking and turns brushing through thickets with no idea where the path was going ten feet ahead.
We spooked a large bird that turned out to be an owl that sat patiently in a nearby tree while we stared and hooted, no doubt interrupting his evening hunting and dining. The Rio Grande is running fast and muddy with recent rains and Jeff had immediate thoughts for getting out the kayaks. Not sure that's going to happen today but we'll see.
While billed as a road trip to see friends it has turned into a dining at friends favorite restaurants culinary treat. Tuna in Asheville, a lobster burrito in Atlanta, the Odd Duck euphoria in Austin and now the chile capital of the planet, New Mexico and last night was no slack taste treat. After the ride we ducked into the Boxing Bear Brewpub, ordered beers (I, a tasty rye IPA) only to discover the kitchen was closed. :(  That turned out to be a godsend: a quick phone search for someplace open after nine revealed that Rudy's BBQ served until 10. Turned out to be across the intersection and around the parking lot from the Boxing Bear and meat heaven (they were out of the T-shirts warning of the danger of veggies - I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables).
Our appetites were wetted waiting to order watching the king of slicing pull large chunks of various slow roasted meats from a warmer and expertly dispatch them into edible pieces, clean his cutting board with a precision bordering on obsession and go at another slab, fork in right hand, a constantly retouched knife in his left. The girl that took our order was patient with us, overwhelmed by the choices, and when we selected pulled pork and asked about sandwiches (all that was on the order board was meat) said they could handle that and asked if we'd like to try it flash grilled. We trusted her and OMG, some of the best pulled pork BBQ I've ever had. Jeff and I wolfed it down, sang our praised to our cashier/culinary guide and then washed up our messy hands in an ingenious and lightning quick hand washer - put hands into openings and wait till the wash and rinse is done (10 seconds), dry and grease free hands.
Time to get out for some rock shopping and more New Mex dining, hope you are out enjoying Today on Earth.

 Sandia and the Rio Grande with and without me.

Quick note- we've had a road tip bad connection break in the TOE.