Made it to Grants!

Day 57. To Grants. Most miles yet in one day, 72.1 miles. Today felt like New Mexico. Warmer. The coffee at the gas station was free this morning as we waited for the sun to crest the horizon to dry our tents. No frost this morning which was nice. My first day in as long time with no toe warmers in! Blue sky, sunny, warm, light wind, sage brush, and a snake. All miles were on the road. We saw a live rattle snake (Lois jumped 3 feet on her bike!) in the road near the top of the climb. We had about 30 miles of flat/downhill to end the day. The winds were light but it a long day on the seat. We passed a very large mine. We passed under a tunnel where the mine had built a road between the mine and the processing plant. As we came into the town of Milan we had to wait for a long train. We road from there to Grants on historic Route 66. We are staying at our first hostel tonight. Queen bunk beds so this should be interesting. We had a nice dinner of shish-k-bob chicken, salad, and asparagus from the grocery store. Felt like a real meal. The hostel is solar so when the power is used up, the lights will go out. The hostel owner works for the forest service and reviewed the route with us. He believes it is dry enough to ride, although there are diversions around the puddles. We will go back on the dirt roads/trail tomorrow. We are headed to Pie Town (2 days) and then Silver City (4 days later). Zzzzzz.