Days 16, 17 & 18

Alright we finally have a computer to use again so here's the past three days for you.

Day 16
We had a hard time getting to bed the night before because the Red Wings' game was a nail biter and a heart breaker. It was too bad they waited until the third period to start playing. At least we still have the Pistons. Anyways on Day 16 we headed from Haskell to Post, TX. Chris and I really didn't like the Texas roads that day. They seemed like someone just steamrolled gravel and were the bumpiest we've been on yet. I don't think the gps we use to navigate liked them either because it kept turning off on us. We also encountered an incredibly large, and very much alive snake. The total trip distance was about 108 miles, the last 60 of which we went through the middle of nowhere and there wasn't even a gas station to get water at. Chris was out of water and thought he was going to die with about 40 miles left to go. Thankfully the nice woman at the bunkhouse bed & breakfast in Clairemont saved his life and let him fill up his water bottles. I really don't think he would have made it without that. The terrain we rode through was very desolate, but was some of the most beautiful we've seen yet. So desolate that we couldn't find a place to get lunch and when we got to Post we each ate two Subway foot longs.

Day 17
Day 17 was 117.5 miles, but somehow it felt like our easiest day yet. We crossed in to New Mexico today, ending up in Tatum, NM, and we reached our 1500 mile mark. We got off to a late start due to the wild Thunderstorm that was going on when we woke up. Thankfully that broke and we got on the road. At the start of the day we had a big climb up to about 4000ft. and then the rest of the day was pretty much flat as we rode across what a bunch of elderly men sitting at a gas station called the "high plains." As we got in to New Mexico we saw a rather strange sight as there was a giant longhorn (a cow) walking across the middle of US-380 (the road we spent the whole day riding on). It was a crazy sight and I tried to get my camera out to get a pic but by the time I did the longhorn was over rubbing noses with the girl cows across the street over there fence. It was all rather confusing and almost made Chris run me over because he wasn't paying attention to the road. Then we got to the ghost town of Tatum, NM were we got to stay at the lovely Sands Motel (there is a hint of sarcasm there). It was an absolute dump where we slept covered from head to toe and were scared to touch the floor. When we went to check out at around 7 the next morning there was a sign up that said be back at three. I really hope that he got the key because we just slipped it behind the glass. I'm still not sure how you run a motel when you are gone for 8 hours of the day.

Day 18
On day 18 we hurried out of Tatum to head to Roswell, NM. It was supposed to be a short and easy day of only 75 miles. It turned out to be anything but that as we faced the strongest headwind we've seen yet (and probably the strongest I've ever ridden in to). It made the day incredibly frustrating, although Chris got through it by simply laughing at my frustration. We saw more of the usual on the ride, snakes & cows, as well as a lot of antelope. We didn't know that they had antelope in New Mexico. But the real story starts when we got to Roswell. I knew that there was the whole alien crash site deal, but I didn't know it was this big. Even their McDonald's is shaped like a UFO here. We went to go check out the UFO museum but got there just a few minutes after it closed. According to my mom (who has been there for some reason) we didn't miss much at all.

Today we head out of Roswell to Carrizozo, NM to stay at the Rainbow Inn. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it is nicer than the Sands Motel. Oh yeah and I've got great news, Chris doesn't fall over anymore, now he just rides off the road occasionally.

Thanks for reading and we hope to talk to you all again soon.

Don & Chris