I pull Stan up outside of Lynn’s apartment and I am very relieved to have made it through a crazy day.  I go and find Lynn and she helps me to unpack Stan – given the temp is now 39’c her help is much appreciated.  We get inside under the aircon and have a chat while I drink about 10 litres of water.   I just rest up for the the remainder of the day and have an early night.

Next morning I am recharged after a good sleep and even make poached eggs – I am impressed when Lynn tells me that she prefers them cooked this way (obviously influenced from her time living in Canada).  After breakfast I get stuck into doing doing a few jobs and even wash my motorcycle jacket – changes back to its original colour!

Lynn has bought into the whole patch thing and drives me around to her local Police Department – Almo Heights.  We go in and meet a great lady who is a Lt. and has been working there for 32 yrs.  She gives me a patch and we are on our way.

Around 5 pm we head downtown and meet up with Lynn’s friend Jose at the Mi Tierra Mexican Restaurant.  The restaurant is a local icon in Historic Market Square which is a real funky place to hang out.  We went early as you can’t book a table (unless you are a party off 30 or more) and if you try for a later time you will end up waiting a couple of hours to get in.  The place is massive and open 24hrs.  Lucky for us it was just starting to fill up;

The food matches the surroundings and is fantastic as well.  We have a lot of laughs before we finish up and do a walk around the market square.  I haven’t been to Mexico but I certainly got a taste of it.

We just about make it completely home before a severe thunderstorm hits  with lightening and a torrential downpour that is still going by the time I go to bed.  My phone starts buzzing with flood warnings for our area.

The next morning I check the news and find out that parts of Houston are flooded as a result of Tropical Storm Imelda – cars were left abandoned on the freeways and a couple of the Highways were shut down.  The rainfall has broken all records.  After hearing this I am happy I kept on going in the storm otherwise I may have been stuck.

I go out to check on Stan who was left undercover in carport outside the Apartment block.  Stan looks like he is trapped in a mud slide as a heap of dirt has been washed over the road to trap is wheels in it.  Thankfully he only had mud on him and no damage was done.

Later in the morning I head off around to the local Post Office to send a parcel of gear back home.  I stand in line for 10 mins only to be told that their computer system is off line and therefore they cannot process any mail.  I am told the same thing happened the day before and took over 5 hours to fix.

I decide not to hang around and ride another few miles over to another Post Office.  Everything is fine and I get the parcel posted.  As I am riding off I see a car wash so I pull in and give Stan a much needed bath.  

My next stop is meant to be at Walmart and my GPS takes me to where there should have been one but when I get to the location I find that has closed down. 

My run of things not working continues as I pull into a Service Station to check Stan’s tyre pressures and the pump is broken.  I am starting to think I should just go home!

I call in at a Mexican Supermarket and can’t find what I want and decide to go to Walmart which is a bit further away.  As I am leaving the carpark I go around an older Mexican guy in a beat up car who appears to be stopped to work out where he is going.  As I pull Stan up at the traffic lights the guy gets behind me and just keeps blaring his car horn – the lights change and he keeps it up following me and screaming Spanish out of his window.  I take a sharp exit to get out of there – what a morning!

I get to Walmart and I am stopped from going in as the security lady tells me that I can’t take my backpack in (even though no other Walmart in the many I have been in have done this).  She wants me to leave it against the entrance wall but tells me that they take no responsibility for it.  Good grief.

I finally get back to the apartment and what should have been straight forward has taken me forever.  Lynn arrives home with her 2 grandsons and I spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with them until their Dad arrives later that night.  I say my farewells before bed as there wont be a chance in the morning.

My sleep is ordinary overnight as I get woken up from the family upstairs and a cat that decides it wants to sleep on my head.  Lynn is up at 3:30 am as she has a event commitment where she has to work at.  I wrestle with my pillow before I get up at 4:30.  The early start is not all bad as the temp is already 26’c and high humidity.  

