Day 14: Rest day in Questa

June 11, 2019

Today is a lazy boring rest day in Questa, New Mexico. I got up at 7:30 and ate a banana and cinnamon roll in my room. None of the 3 restaurants in town is open for breakfast. Lunch and dinner were at the pizza place a 3 minute walk from the motel.

This was the only place on the tour that I gave any attention to the bike. I cleaned the chain, tightened bolts, pumped the tires, confirmed that the rims are true. I also discovered green gunk at the bottom of a water bottle and removed the gunk with great difficulty.

I was hoping there might be a laundromat in town but there isn't. I hand washed my tights and woolie that I seldom wash. Other than socks and underwear my off-bike clothes never did get washed during the tour.

The only biking of the day was a downhill 0.7 mile trip to the supermarket and uphill ride back to the motel.

I took a 45 minute nap at 4 PM, then walked 10 minutes to St. Anthony's church, the centerpiece of Questa. Records say it was built in the 1840's. Parishioners told me the ceiling beams date from the 1830's.

St. Anthony's Church is a magnificent adobe church with an inspiring recent history. The west wall of the church collapsed in 2008. The church needed extensive repairs and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe wanted to demolish the church and build a new building. Parishioners strongly disagreed and insisted on repairing the historic church. The Archdiocese reluctantly granted the parishioners permission to rebuild the church, but with a 6 year deadline and no assistance from the Archdiocese. The parishioners went to work and raised 1.5 million dollars and donated 45,000 hours of volunteer work to complete the renovation in 5.5 years.

Newly restored St. Anthony Catholic Church in Questa, New Mexico.

For better or for worse, they covered the church with a layer of concrete. That has caused bad results at other churches. Maybe they can prevent moisture buildup with good summer ventilation and winter heating. The quality and craftsmanship of the restoration is outstanding.

After the west wall collapsed they did some testing to confirm the structural integrity of the other walls. They found that the north and east walls were also very near structural collapse. A total of 30,000 adobe bricks were replaced to make the walls structurally sound.

The communion rails were removed during Vatican II but restored for historical accuracy.

The choir loft was removed in the 1960's but restored during the renovation. The massive 1-piece support timber is new, from an old growth tree that fell in Carson National Forest. The Archdiocese was opposed to restoring the choir loft and communion rails, but the parish did it anyway. The Archdiocese offered no support for the restoration and had no right to dictate how the restoration is done.

The choir loft was removed during Vatican II but restored during the renovation.

The church has a small round stained glass window above the altar and 3 stained glass windows behind the choir loft that are hard to see. Also four stained glass windows in the nave. The windows are deeply recessed because the adobe walls are 3 feet thick. The last window photo depicts San Antonio (Saint Anthony).

Stained glass window 4 shows St. Anthony.

The church has a large plaza in front, with beautiful stonework and landscaping and an unobstructed view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Front plaza of St. Anthony Catholic Church

The St. Anthony statue is similar to the depiction in stained glass. St. Anthony of Padua is always shown wearing a knotted belt and holding a small child. The significance of those things was explained to me but I don't remember now.

The plaza has a view of the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) mountains.

I was extremely impressed with St. Anthony's church. The building is amazing to see and the rescue of this magnificent building is an inspiring story. I left a generous donation and wish them all the best.

Today's high temperature was 77F (25C). The afternoon had periods of sun and my motel room faces south. I turned on an air conditioner for the first and only time during the tour.

I accomplished my goal of being rested for tomorrow's long day. In the fridge are milk, raisin bran, and a breakfast burrito for tomorrow's breakfast.

Distance: 1.4 mi. (2.2 km)
Ascent/Descent: +146/-146 ft. (+45/-45 m)

Today's ride: 1 mile (2 km)
Total: 470 miles (756 km)

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