We left Deming with some sadness. The browns of
Arizona and western parts of New Mexico gave way to verdant surroundings of this
charming place. As we approached town, irrigated fields and fruit orchards
greeted us. We ate at a wonderful Italian restaurant last evening for a meal
that competes for the best of tour. The hotel was very nice, and the drivers
continued their non-aggressive driving.
We left the hotel at 7:10 with the temperature of 60
degrees. It is a different world here in NM. We loved it. Today’s 63-mile route
had a 9-mile freeway leg. The first 35 miles we used SR 549. It ran parallel to
the highway and had virtually no traffic on it. The grasshoppers were back, but
they were not the gigantic variety of yesterday. However, they were more
suicidal. We ran over several of them, and one made himself at home on Sara’s
cycling shoe. She was terrified. Interesting
road kill adorned the pitch and tarred road. A snake was mangled beyond
identity, and a raven lay in the middle of our lane as though it were prepped
by an undertaker, not a feather out of place.
We had three dedicated stops today and used them all,
even with ideal conditions: road; wind; alignment. It is good just to remove
yourself from the hard seat and rigid handlebars. The food and the A/C don’t
hurt either. Saint Susan always has a nice spread for us.
We arrived in Las Cruces around 12:30 and decided to
find a lunch spot. International Delights Café was just a mile down the road. It
is the clone of “Aladdin’s” back in Ohio, only a bit more upscale. All three of
us had a great meal and we avoided Mexican cuisine for one more time.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to New Mexico and hello to
Texas. We will be in TX for about 1/3 of our tour. The terrain will change from
semi-arid to lush rolling to humid south. Stay tuned.
 |
| Crossing the Rio Grande on our way into Las Cruces |
No comments:
Post a Comment