Day 2:

Well...we did some more driving 2day. Jen and I were both almost over the trip before we even got to the good stuff!!! Sure am glad we stuck with it.
We made it to Gallup with enough daylight left for a quick ride. Having picked-up the Gallup waypoints guide book earlier in the day; I scoured through the book and found a short but oooohhhhhh sssssssssooooooo sweet 10 mile loop w/ 100% singletrack! The trail we rode was called the Quaking Aspen loop. It's located in the Zuni mountains of the Cibola Nat'l Forest. Only minutes off I-40, this is truly a hidden gem. I don't know if those DirtRag guru's who wrote the ride guide for I-40 got this or not. But this is a MUST ride if you're ever in the area. This trail is AWESOME!!!!!! It is a gradual climb through lush meadows, pine and aspen groves, through dry creek beds and washes, over slick rock to a pond, and then a BIG RING downhill run w/, just enough tech rock features and ruts to keep it interesting, back to the car. This was just what the doctor ordered for Jen and I to get fired up about being on our trip.