I am in Tempe AZ ! We are taking 2 days off so I am getting things done. I had my haircut this AM and am at the library. I wish they would give me more time but at present they won't maybe tomorrow. We only have about a week more of riding. I hope all of you are well. I wish I had more time to spend. Here is some more updates and I will do more as I get a chance. Enjoy !

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Friday - April 9th- We got up this AM and did errands . We had the day off to sight see. We left flr Red Rock ranch for a tour of the canyons and pictographs. The owner of the ranch took us around in her 4 wheel drive for 5 hours ! We were able to take many pictures and see wild mountain sheep and roadrunners and fantastic rock formations. Her father bought the property in the 50's. The area has been used for several movies and we visited on of the sites. The original settlers home is still in use from the 1850's.

Sat April 10th-- 74 miles- 6hr 44 min pedaling 11 mph avg.

We rode on Interstate 10 today . Yowza. It is loud and dirty and simply awful.There was a frontage road for part of the ride but we had to get off of it and then back on. I was so glad when that part of the day was over. When we got to Sierra Blanca at 34 miles I had a large stuffed baked potato. It was OK but too much to eat. It was Curly's BBQ. Not as good as people in Van Horn told us it would be. After lunch we got back on I10 for a few miles. We then followed our route into the Chihuahua desert. It was so quiet and barren . We really enjoyed the respite from the noise of the highway. As we entered the area called Esperanza the desert suddenly became a veritable oasis. Everywhere one looked there were irrigated fields. There was also a huge reservior. All of this is due to the Rio Grande and the dams that are along its length. TX grows pecans in flooded orchards, cotton, chiles and alfalfa. It is really beautiful and the fragrance of the alfalfa is so sweet on the breeze. As we were entering town we saw a girl stopped by the road with her bike wheel off. She was in tears...she had decided to take her month long break from med school, 4th year student, and ride cross country from west to east. She had on flip flops, shorts, no equipment at all but a back pack...and a credit card...she had a huge tear in her tire and no spare and was using her last tube. She was out of water...I gave her all my water and Pete changed her tire...we urged her tog et a ride and definitely NOT go through the desert...I have no idea how she is....wish I had gotten Lauren's number...sigh...27 and either an optimist or a very poor planner.


We continue to see the Border patrol and immigration stops are in several places. You can see the fence in the distance sometimes. We had a great dinner tonight at Angie's. It was all homemade...chicken salad sandwich and a huge piece of homemade apple pie with icecream...I never tire of sweets on this trip which is funny as I don't usually eat that many at home.We are in a motel tonight.

Sunday April 11th- early start on Hwy 20. Lots of irrigation continues, all the fields look so fresh and green and the onions we now see are tall and the white bulbs rise up out of the soil with tall green tops waving in the breeze. We see the Charles Ivey farm...his ancestors are original settlers in this area.

We enter Tornillo. It is a small typical border TX town. Kim has flat number 6 ! I had Albondigos soup for lunch....meatballs and bought a Tres Leches for later. We camped tonight in an RV park...very shady spot.

Monday April 12th, 4hr 36min riding avg 12 mph.

Used ear plugs last night,,had forgotten I had them. I over slept till 6:30 AM...sigh...made me upset and felt like I was a "day late and a dollar short" but I still was ready on time. sigh....

I will stop here and say that the AM times are the hardest part of the trip for me. I lead a very very quiet life now when at home. After all the hectic years of children and work and then Momma living with us I chose to become more of a recluse in many ways. I gave up early AM runs for that reason too. I like a slow start to my day. With this trip I am WAY out of my comfort zone. I have had to change everything and the way I start my days. It is always a rush to get everything repacked and check for supplies and water and making sure all is in order and then immediately eat, use the bathroom and get riding. I embrace this change in a painful and trying way. It is good for me to have to learn to do things I don't like to do. I am glad of the strength that I am gaining through out this trip.

We left on our route through El Paso. Pete had his 13th FLAT ! We had coffee at a place called the Percolator...it was fantastic. We always start the day at a good coffee shop if we can find one. A man at the table next to ours helped us figure out where the bike shop was located ,we need some things done. As I walked out of the coffee shop I walked to his table to thank him again...the others were already outside with their bikes. He said if we needed his help again in the next couple hours we could call him, he handed me his business card. I stuffed it in my pocket and didn't look at it.

We went on to the bike shop and Chuck did an amazing and complete tune up on my bike for $ 16 !! WOW ! I happened to mention to him that a nice guy gave us directions to the shop...he asked if I knew his name...I pulled out the business card...whoa....Secret Service...all that day I hummed Secret Agent Man...as did the others...what a fun and nice thing to remember.

We rode on after 2 hours at the bike shop. We crossed the Rio Grande...source of all the water for the lush valley qwe ride through. Continue to see acres and acres of pecans...and here I thought that GA was the big producer...

We entered New Mexico at 12:28 PM !!! Yeah...no more TX. So we entered TX 22 day ago and a few hours. We have a tail wind so we are moving well and strong toward our destination. We stopped for a snack at a plant nursery along the route . They had lovely grassy shady areas so we had a small picnic and drank lovely fruit juice drinks from their fridge and rested a bit. We stopped also at one of the oldest pecan growers in the area...80 yr old trees and bought 30oz of pecans and split them 3 ways.

We rode on Hwy 28 into La Mesilla. What a wonderful and beautiful and historic town. I will want to return here for sure. We met J. Paul Taylor, a 90 year old native to this area. He is part Spanish and can trace his family to a soldier that fought with Coronodo. He invited us to his 1800's home and gave us a long tour of all of his wonderful paintings and furnishings. He has many collections of pottery, paintings, rugs etc. His wife passed not too long ago. He has 7 children but they have all agreed to donate the home and contents to the state for a museum. We were so privileged to see the home and talk with him for hours. He is a very kind and intelligent man.

We got to our campsite and are sharing with another couple that is going west to east. They are quite nice and tell us about their trip.

We start entering higher climbs soon. I started taking Ginko Biloba to thin my blood and increase O2 capacity. I have used it before when I did Ultra runs at altitude. It really works well. ( an aside...it is now April 20th and all the biggest climbs are over except for the last in CA...believe me the Ginko was the thing that powered my breathing...I never ever got short of breath even at 7% grade at 8000 ft.)


will have to sign off....