Day 12

Deming, NM to Las Cruces, NM - 61 miles

I received a favorable tailwind for my last day of 2022.  With another chilly morning, I departed a little later than usual knowing that I had a good wind and flat ground to cover.  

About 10 miles out of Deming, in view of the Florida Mountains, some horseback riders in the desert waved to me as I went by.  This simple acknowledgment of each other has the power to transform your mood.  I could see the smiles on their faces, and I know they could see mine.

I rode the wind in the sunshine until about 10 miles west of Las Cruces when the air left my rear tire again.  Put in a new inner tube and moved on.

After flying downhill in the bike lane into Las Cruces,  I stopped at La Llorona Park on the banks of the dry Rio Grande.  La Llorona is a mythical ghost that is said to roam near bodies of water and mourn the children whom she has drowned.  If that's not creepy enough for you, watch the 2019 film The Curse of La Llorona.  I found it to be pretty good.  Kristen, of course, did not join me for that movie.  It's not the only time we went to separate films.  On our honeymoon, in Canada, we went to a movie theater together but went to separate movies.  I went to The Conjuring (another horror) and she went to Finding Nemo 2.  We were both happy.  That's what matters.

A visit to the Las Cruces Museum of Nature and Science proved worthwhile.  The free museum provided excellent exhibits about local fossils, wildlife, astronomy (a big thing here in the dark skies of New Mexico), and local geography.

It is fitting to be in Las Cruces on New Year's Eve.  Las Cruces, for my readers who do not know Spanish, means "the crosses".  It is the crossroads of I-25 going north to the aptly named town of Truth or Consequences and I-10 that heads south to El Paso.  I'll even give the nod to the blues song by Robert Johnson, made popular by Eric Clapton, here as I indeed did go "down to the crossroads" on my way into town.

While I won't be out late tonight making a deal with the devil at the crossroads (there will be too many people out watching the chile drop downtown anyway), I am considering ending my trip in El Paso after a day in Las Cruces tomorrow.  

We'll see what I decide tomorrow.  Until then, I'll enjoy my annual tradition of ending the year by watching one of the best tv series ever made - The Twilight Zone.