State 3 – New Mexico

June 2, 2019

There is no question when you enter the state of New Mexico on I-40. The sign spans over the whole highway letting you know exactly where you are. For people like us trying to document our journey, a large in-your-face sign like this is easy to spot and document!

We were interested in riding in the town of Tucumcari, NM. We read about this town having a large number of murals painted on buildings. The plan was to drive into town and find some murals, then ride randomly around and explore. If you’re really lucky like us, you’ll stumble upon the map mural to show where all of the paintings are located.

While we did have the map, they were easy enough to spot if you’re moving and Corvin and I opted to explore.

The detail at the lumber company was amazing.

When did we get to a lake?

This is more of what I was expecting.

This town had the feel of a ghost town. The murals kept people coming in to view them and bring in some commerce. But this town reminds me of the movie Cars. Its the one that got bypassed when the interstate highway routed people away from. This town is actually part of Route 66. Corvin mentioned in his journal how he was counting cars for the first part because there were so few.

Corvin’s journal entry

Our Strava Entry. It was a low point for distance, but we spent a ton of time filming us riding by different places.

Our map of completed states.

Stats:
Total Trip Miles: 11.64
Total Moving Time: 2h 42m 47s
Total Elevation Change: 350 feet
Total Hogan UPD: 1
Total Corvin UPD: 0

Hogan Haake