Lovely Tail Wind to Fort Hancock

We didn't have a good night in the El Paso hostel, shared with Lisa. Room was unclean, noisy music and talking outside but a palace compared to India. Left this morning with Dee, Merv and Todd and Dee set a cracking pace of 19 mph. Stopped at McDonalds for a second breakfast. Lovely. Traffic was fairly light. El Paso is an unremarkable town with a big history. 'The Pass of the North' sits where the westernmost tip of Texas meets Mexico and New Mexico. The california gold rush of '49 brought a surge of westbound traffic to El Paso. In 1873 the population consisted of only 23 Anglo-Americans and 150 Mexicans. The Rio Grande, on which EP sits has changed course numerous times causing boundary disputes between USA and Mexico. It is described as 'a stream, a mile wide and a foot deep'. With its closeness to Mexico, El Paso has an air of lawlessness about it. The ride today was quite uneventful, 54 miles of flat farmland but we had a lovely tailwind. Avg was 15.4 miles and I covered the distance in 3.30 hours. I was chased by 3 dogs but rather half-heartedly, as it was in the heat of the day.I shouted 'home' a couple of times in my best Scottish Accent. I could feel pins and needles in my legs with fright. We are camping in a school ground at Fort Hancock looking over at the boundary fence with Mexico. Hope we have a quiet night, the local Sheriff has already called round to check us out. No signal at moment.  Still loving the life.....

Las Cruces Old Town

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Billy the Kid Courthouse

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I like Dugs

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Ranch horses for Anna and Rosie

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How many cyclists does it take to repair a puncture????

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Cruising to El Paso on Hwy 28.

There has been mutterings in some quarters that my daily blog is not arriving in time to enjoy with the cornflakes. I can confirm that I update it nightly in my dark tent but sometimes there is no signal so it is the next day before it departs. We are now going into the wilds of Texas so smoke signals could be even more lacking. I'll do my best. We had a lovely late start today, 8.00am and the sun was up so warmer.We were cycling just 55.1 miles, and the El Paso Hostel where we are staying couldn't take us till 2.00pm so no rush. Yippee, a proper bed and no tent packing. Today we crossed from New Mexico into Texas.On leaving Las Cruces immediately got lost and added a few unneccesary miles just for the fun of it. Visited Old Las Cruce Town which was 'real neat'. Saw courthouse where Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang. This is very prosperous looking area, farmland, pecan trees to the horizon and now also vineyards. I have been surprisingly impressed with what I have seen of NM. Green, scenic, prosperous, people extremely helpful. I had stopped at the roadside to have a drink and a motor bike passed. The guy went a couple of hundred yards down the road, turned, came back and asked if I was ok. Thoughtful. The roads into El Paso were extremely busy. Three lanes of traffic hurtling along. The family would have a fit if they could see me. EP is a big sprawling town with a huge history. Maybe more on this tomorrow. Alannah has picked up a tummy bug so rode in the van today. Another state down - 5 to go. Texas is the biggest .....still loving it.