21 March 2014
Buckhorn to Silver City, NM
38 miles (Total Miles = 621)

Today we crossed the Continental Divide, elevation 6,230 feet. So much easier when sitting in the van.

The good news is David and I are both on the mend. The bad news is we’re still on the Norovirus Diet, so no energy available to ride. Paul is entertaining us with tunes but we’ve decided he needs to work on his Van Tour Guide commentary because this is a common exchange:

Van passenger: Paul, what is that interesting looking desert plant over there?
Paul: I don’t know.
Van passenger: Paul, what is that odd looking tree over there?
Paul: I don’t know.

Now granted, Paul lives in Minnesota, where one doesn’t have to know such things because they’re always covered in 16 feet of snow. And even if one did know such things they would have nothing to do with what we’re seeing out the window here in New Mexico, a solid 1,461 miles away. And on top of all of that, Paul isn’t even supposed to have passengers in the van, since we signed up to ride across America, not be driven across it. So really, Paul doesn’t need to do anything except perhaps kick us ignorant passengers out of the van. Which eventually he does, at the Silver City RV Park, the last stop on today’s van tour of New Mexico.

As for Gina, she actually had to pedal across the Continental Divide but hey, no problem, she’s no stranger to the Divide, having crossed it several times before on the TransAm. Looks like she even picked up a couple of new friends along the way.