To paraphrase a dear Texas girl, "The sun is ris', the sun is set, yet here we is in Texas yet."

We really thought we'd be in New Mexico tonight and finally through the state of Texas.  But every time we thought we were about to leave the state, we found our way blocked by construction detours, as if Texas was reluctant to let us go.

At one point, we even dipped our toes into New Mexico when Barb spotted the NM Welcome sign.  So we pulled 50 yards into NM, stopped and took a few photos, then needed to return to Texas to follow our route north to Las Cruces.

Our relatively easy 50 mile day turned into a detour filled 61 miles.  Oh, and then there was the long climb out of downtown El Paso, that somehow got missed in the Adventure Cycling route profiles.

Still all things considered,  we're fine.

We'd gotten up this morning and packed, then headed over to La Estrella at 7 to have an early breakfast to find the place still dark.  So we headed across the street to the truckstop to grab breakfast tacos, coffee, and juice and brought it back to our room to eat.

Still we were on the road and riding at 7:45 in temperatures cool enough that both Barb and I had jackets on to start the day.  The approach into El Paso from the east is fairly flat, and we made good time covering the first 20 miles, when we had to make a decision about heading through downtown El Paso or taking  a longer bypass.  But one look at the amount of traffic on the bypass convinced us that downtown El Paso couldn't be that bad.

We were riding through the main road into downtown  in mid-morning,  and frankly had a pretty easy time of it.  We were in the heart of downtown by 11 and stopped at the PIke Place deli for sandwiches and a delicious spinach soup as we switched maps and looked at routes.

From downtown we climbed along Oregon street, and then Mesa Street for a 5 miles before descending again to the Rio Grande valley.  That's where we ran into our first road closure, with no indication of a detour.  Fortunately,  a local cyclist gave us approximate directions that only lead us up one dead end street, before we were able to walk our bikes on the shoulder into oncoming traffic for a few blocks to clear the construction zone.

Then our maps directed us onto an unnamed dirt road for a third of a mile to a local bike path.  Again local cyclists said we should follow Westside Drive, and that they were unfamiliar with any paved bike path in the area.  So we followed their suggestion until we again ran into a road closure 2 miles up the road.  Ugh!

Long story, short,  we picked our way among back roads with the help of local drivers and have found ourselves at a hotel in Anthony TX.   But we can see New Mexico from here and feel certain to make good our Texas departure tomorrow.

Feeling fine and ready for a good night's sleep.