ROI

 The 2nd day after exertion is always worse than the first; when will I ever learn?!?

But this morning has me seriously questioning my motivations - I knew it would be a tough haul in such a short time frame, going to New Mexico; feeling as if I’m swimming through molasses this morning makes me doubt if all the time and money invested was worth it?

It was a strange feeling to have our normal weeklong event compressed into three days - Baraq (unsurprisingly) was full of himself on Day 1 so I had to quit at 14.5 miles because “the thrill was gone”! I had reserved Friday as my day of rest to drive around to Ruidoso & do some sightseeing (lots of photos I’ll download later), and downgraded to a single Intro loop on Saturday. Luckily for me it was my favorite trail at Ft Stanton, the Homestead loop. Baraq knows the difference between a competitive event and a pleasure ride so Saturday was much better…

I had planned to go partway home Saturday afternoon but was dismayed to see a flat on my truck when I started packing. This meant a couple of hours’ delay while I got roadside assistance out to help me - I should’ve had just enough time to get into Roswell and have the flat fixed, but there was an accident at the highway intersection that delayed me long enough that they had closed!  I felt pretty good (still riding a minor high from my successful  ride completion) and decided to haul all the way home.

No problems until I was on the outskirts of the Metroplex  -  about 2:30 in the morning a trailer tire blew out and I couldn’t bust the lug nuts free, so I had to wait another two hours to get a man out with a power wrench. Got home about 5:30 AM, collapsed for a few hours’ nap, & actually didn’t feel too terrible for most of Sunday. Went to reassure my poor mother who is trying her best to crawfish out of this move - “Tell them your mother’s crazy!” she has begged. If I get  through these next two weeks with my sanity intact, it will be a minor miracle…

This is where the value of New Mexico comes in: I can soothe myself with the memories of my all-too-brief excursions on those high desert plains.

And today I should find out if I had any success with my economic development grant from the City of Ferris, which may prevent my financial house of cards from collapsing. The city manager’s secretary texted me on Wednesday asking if I could have a teleconference with the city manager on Thursday - I told her I would be available after 2 PM but never got a reply? However that is all too typical of the way this little town seems to do business. It was almost preferable back in the early days when we really were incommunicado in the desert.

Christina flew out Thursday to ride one of Chris’s horses Friday - I offered to let her ride Baraq on Saturday but she graciously declined. I didn’t sleep too well Friday night because I wasn’t used to having a trailer guest!

                Sunday morning’s nap wasn’t too bad for a “half measure”