The Longest Day (so far). Roswell NM to Denver City, Texas.

We left Roswell at the dawn of another sunny day. I'd lubricated the bike thoroughly yesterday afternoon and it was running beautifully. This combined with light traffic, ultra smooth tarmac and a tailwind meant I had to look down occasionally to see if the bike was still there!
A target for Chris and Mandy was to try to get good views of Chihuanhuan Raven in the first 40 miles where it replaces Common Raven. The best way to tell is to see one with white bases to black feathers so needs to be close. After 30 miles we got a pair preening and showing the white. Job done it was fast cycling to Tatum for a hot dog lunch stop. Was Tatum O'Neill conceived here?
Another 15 miles and we crossed into Texas, our fourth state and third time zone. We then headed directly east to Plains, Tx where we could not get accommodation booked so we had to get south from here to Denver City, Tx. We could have gone in the support vehicle and started from Plains again tomorrow but after 108 miles we were feeling good so we turned into the wind and away from the east to do another hour to Denver City. Let's face it we were just showing off now! We finished with 123 miles in 7 hours 11 minutes.
It's an oil town with lots of nodding donkies and an oily smell. Great room at the Denver City Motel where the lovely general manager Victor Bhakta donated 20 US Dollars to the charity. What a nice man! Well worth the extra 16 miles into the wind.

The best bit about Roswell. Leaving. 

Crossing into Texas and the Central Time Zone.