Day 28 - Fort Hancock, TX - La Mesa, NM

Today was a good day for POPsRide!

We left Fort Hancock on schedule this morning, at this point we are like robots. The alarm rang and instantly we are busy bees getting up, putting the cots away, folding the sheet and packing everything away. Once that was all complete I headed to the RV and had my bowl of cereal. After breakfast I normally go stand outside for a minute to find out how I need to dress for the day. It kind of nice to see the weather warm up in the morning some, but on the other hand it is getting a lot hotter in the afternoons.

We departed a few minutes earlier this morning. I think it was because the time changed yesterday when we went to mountain. We got off the interstate today and mainly stayed on one road all afternoon. It was a great morning ride through a lot of farm land. We were really close to the border this morning and saw some interesting things along the road. I was even chased by another dog this morning. It feels like a month since that has happened! We also rode by this guys yards, he had some random airplane fuselage sitting around.

The road was smooth and the temperature was just right. We cruised into El Paso in record time. We hit our lunch spot at 50 miles before 11am. We stopped at a park in El Paso called Ascarate Park. It was a busy park with people coming and going. We had our sandwiches and chips and rested for a while. Everyone was in good spirits again and we joked and have a good time. At lunch we said goodbye to Bill Estle. Bill was our last original crew member. I know he was excited to get home to his wife, kids and grand kids. Like I have said before he will be missed. Below is a pictue of Bill and I.

The flip side to Bill leaving was we picked up our new RV driver (Paul), and welcomed POPs back to the team. I know Shane and Shannon are excited to have their father back on the trip. I am equally excited to have him back as well. He is a great motivator to have on the side of the road. Always smiling and cracking jokes. That is exactly what we need at times, a smile and a joke!

After lunch things got interesting. We rode right down to the border between Texas and Mexico. At one point we rode right under the underpass for cars coming into the US through the border crossing.

Remember in Napoleon Dynamite were Uncle Rico tells Napoleon he could throw a football over that mountain! Well when I tell you I could throw a football over the fence to Mexico, you better believe it. It was interesting riding along the fences. Once we got away from the fence we ended up right down town El Paso.

The more we rode the thicker the traffic got. We ended up on a busy street and made me think I was back in Phoenix riding in all that traffic. At one point I saw this kid with his hand out the window. When I got closer I could see he was getting ready to try and flick me in the leg. When I got the window I asked him, " your not trying to flick me are you?" He responded, "well I was until you stopped right here!" Kids!

Once we made it out of the all the traffic we hung a right and started to head out of town. A mile after the turn I could see some people on the side of the road holding some signs. Being that we are in El Paso I didn't know if it was an election, or someone protesting something. As I rode closer I could make out the word GO on one of the posters, and a few pedal strokes later I could see POPS! These signs were for us! What a lift! we stopped and chatted with them. As it turns out it was on of Shane's co-workers. She was in El Paso for Mother's day and saw we were riding through so she surprised us! Every time something like this happens it gives us a boost and reminds us of what we are really doing out here.

The rest of the ride was a piece of cake. We were energized and ready to go. We rode to La Mesa, which looks like a cool little town. Lots of trees and fields of agriculture, tomorrows ride should be interesting. I have a feeling that in a couple days we will be back out in the middle of nowhere again.

We passed the 2,000 mile mark today as well. I was thinking after we rode out of Texas after lunch that there are people that train to just ride across the state of Texas. Forget about the United States, people just ride across Texas for the accomplishment. Here we are, we have just ridden across the state of Texas...as a bonus we rode our bikes from the Atlantic ocean to Texas, and for the icing on the cake we are riding our bikes to the Pacific! One more thing, we are doing it in the opposite direction that the books tell you to do it. We are going against the wind. Why, because we want to make a difference for someone somewhere, that's why. Anytime I am struggling or having a bad day, I think about my grandfather that had the disease, I think about my wife's grandfather that is living with PD. I think about POPs (Jerry Stutzman), and Carl Ames that are fighting this disease, and I think to myself I have more in the tank, I can do this!

We still have New Mexico, Arizona and California ahead of us. but we have our eyes on the prize and are pushing forward.

Thanks for following me on the this adventure! I am blessed to have such amazing family and friends to support me during this experience. It is hard to believe that we are 4 weeks into this trip right now. It has gone by quick, which is also hard to believe because off all the time we have spent on the bikes. Incredible!

Stay tuned! Good things are happening on this ride, you don't want to miss it!