recon results & family from long ago

Well my recon mission went well. Sat morning I got off work @6am and completed my 2.5hr run in an atrocious time. Then I loaded all my family's luggage for a 4 day trip. Add my bike & that was one heck of a packed van let me tell you. We were supposed to have left our house in Santa Fe @ 10am. But my wife who is chronically late wasn't ready to leave until 12:30. I was really annoyed, but in all fairness one of her 2 only faults is her ability to be on time. So I usually ignore her uncanny ability to be 2-3 hrs late anywhere. Yup, 2-3 hrs. I'm not exaggerating. I HATE to be late so this is a great opportunity for me to learn patients.

Once we FINALLY left I slept while my wife drove & she was nice enough to log in every gas station, truck stop, eatery (is eatery a real word?), & hotel from Santa Fe to Hobbs on a piece of paper so I could plan my bike ride in Nov from our house to Hobbs this Nov. I didn't sleep well because the only other fault my wife has other than being late is her ability to drive, or lack there of. LOL. So now I know she's trying to drive while also writing down every possible stop a bicyclist may need to make. I just didn't feel safe enough to get very restfull sleep.

Here's the itinerary.
Day 1: I'll leave Santa Fe on Sun Nov 18th at day break. I'll refill my Gatorade in Eldorado, then eat/refill bottles @ Clines corners. From Clines Corners I'll ride all the way through to Vaughn where I'll stop for the night. 120 miles.

Day 2: Only one stop between Vaughn & Roswell. It's a rest stop @ the 56 mile mark. I can carry enough fluid on my bike for 3 hrs of riding. I usually ride at around 13-14 miles an hour. Approximately 52-56 miles. I'll need to load up on food/cliff bars in Vaughn and carry powdered Gatorade from my house because all that is available at this rest stop is water from a drinking fountain or Coke from a vending machine. I'll stay the night in Roswell. 110 miles.

Day 3: There are 2 gas stations in between Roswell & Hobbs that are exactly at the %30 & %60 mark. Perfect. 96 miles to my aunts door step.

The time spent here in Hobbs has been great. I'll spare all you the boring details. It is good enough to simply say we are having a nice relaxing time visiting my Grandmother, 2 aunts, & 2 uncles. I did go on an easy 1.5hr bike today (Sun). I would love to live/train out here. It is completely flat! A Clydes dream terrain!

My wife brought up my natural father's Dad today. His name is Bill. Grandpa Bill I guess. I haven't seen my Dad or anyone on his side of the family since I was 13 or so. Grandpa Bill lives here in Hobbs. My wife said we should probably call him and allow him to see his 2 grand children.I don't agree, he doesn't even know he has Grand children. & what he doesn't know won't hurt him I always said in mid school. So here I am @ 2am unable to sleep and stuffing everything I can find into my face. Food is where I go to find comfort. I've been doing great avoiding binging for almost a month. The last time I really had the need to jump head first into a Calderon of chips & ice cream I called a friend of mine who has the same issues. He talked me down so to speak. I don't want to call him now because of the time. He has a wife and 2 young children. Danm, I'm a nervous wreck. I haven't been this worried since my high school sweet heart's Mom caught us fooling around in their RV while in AZ on summer vacation. I thought for sure they were going to drop my butt off on the side of the road. Note to self: never take my daughter's boyfriend on summer vacations with us no matter how much we like him. Because if we like him that much, she probably likes him more.

On a side note here. My daughter keeps waking up crying. I'm not sure if it's because we are in a new place or what, she's having as hard of a time sleeping as I am. She's only 2 and she has my heart in her little hands. I am COMPLETELY wrapped around her little finger. The last time she woke up my wife went to comfort her. She yelled "No! I want my Daddy!" I always do the proper husbandly thing when that happens & tell her "Don't talk to Mommy like that. Be nice to her". But I actually like it. My wife is forever saying the reason she had another baby was because she wanted one that liked her. LOL. Luckily God graced us w/ a son 2nd time around. He's only 2.5 months old and already a Mama's boy. After Mom was rejected I went over and laid next to my baby girl. I asked her what's wrong. She's to the age where she can tell us some of the things that are bothering her. She just cried harder which meant she didn't know how to explain it. I asked if she needed her diaper changed: no. Was she uncomfortable (she's sleeping on a blow up bed next to our bed). No. I went through the whole gambit. No's to everything. So I asked her "are you crying because you're so pretty?" She shook her head yes & stopped crying. My wife and I lost it. We laughed until we had tears coming out of our eyes. That made my daughter mad & she pointed at us, said "NO!" And started crying all over again. LOL. I love being a Daddy. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me.