Marie started our morning by making the three of us breakfast, eggs, sausage and toast. It was yummy and a perfect start for a day of bike riding. After cleaning up and packing the truck, we headed 10 miles west to continue our trip west. We were only 5.6 miles from New Mexico. The weather and roads were perfect (albeit a little chilly) and we made it there in record time. Another state down with NM, AZ and CA remaining to ride across! Texas was a long state so it was especially exciting to find ourselves in the "Land of Enchantment". We continued on US 380 but the shoulder was wide and smooth for the whole ride. Within the first 30 minutes we received several waves and encouraging car toots which was fun and made us excited to ride across the state. We started on a 10 mile ride and found Marie at the 4 mile mark in Tatum, NM known for its metal art which we saw at a lot of ranches in West Texas. We stopped and looked at one gallery which was fun and full of items we wanted to buy and take home. We rode about 45 miles in total today and ended in Caprock, NM. We had to contend with 19 mph headwinds for the last 30 miles which was manageable but tiring. Although we had a couple of gradual long hills, the majority of the route was flat. There were a lot of oil rigs and open dry land. For the first part of the trip, we noted the smell of oil and it either discipated or we got used to it. I always like biking through towns and was a little disappointed to find that Caprock had a small green sign saying Caprock but absolutely no sign of a town.

We finished our day of riding and had a 45 mile ride to Roswell, NM where we are staying the next three nights. We either had to go forward or backward 40 plus miles for a hotel. On our way to Roswell, we say signage for Bottomless Lake State Park and decided to visit. It was a good decision as it was full of natural beauty. There were 8 lakes and we visited the largest, Lea Lake, which was so clean you could see the bottom. Our 91 year old host at the visitor center told us the lakes are all interconnected and many have underwater caves. Apparently snorkeling groups visit in the summer.

Early start tomorrow as we gained another hour today, we are now in Mountain time and 2 hours behind the east coast.