Wheels On Wheels "Winners" and "Losers" for Leg 1 and Leg 2

I've been meaning to do this for some time now... I sat down a few days ago and wrote down the "BEST" and "WORST" of a lot of categories for the first 1250 miles of Discovering America on 2 Wheels.... so without further adieu... here we go.

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• Best Burger - Hands down.... the Destruction Burger at the Roadhouse Restaurant in Bastrop Tx http://kendrasroadhouse.com/

• Best Enchiladas - Carde Adovado (Marinated Pork) Enchiladas at Maria's in Santa Fe NM http://www.marias-santafe.com/

• Best Fajitas - Miss Jersey Lilly's in Hico Tx http://hico-tx.com/dining/restaurants/jersey-lillys.html

• Best Margarita - Taqueria Jalisco #2 in Clovis NM http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/234/1111377/restaurant/New-Mexico/Taqueria-Jalisco-Clovis

• Best non-Mexican food Breakfast - Chicken Fried Steak, Eggs, Hashbrowns, Biscuits and Gravy at the Evant Cafe' in Evant Tx http://www.bing.com/search?q=evant+cafe+in+evant+tx&src=IE-SearchBox&Form=IE8SRC 

• Best Mexican food Breakfast - Enchiladas and Eggs and the Complementary Bakery Basket at the Tecolote Cafe in Santa Fe NM http://www.tecolotecafe.com/

• Best Day on the Bike - 01/09/10 - the 60 mile rip from Clovis NM to Ft Sumner NM across the Llano Estacado http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llano_Estacado No headwind, beautiful landscape, bluebird weather and the Spirits of the Llano Estacado ran with me on a "No Chain" day.

• Worst Day on the Bike - 01/06/10 - 78 miles from Lubbock Tx to Muleshoe Tx - 10 hours in the saddle against 25 mph headwinds and 32 mph crosswinds beginning at 65 deg and ending at 21 deg at 10:00 pm in Muleshoe Tx... but I have to say it was my most memorable ride.... my worst day would've been the day I got lost west of Anton Chico but I got rescued with 1 amazing RAK - Random Act of Kindness.... more on that later.

• Overall Best State Park I visited in Texas - Lake Mineral Wells State Park - Mineral Wells Tx - as I said in my video, this park had that Zen thing going. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/lake_mineral_wells/

• Overall Best State Park I visited in New Mexico - Sumner Lake State Park - 16 miles north and west of Ft Sumner NM - absolutely the nicest and best Park Staff at this park of any park I visited.  http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/SumnerLake.htm

• Most Beautiful State Park I visited - Villanueva State Park - Villanueva NM - Thanks for talking me into it Lew! http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/Villanueva.htm

• Best Bathrooms in a State Park - No Question! - Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glenrose Tx http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/dinosaur_valley/

• Sentimental Favorite State Park - Inks Lake State Park - Burnet Tx http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/inks/  

• Best State Park for Wildlife Viewing - can't pick one - here's 3: Inks Lake State Park, Sumner Lake State Park, Santa Rosa State Park

• Best Sunrise Experience - TIE - between Lake Mineral Wells State Park and Sumner Lake State Park

• Best Sunset Experience -  TIE - ditto above

• Best Campsites - couldn't pick just one.... so here's 4 - #333 at Inks Lake State Park; #13 @ Dinosaur Valley State Park; #28 @ Lake Mineral Wells State Park; #11 at Sumner Lake State Park

• Best Little Town in Texas - Boy that's a tough one.... gotta a lot of help from folks in Hamilton Tx.... saw some cool stuff in Hico Tx.... speaking of Cool, there was the Cool / Garner Tx combo.

• Best Little Town in New Mexico - Easy - Villanueva NM - the Best Kept Secret in New Mexico and maybe America!

• Best Bike Shop - Another Easy One - Rising Phoenix Adventures in Bastrop Tx http://www.risingphoenixadventures.com/

• Best Equipment / Product / Service - Easy - Verizon Wireless Service / LG env3 Cell Phone / Gateway 2016LT Netbook.... and Donnie "the Man" at the Lake Jackson Tx VZW store http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/index.html

• Worst Service - Easy one here - MULESHOE TX POST OFFICE - they sent my mis-labeled (yeah it was my fault) "General Delivery Pickup" box full of all my camping gear all the way back to my home address without even holding it for a day.... Grrrrr..... I talked to 4 different post offices about this and they said the guy was an ..... well I won't say it....

• Best Decision - TO TAKE THIS TRIP!

• Worst Decision - to take the route to Villanueva State Park via Anton Chico and "Joe's Road" but that was followed by....

• Best Random Act of Kindness - the Rescue by Jerome and Friends from the beautiful and rugged dirt road maze between Anton Chico NM and Villanueva State Park

• Worst Town to Ride a Bike in - TIE - between Marble Falls Tx and Cleburne Tx

• Best Single Night's Motel Stay - Best Western Snyder Inn - the room was spacious - had a sitting area separated from the sleeping area and a desk with a great Hi Speed Internet AND they washed, dried and folded my clothes for me.... can you believe that?http://www.bestwesterntexas.com/hotels/best-western-snyder-inn/

• Best Overall Motel Experience - Hands down - America's Best Value Inn - They consistently had the lowest rates and the best value.... just like the name says.... and the one in Santa Fe NM was amazing... with a Gourmet Continental Breakfast and Heated Indoor Pool and Jacuzzi. http://abvilamplighter.com/

• Most Interesting Person I met on the whole trip - TIE - Charles Truesdell in Breckenridge Tx - he was the WWII veteran in on the Great Raid - rescue of 2300 America POW's from the Phillipines in 1945..... the other guy was Tom Kennedy - Lake Mineral Wells State Park Ranger - writing a book on the "Oneness of Man and Nature".  Here's his website - http://stores.lulu.com/1tomkennedy

• Nicest Person I met on the whole trip - Raymond Drake - Park Manager at Sumner Lake State Park

.... and that's the Best Way to end this little list.... like I've said umpteen times.... the Best Part of this whole trip was the People.... speaking of which.... I'll have a list of who I met where along the way coming soon.