I guess that they had good intentions when they first made the mattress. Every time that I wake up in one, I always feel better. It was great to have a nice warm house to sleep in as well. When I woke up, there was a great piping hot breakfast that was served. Eggs with black bean corn salsa, blueberry muffins, and sausage. I couldn't have been blessed with a better breakfast to start the day. I was able to shower again this morning and I took my time because I didn't think that I was going to have one again for awhile. Karl and Patty had been so great to me since I came to town that when they asked me if i wanted to stay another day, it was very hard to say no. I was looking to get on the road and further out of the mountains over the next couple of days. Not only was the weather perfect outside for the day, but having come into town so early the night before, I was feeling rested and ready to go. I was so happy that I was at a little over 4,600 feet and it seemed like it was only going to get to a lower elevation from this point forward. Before I took off from the great stay that I had, Patty made sure to send me away with something. She had wrapped up a very large chunk of the amazing chocolate cake that she had made the night before and then wished me luck on my journey. The cake was so good the night before that I knew this piece, although very large, wasn't going to last very long. When I left the house, I went to Karl's bike shop, that was downtown, and made some arrangements for a few things to be sent to me later down the road. It was great to have excellent assistance while in the area, and I was looking forward to the road ahead. I was set out with directions to get me onto highway 380 without having to get on the interstate and my bike was sparkling new for the road. I made my way south for a few miles to get onto 380 and the wind didn't feel too bad. I had left Socorro around 12:15 and with the perfect temperature that I had been given, it was a great day. I was actually riding in shorts and a jersey again. When I made it to highway 380 it was the beginning to a road that I was going to be on for quite awhile. So when I was on the excellent paved road and started to hear a majority of the cars honking, it was good for a change. The cars were few and far between and when they honked, it was followed with a wave and all five fingers showing. It was an excellent sign to have good drivers who gave me a lot of space and encouragement. The road that I was riding on seemed to be more of a flat road compared to the rolling hills I had been used to. There were a couple of good climbs and a couple of good descents, but mostly it was fairly flat. It really made for an excellent ride through the afternoon, and for the first time in awhile I welcomed the heat. It was a lot of high desert around me and when I made the two good climbs for the day, that was the only time that I saw much for taller trees. There seemed to be a lot of little shrubs over the desert plains. After about 40 miles into the ride I pulled over for lunch. I made the usual peanut butter sandwiches, but the entire time I was eying the chocolate cake I had been given. Before long I had engulfed the entire chocolate cake and I had enough sugar in me to send me on my way. It was a gorgeous day and finished with some spectacular views of what was called the Valley of Fires. I was able to ride through a few miles of the valley going from the west to the east. Going from the north to the south I think it stretched about 40 miles. It was land that was full of lava rock and all sorts of little shrubs that had grown in on top of the rocks. It was a great sight to finish with before the sun started to go down and I rolled into Carrizozo. There were a lot of things in town that seemed to suit my needs. They had a large park that was directly next to a large and fully stocked gas station. I was able to have all the water I wanted and the park was so large that it seemed like a great place to camp undisturbed. I set up tent and it was great to see that when the sun went down, the temperature didn't drop too significantly. It stayed fairly cool and I was actually able to endure the outdoors much later than normal. This was something that I had longed for while I was camping above 6,000 feet. It was amazing that I was at 5,200 feet where I was at, and somehow it seemed so much more tolerable to endure the weather outdoors. I was really starting to look forward to the day ahead because as soon as I hit Roswell,NM, I was going to be around 3,500 feet and it was said to be flat land on ahead.Daily mileage: 78.0 miles
Average speed: 13.4 mph
Average speed: 13.4 mph
Total mileage: 4,758.9 miles
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