Following great visits to Deanna and Christian in Phoenix and then Colleen in Tucson, right now I’m bouncing between homes. I’ve crossed back into New Mexico headed east a ways. New Mexico is easily becoming one of my favorite states, with friendly people and sights and food, none of it to be missed. I rode and then had to hitch the final few miles into Las Cruces to the home of the Currys, who welcomed me in just as a storm came rolling into town. If anyone finds themselves in the area, Coas Bookstore is go-to destination. Headed next to Ruidoso to investigate word of a delicious little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, leaving the towering pecan trees here to return to the pines before crossing a reportedly empty stretch to Lawton, OK. After that, Texas bound. I’m ever so slowly finding my way south to Mexico.