Xterra the Younger and I survived our night at the Armed Extended Stay, but I got kicked out at the noon check-out time. So I “took a lunch break” to go flog myself through 650 feet of autobelays at the Stone Age Climbing Gym down the street, where Dad met me when he arrived into ABQ. He arrived after I had completely pumped out my forearms, but upon his arrival, pride dictated I make a third attempt at a 5.11 that had twice already defeated me at a dyno (jump) 30 or 40 feet off the ground.
Nailed it. And then it was time for beers and lunch at a little food hall around the corner while I answered a couple more emails.
And then it was time to get on the road southbound.
San Lorenzo Canyon isn’t far south of Albuquerque and I haven’t been since we were celebrating our excitement for all that 2020 might be. It’s still there, and still majestic.
As the sun set, we made our way on to Socorro and US-60 headed for Arizona. We did make a brief stop at the overlook for the VLA but the satellites were spaced out and dark, so they were hard to see. But I assured Dad it was pretty cool in concept.
And from there, it was a ride over dark tree-lined mountain passes into Arizona and on to Payson.