August 17

Day off! My last one. This morning, I woke up at eight, took a shower, and collected the laundry I left up last night. (It was a late clothes wash- the sun didn't dry them in time yesterday.)



I caught a ride with the trading post's backcountry driver to Ponil and Abreu, two staffed camps, to help her bring merchandise back from the backcountry trading posts. I liked Ponil. Not so much Abreu. It was good to get out of base camp for a while. The drive was spectacular- sunflowers lined the road and littered the fields.

Later, I was supposed to ride to another camp, but ended up going into Cimarron to catch some high-speed internet (for once).

After my friends got out of work, five of us piled into the car and drove to the canyon. The Rayado River runs through it. We parked at our favorite location and got out, scaled the huge boulders lying in the river, and walked the riverbed.

It's not much of a river- more like a creek. Eventually, I jumped in. It felt good to be in water again.

We went back to camp, changed clothes, and headed to Denny's in Raton for dinner. I had a great meal. Breakfast for dinner- can't beat it. I found another crazy toy in the vending machine...

Denny's was followed by Dairy Queen.

Dairy Queen followed by Wal-Mart, a short drive away in Trinidad, Colorado. It was my friend's last night in New Mexico. He leaves in the morning. It'll be sad, but we had a good time tonight.