Day 15 - El Paso
The day before Katie and the van were at the 1000 mile mark, blowing bubbles and dancing in the street in celebration. When I went by she yelled “your friend was here,” I didn’t quite catch what she said and kind of went “huh?” It turned out that it was Donna’s church our route passed by and before she went into church she asked Katie if I was on this trip. When Donna came out, Katie told her I had just gone by. Bobby and Donna’s way home was the on our route to the hotel, so they saw me riding several times, afraid to honk or yell ‘cause they thought I might crash or something.
It was wonderful to have a layover day, also a nice bonus to get away from the group and have old friends to visit with. Did the usual chores of laundry and sent a few things home along with postcards. Then Donna drove me out to see the old Missions, there were 3 of them all different styles and also very different on the inside too. The one was getting a major refurbishing, they were making traditional mud bricks. According to a flyer I found, the weekend before was the great “mud-in,” soliciting volunteers to help make bricks, their efforts were drying in the sun in front of the church. Donna and I had a late lunch together and then I went back to my hotel. I shopped for a few items across the street at the mall and reunited with my ride mates at the Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel.