Socorro, New Mexico

It's always hard to look back on something and remember all the details. While New Mexico is the definition of natural beauty, the cell phone service is sub par at best. For about 6 days I was without cell service, something I would normally welcome except on this trip when I am trying to update my blog constantly. After finally returning all the calls, texts, and voicemails of people who thought I was dead, I can now update my blog. Today was another beautiful ride of mixed downhill and uphill stretches through mountainous outcroppings of rock. Max introduced a great game he made up called synopsis. Someone would present a made up movie title and a cast of lead actors and everyone else would have to piece together a story line one bit at a time. Golden Finch starring Keanu Reaves and Nicole Kidman. Make up a story for that and I'll let you know if 1) it tops ours and 2) if it will win an Oscar. Anything that keeps the mind distracted from the long journey ahead is greatly appreciated. However, I'm now at the point in the journey where I have been cycling so regularly that muscle memory takes over. I don't have to think or try, I just hop on my bike in the morning and my legs know to start spinning. I took a long lunch so I could fully take in the energy exchange between opposite ions in the 2nd most electrically active place in the US. That means I watched a good lightning storm. I sat on the cooler leaned up against the van with a tomato and cheese fesco rollup in my hand and just watched lightning rock the mountains in the distance. Relaxing makes you realize how physically exhausted you are, so after five minutes of watching, I had already committed in my mind to not moving for another twenty. This wasn't any pansy northeast lightning storm, this was the real deal with the bolts of Zeus and thunder of Thor. Bolts were ripping through the sky with a depth and clarity I've never seen before. They struck the ground in rapid succession miles off with many stemming off into multiple bolts. From the cloud to the ground you could see the electic current pass which excited me to see and scared me to be riding toward. After riding into town, I hunted down restaurants to try to make donation magic work for dinner. I failed and people didn't just say no, they talked my ear off for a long time. I wasted two hours of my life and almost got hit by a car pulling into walmart to get cash back so I could get a haircut across the street. Good thing Alex is a smoother talker than I am because she was able to get pizza from dominos which went well with the leftovers dinner crew turned into Mexican fiesta food. This is the true power of Mexican, you can get some tortillas and throw a bunch of ingredients together of any kind to make a meal. It's usually our go to when no other options are available because it's cheap, effective, and tasty to varying degrees depending on who made it and how many times you've eaten it that week. I wanted to sleep outside for the rest of the trip, but at this church, there was only a small concrete patch outside the front door that wasn't too comfortable with my deflated thermarest. There was also a repor from a few group members that screams were coming from a nearby detention center. This sounds like a joke, but it's legit and all of the group ended up sleeping inside. We got good rest because we were all tired from four affordable housing presentations including candy based home construction and demo. Socorro was alright, but onward to some PIE!