July 7, 2017 – Portales, NM to Muleshoe, TX – 40 miles
Today we rode from Portales, New Mexico to Muleshoe, Texas! We stayed at Eastern New Mexico University last night and woke up to an awesome breakfast made by one of our brothers Andres Gomez. We started our ride around 8:00 AM. It was a nice 40 mile day and our first day in Texas so we were all excited for the ride.
The ride was a straight shot to Muleshoe and it was the perfect temperature outside. Since it was a quick ride we didn’t have a crew chief lunch and instead had a delicious lunch at our lodging which was sponsored by the Muleshoe Jenny Slippers. They set out various sandwich meats and condiments for us to create our own meal. After lunch we got to go swimming at the local water park which was a nice time to relax and have some fun with the guys. We all enjoyed the pool and slide for a couple hours and then headed back to lodging to hang out until dinner. During our down time some of us went over to a thrift shop down the street and bought fun hats and t-shirts to remember our time in Muleshoe.
By the time dinner came around we were all awaiting what came to be one of our best meals of the trip. We were served briscuits, beans, potato salad, and Hawaiian rolls. You could tell everyone was stuffed and loved there meals because there was literally nothing left! During dinner we talked with the women of the Muleshoe Jenny Slippers and my table got to hang with the happiest women named Cary.
Cary was diagnosed with autism at a very young age and was told she was not going to be able to talk or walk her whole life. This was the opposite of who Cary was and as her mom said “Cary can’t stop talking!”. Her favorite activity was playing Yahtzee and always beat us at it. She always had a smile on her face and that made everyone around her smile. After dinner we took a team picture and played card games until it was time to go to bed and rest up before a 70 mile ride into Lubbock. Today was another amazing day filled with amazing people and we couldn’t be happier on our journey.
Peter Lahey
Eta Gamma Chapter (University of Boulder Colorado – Sko Buffs!)