The Lone Star State...

Greetings,

After a couple of days with some ugly weather, things are looking up. The weather pattern seems to be returning back to normal, with prevailing winds heading eastward and temperatures reaching the mid 60's. Although we have not yet experienced this weather, we could not be any more excited.

After getting snowed in at Lordsburg, we made the ride to Deming. Unfortunately, this was the coldest and most miserable day of riding yet. The temperature was 26 degrees, with a chilling head wind, all the while surrounded by a blanket of moisture known as fog... It became difficult to move fingers and toes, and I began to ask myself how cold my fingers could get before they would have frostbite. After stopping momentarily at a rest stop, and drinking 5 cups of coffee, I regained feeling throughout my body long enough to make it to the next town.

It makes perfect sense that after a day of such cold and humid weather, that one of us would get sick. The very next morning, as we gathered together for breakfast, Alex couldn't stomach the thought of it. The flu had hit him so quickly and so hard that you could see the pain in his face (will put a picture of it asap). Needless to say, we remained in Deming for yet another night.

The very next day we made the ride to Las Cruces and had a wonderful dinner at the St. Claire Winery & Bistro, courtesy of an SAE alumni named Rick. We sat and talked for nearly 4 hours over a wonderful dinner and an excellent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that was produced in the hills of New Mexico. After riding all day, we couldn't have been any happier or any fuller.

We then rode down the street to the local SAE chapter at New Mexico State University, where we met some of the members, toured the house, hung out for a short amount of time, and retired to the couches. I've personally started to notice some amusing differences as we progress further and further east. For example, the number of cowboys are increasing, and the length of hair (for boys) is decreasing. We have also observed some interesting accents, which will continue as we start to experience a slight southern accent. Nevertheless, the hospitality throughout the southern United States has been great.

Today we made it to El Paso, a enormous city located alongside the Rio Grande. We quickly found that we were largely unprepared for the size (2,000,000 people), and traffic associated with this huge city. Among all of the help that we have received thus far on the trip, none can surpass the assistance that Margaret Perez has provided to us. She arranged a bike shop, Crazy Cat Cyclery, to assist us in rebuilding and reinforcing our back rims. This bike shop provided us with excellent gear, assistance, and provided all of the work for free. We cannot thank this bike shop enough for their help. In addition to the bike shop, Margaret arranged a place to stay at the Hampton Suites, as well as a wonderful traditional Mexican meal at Carnitas Queretaro. Furthermore, Margaret got us contact with both the local subsidiaries for CBS and Fox in El Paso. Although we have not yet seen the news broadcast, I am confident that we could use a little work on our "camera skills."

Well beginning tomorrow, we are hoping for sunshiny days. However, just to give you a heads up, we will be in the desolate hills of SW Texas and it is likely that we will not be near a computer for some time. We will post again as soon as possible, hopefully before Del Rio.

We wish you the best, and can't wait to hear from you. Please leave notes to our blogs, and we will gladly read and respond.

Thanks again,

Kevin