Las Cruces, NM to El Paso, TX 66 miles 3/21/10

We were anxious to get going this morning.  The day started in the 50's, much warmer than yesterday's 28 degrees! 

Between the cities of Las Cruces and El Paso, we found more miles of pecan orchards flanking quiet country back roads.  The roads were smooth as silk, and we had a lovely tail wind that helped us sail through our 66 miles.

 We entered Texas with no fanfare.  There were no signs welcoming us to the great state of Texas.  We were not sure we were in Texas yet except for the many Texas license plates, and we did not want to show our ignorance by asking.

Along this highway runs the US/Mexican border fence.  There are actually two fences; a chain link fence with electrified barbed wire next to the road, and the border fence about a 100 ft. back.

I stopped at the Crazy Cat Bike shop to see if I could get my bike computer fixed.  I have been without for two days, which makes it difficult to follow the route maps!  After three people checked out my problem, it was reset, adjusted and fixed.  Of course, in the process, its little memory was completely erased, so all the miles I have logged so far (about 1,000) are gone.  :-(  Oh, well!

As we rode through the greater El Paso area, I could not get Marty Robbin's 1960's ballad "El Paso" out of my mind.  We made our way to the center of the city - our last 16 miles to the motel.  The drivers were very courteous downtown, and it was mostly downhill riding.
We had to ride on the Cesar Chavez Highway, a 6 lane freeway, for 8 miles.  It is not restricted to bicycles, however, and the 8 foot shoulder was a delight!  It got a little tricky crossing over the lanes that lead to exits, but on this Sunday there was not a lot of impatient traffic. 

We had margaritas before dinner because we crossed the New Mexico-Texas border.  Amy was our DJ on the IPod, and we danced in the parking lot to the tunes, everyone singing along!  After dinner, we pitch in to wash the dishes and pans, and the music continued.  We ended with a version of "Over the Rainbow!"