Stan and I are on the road by 5:30 and have an easy ride through the city as there is hardly any traffic.  We get out on the Highway and I notice that my lights are playing up – I end up losing the use of my headlights so I ride with the driving lights only.  Just before the sun comes up I lose the driving lights as well.  I pull over and its a short wait until the light is fine to keep going – I am thinking that I must have blown a fuse and would check it out later.

I get going again and after doing 200 klms I pull in at a large Service Centre and fuel up.  I grab a coffee and a muffin at McDonalds which takes a bit of time as it is overflowing with customers.

My next 100 klms is great riding as the conditions improve – temp is ok and less humidity.  Then I run into this;

For the next 80 klms I am blown all over the place and it felt like I was hanging off Stan like he was a catamaran – I had more angle than Marc Marquez going around a corner but the difference was I was going in a straight line!  The gusts was so strong I had to throttle right back and take it easy even though I was in a 80 mph speed limit.

The wind subsides and I have a great ride in the wide Texas landscape;

I run into some patchy light rain and by the time I pull in to refuel at Fort Stockton it is drizzling.  From the Service Station I head around to the local PD;

I meet a couple of Uniform patrolman who are good value.  The young lady is only 3 months into her career and its her first day of being on solo patrol – the older guy is a veteran.  They have trouble finding me a patch as they are locked away but come good when the guy rips one off a shirt that was left behind by a member who recently resigned.  We have a laugh before I set off again.

After a while the rain stops and I have a great ride to Van Horn where I am staying overnight;

I pull up at my Motel and go and check in.  Everything I need is in walking distance and its a great location to stay.

I get myself sorted and then take the covers off Stan to check out the electrical problem.  All the fuses are sound and it now appears that I have either blown the headlight or have another wiring fault.  I decide it is no big deal as it just means I can’t ride in the dark which is not something I am keen on anyway.  At this stage repairs can wait until we get home.

Sunrise is not until 7:40 am so I decide that I am going to try and have a good sleep.  Unfortunately I get woken up at 5 by a family who are leaving next door to me who decide to stand right outside my window and have a meeting.  What is wrong with people!

I get up and poke my head out the door and see that the rain is back – if I ride much more in the rain I am sure that I am going to grow feathers.  It is only light drizzle and stays that way when I set off just before 8 am.   I have a 600 klm ride in front of me to get to my friends place in New Mexico.  The road is wet and there is even low level cloud;

After an hour of riding the rain stops and the road is dry.  I pull off the Highway and have breakfast at a Mexican diner;

My waitress can’t speak English and I can’t speak Spanish so we have an interesting time getting my order done but we get there in the end.  I have a very generous serve of bacon/eggs/toast whilst my coffee cup constantly gets refilled (I love how they do that).

Another 50 klms up the road and I reach El Paso.  I am surprised at its size and how it is surrounded by mountains;

I have a clear run through the city but it still takes a while to get out the other side.  I must admit I was tempted to take a left turn when I saw signs for the point of entry into Mexico!  I could swear that Stan was steering in that direction.  Not much further on I cross into New Mexico;

The ride north now becomes fantastic and I have perfect conditions to ride through the wonderful landscape;

Along the way I go through a border protection control point which is interesting given that it is not actually on the border but just on the highway.  I get waived through without having to pull up.

I refuel at Las Cruces and continue on for a while before I take a rest stop at a place with an interesting name;

No sure what the consequences are if I don’t tell the truth?  After my break I continue on;

I have another fuel stop at Belen before I get to Los Lunas.  I have trouble finding my friends (Sonnia/Dave) address on my GPS as they are in a brand new housing development.  I have better luck using google maps on my mobile phone.

I pull up outside the house and the local time is 2:30 pm (I got back an hour due to being in a different time zone).  Even though I was in the rain at the start of the day it still has been one of the best rides on my trip – I just love riding where there is room to breath in the big outdoors.

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