Portales, New Mexico

So not all paved roads are great. Many punch you in the crotch all day long with rumbles and debris. Bit don't be quick to rule these roads out because they are pathways to small town greatness. Portales was the greatness siting at the end of our road today, but there was much spledor to be seen before we reached our final destination for the day. As a matter of shear coincidence, we happened upon a border town parade. At mile 48 on the New Mexico border, we set up our lunch and saw people slowly congregate at a street one block away. I talked to a cop blocking off traffic and got the scoop. Every year Texico, New Mexico and Farwell, Texas get together to celebrate the history and unity of the two towns. A local man I talked to later says that's all a bunch of bull and the two towns are huge rivals that hate eachother but they suck it up for a day in the name of partying. I passed word of this parade along to the group and most of us watche it right on the state lines. We danced and cheered for floats, tractors, and children throwing candy. We all decided it would be in our best interest to crash this parade so we hopped in near the end of the procession and rode to the stopping point. This is where things really took off because there was a huge fair at the end. We experienced food, a petting zoo, crafts, live music, and so much more. I got a sweet balloon to tie to my camelbak which ended up deflating very soon. We milked a fake cow with real milk and chatted with all the locals. Everyone was real happy to see us and to hear our story and this was the best sense of community I've ever felt in my life. I was absolutely stunned to see te beautiful ease of comraderie and kinship the flowed through the air like the wind. High school classmates had reunions, families cooked together, strangers talke with one another. The sense of cohesion in this community is unparalleled by any other place on earth. After taking a slight accidental detour to get to Portales, we were on our way to have a night of nights. We rolled into the small town of Portales and where immediately blown away by the robust character of the town. Beyond the welcome billboard, the first thing visitors see upon arrival is a decommissioned F-111 perched up on a public green donated by a military base close by. We were driven to dinner at a church by 15 passenger vans the church picked us up in. I found out later that I was a passenge in the front seat and chatting with the mayor who was the driver. This thrilled the crap out of me because I've been talking all trip long about connecting with a mayor of a small town to chat about what their job is like and hear all the inside stuff about the town. She was part of the church we ate at so I sat with her at dinner, as well as her mother who was a lady of firm standards and demands who ran the show that night. Also at te table was one of the ladies who runs habitat in Portales. I fear I am becoming notorious for being the person who yaps with locals everywhere we go because I just surround myself and indulge in their stories and laughter. I was surrounded yet again by good people and plenty of goodies. We all got town pens, pins, peanuts, and peanut butter. Portales is the Valencia peanut capital o the world, they grow and process more Valencia peanuts than anywhere else and have a huge factory owned by Sunland that we rode past on our way into town. We were told Sunland makes all the peanut butter sold under the Trader Joes and Costco brand. The payout is big so the stores can call it their own, but look for the label that says made with Valencia peanuts and then you'll know. After the again delicious dinner that offered a bounty of vegetables, we were treated with a musical performance by a group of educators called Global Cooling. They played a pretty good guitar and keyboard combo, but quickly lost points when they let a bunch of riders take over the singing. Now I'm a pretty tone deaf guy, anyone who has heard me sing can attest to that, but the collective sound of the group got painful quickly. I blame it on the poor quality of the microphones. The fun continued as we were treated to a mayoral tour of the town complete with a stop at the worlds largest windmill collection. A retired school teacher and his wife had collected, assembled, and otherwise built a ton of varying sized windmills. My favorite was the double bladed battle axe that the man said he names after his wife. It was connected to a saw that would cut logs when wind made the blades rotate. The oddball award goes to the ant killer. This is a small windmill with a circular bottom that would be placed over an ant hill. The wind made a roller rotate around a circular base so that ants coming out or going into their home would be killed. As the sun set and the stars came out and Max got shocked from an accidental encounter with and electric fence, I was eating it all up. Something about this mans home and passion for the obscure gave me a renewed sense of hope in this nation. I can't really explain it, but knowing the good people scattered across this land just living their lives the best they know how inspired me. I don't want to depart Portales.