Still catching up, but just a couple weeks behind now…
September 24 marked the first Bike Your Park Day, which celebrated the National Park Service’s Centennial, Adventure Cycling’s 40th Anniversary, and National Public Lands Day. Maureen and I had talked a bit about leading a ride, but with everything else we’ve been trying to do, our ideas needed an outside spark. She’s writing about the experience, so I’m just going to note here that it was New Experience #43.

Later that day, after a bit of recovery and rehydration, we decided to check out Pueblo’s Chile Fest, or more formally, the annual Chile & Frijoles Festival Presented by Loaf ‘N Jug. This marked the second new experience (#44) of the day. We had originally considered riding our bikes downtown, but we were pretty spent, so we parked near the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce (a few blocks from the festival instead).

The festival admission is only $3, which keeps it fairly accessible. That–and the chiles–also mean it is crowded.

Much of the festival was typical carnival fare including funnel cakes and hot dogs. There were political and craft booths, though many of these were in the process of closing for the evening. On the side streets, there was music, some of which sounded quite good, and drinks. We stopped at one bar station to buy beverages to support our neighbor’s efforts for charity, but did not stay for music as we continued in search of dinner-like food. Sadly, we did not find it (we went home to eat). We did find the Mission and Guerrero tortilla booth, where we purchased a discounted package of flour tortillas. For me, the smell of roasting chiles was the best thing about the festival. If I were to go again, I would visit during the day to see more of the farmers’ market and craft booths.