Day 63

NEW MEXICO!

Last night the guys stayed in the Rock-N’ Bed and Breakfast, which Laverne the owner graciously let them stay for free. At 7am she woke them with an egg, bacon, sausage and biscuits breakfast. Trey again picked the guys up and brought them to the courthouse to start the day.

At 8 they began running, but they did not get far before Sandra Stevens and Linda Wall, passersbys in their car stopped to inquire what they were doing. They wished them luck and even donated some money. As they left town headed West a dark fog surrounded them, with the only visible thing being a oil rig in the distant with a flame coming out of the top. Andy described it as scary looking, but cool at the same time. After a while the fog lifted and behind them a wall of clouds was left with the sun peeking above the clouds. Another very cool site of the day. As the day progressed the weather got hotter-which seems to be a normal thing as they get further West and the spring months creep upon us.

They only had 15 miles until they reached New Mexico, the 6th state of the trip. They planned on stopping at a small country store in Bronco TX, a town that lies right on the border of New Mexico and Texas. As they approached the state line, Andy handed off the jogger to Matt who did not know they were so close to the border. Andy broke into a dead sprint and both Ken and Matt knew what he was doing. Ken started sprinting too, even though he had the other jogger. But it was no match for Andy and he crossed into New Mexico first. For those of you counting that’s two (Mississippi and New Mexico) for Andy.

After that excitement they turned around to go back to the country store-which was only about 200 yards back. Suzette graciously gave the guys sandwiches and drinks for free-thanks! They ate and rested for about an hour where they also met Sara Burnes and Sara Shelton (mother, daughter) who offered to bring the guys out to dinner tonight in Tatum, NM-the destination of the day. They also offered to pay for their hotel room for the night.

After lunch they began their first miles in New Mexico. The road From Bronco TX to Tatum NM had a slight elevation in it that looked like to went on forever. (The elevation actually only rose about 200 feet)

Nothing too exciting happened between lunch and reaching Tatum. The scenery didn’t look that different from Texas and the only thing that changed was the road name. They entered town and went directly to City Hall. They offered to pay for their dinner and stay at the hotel, but Sara and Sara had already covered that, so instead the town paid for their lunch at a local burger place, which was much appreciated. Thanks Sonya and Deanne.

They checked into the hotel and rested until Sara and Sara picked them up for dinner. They brought them to a steak-house which all enjoyed. They learned that Tatum is ‘Home of Metal Art.’ Which for those who are not familiar is metal that is black and cut into different shapes. Andy said there was a lot going on in town, even though there was a population of about 670 people.

The next few days will be tough for the guys-a 37 tomorrow, 37 on Saturday, off on Sunday and a big day on Monday-39. But if they can make it through those days then the rest of the trip should be smooth sailing. I have full confidence in them-if they can make it through a tornado, pelting rain and a hurt Achilles, ankle and shins then it will be a piece of cake for them.

Thanks for reading and as always Keep Moving.

-Dan

Also I would like to say good luck to Matt on Sunday. He has a phone interview for a grad assistantship at a southern California college. Good Luck Matt!