WE CAN SLEEP WHEN THE WIND BLOWS

Mar 31 Deming to Hatch, NM 50 miles
With the forecast for strong winds with 45 mph gusts we started out of Deming early at 7:30AM! A Record! The side winds started up about about 8:30 and then we go a little bit of a tail wind. We rode for about 25 miles on a new asphalt surface! It was great riding. We've become quite the road surface connoisseurs. The type and condition of the surface makes a big difference and sometimes the shoulders are so broken up or have so much trash or even rumble strips that we are almost forced to ride in the road. There are some areas that have some much broken glass it's like there was a big party there the night before or a Budweiser truck dumped it's empties along the way. There have been many times when we stopped after riding through an area and check our tires for glass. So, when we left the new surface area we rode on broken up chipseal and the shoulder was full of pot holes and big ruts. It was a teeth jarring experience. We stopped for lunch at 10:30, 37 miles into the ride with 12 to go. We knew we were going to get into Hatch really early but it was the day we planned to get our mail and go to the library to post our blog.
First stop was the post office. They had just received our forward request that morning and had no mail for us. That was pretty devastating because our post office stops are filled with great anticipation!! We filled out a new general delivery request for our next big stop and went on to the next thing on our list - the library. Not open on Mondays and guess what day this was! We decided to drown our sorrows in a good Mexican food lunch and they were out of chips and salsa!
Then on to find a place to camp for the night. We were not looking forward to sleeping in a tent because of the wind that was blowing strong through town. Stopped at the first RV park and couldn't find anyone to sign us up. Then check out the only motel in town and no one answered the office door or telephone. We stopped at the local DQ to get come decision making fuel, borrowed their phone book and called the local police to see if we could camp in their park. Sorry, no camping, no exceptions! We told them we couldn't get a response from the motel office and they said they would contact the owners for us. The answer was they would be there at 6:00pm - two hours away. Sooooo, while we waited we decided to go to the Hatch Musuem and get to know a little about the history of this enterprising community. It closed at 3:00!
Back down the road to the first RV park for another try when we notice a sign for a mobile home park located four blocks off the road. We rode on down and asked one of the residents if there was a place out of the wind where two wind blown and discourage bikers could set up camp for the night. This kind man first offered us a spot behind his trailer and then upgraded from offering to let us use his "facilities" to inviting us into his home for the night! Rusty and I looked and each other and quickly agreed and were grateful. Not only did he open his home, but his refrigerator and his heart. Mannie is single, about 50 years old, Hispanic, has a warm sincere smile with no front teeth, a Chihuahua dog named Chiple (which means "spoiled rotten" in Spanish) who has five two week old puppies, an 80 yr old mother with a broken hip in Mexico and was formerly a care giver in Phoenix. We slept like babies in the shelter of his humble home. We said our goodbyes to Mannie the next morning leaving him with a Pass Along card and receiving an invitation from him to come back an stay with him again. We have a warm place in our hearts for the good people we are being blessed to meet and Mannie is certainly one of them.