Rest day in Grants, New Mexico

May 31, 2026 was our first rest day on the Great Divide. We’ve covered 612 km and climbed 6107m to get to Grants, over halfway through our New Mexico adventure.

We went to bed late and got up late, very luxurious. After planning the route to Cuba (two days), we rode over the highway to Walmart which seemed like the only good grocery shopping option. It was my second time at this Walmart (thanks Beau for pointing out we had food shopped here together!) and my third time in Walmart ever. It’s overwhelming with so many choices but we managed to find food for today, tomorrow’s big ride and a more modest ride the next day. We also bought a few little items we needed. Breakfast was outside at a picnic table in the shade: yogurt with granola and blueberries, a salad and an orange each. Coffee was needed so over to the nearby Denny’s. I hadn’t been in one for 39 years! Of course we also needed more food like pancakes, brownie, milkshake etc. These trips are so fun if you love to eat!

We rode back to the motel and met a couple of women cyclists we knew from the Bunkhouse. Liz offered her house in Salida, CO when we get there, presumably some days ahead of her. We decided to accept and invited her to our wine and cheese platter party this afternoon.

We did a little bike work and relaxed in the afternoon. Around 5, I sliced up cheeses and we sat outside for what ended up being an over two hour long little party. It was really pleasant and various people contributed nice foods. Liz showed up from Walmart with two more bottles of wine.

In the evening we watched another movie, Roofman, a sad true story, filmed really well. The alarm is set for an early departure, good night.