In New Mexico Finally!

We finally made it out of TX today and into NM. It was an absolutely beautiful day of riding out. It got up to around 60 degrees and sunny. We had a slight tailwind at our back which added to our joy. Starting to get into mountains which adds to more scenery for sure. West TX does not have much in the category of scenery. Both of us felt pretty good today. Our bodies are always kind of shocked after taking a rest day. We did nothing yesterday and had a great time hanging out with Kamala and Charlie. It is really great to meet people like them along the way. They had very similar ideals to Natalie and I so conversation was extremely easy with them. We stayed up too late last night talking to them. I could have talked with them all night. They have done so many bike tours and are just generally inspiring people. I hope that Natalie and I can be like them when we are older. They are role models for cycling and marriage.  Left this morning around 9:30 from El Paso and headed around the city using an alternate route. This allowed us to bypass the large metropolis of El Paso/Juarez. It was maybe 7 miles longer but much nicer because it did not have as much traffic. Had a very nice lunch stop. We had chocolate cake, sunflower seeds, and granola. The cake was from Kamala and it was awesome! Tonight we are staying with Lee in Las Cruces. Las Cruces is an absolutely beautiful city sitting in the foothills of large mountains. Lee made us an awesome dinner (we were very hungry) and also had some beers for us. Natalie and I were craving any type of alcohol on our ride today. Its so funny because every day we seem to crave something different. Today it was either margaritas or beer. We continue to be blessed to meet awesome people on this trip. Tomorrow we will head toward Caballo lake state park setting us up to tackle emory pass in the next few days. Emory pass sits somewhere around 8500 feet and will be very very difficult with the trailer. The weather looks favorable so we are game to try it. The route this way it definitely more scenic and is better than riding on the interstate or on west TX roads. The roads in NM so far are very good. There are some glass and debris but I swear to never complain about a road again after going through west TX. Cross your fingers for good weather for us!

~Drew