West Texas

Day 28, 75 rather damp miles (1674). Rode from Leakey to Bracketville TX, descending out of Texas Hill Country onto the vast west Texas plains, about 450 miles of this desolate plains separate me from El Paso and the hills of New Mexico. I spent the night at Ft Clark Springs, a wonderfully well preserved army fort that now serves as a destination for Texans who need a vacation in a quiet and beautiful spot. Met two cycling couples. Saw one of the couples again the next morning, there I found out that they live in Canada, near Owens Sound on Georgian Bay; it was fun to tell them Patty and I had just been in Georgian Bay just this past summer.

Day 29, 96 miles (1770). The first half of the day was cool and cloudy, about lunchtime I stopped for a quick sandwich, no more than twenty minutes later I emerged from that BBQ shack into bright sunlight, not a single cloud in the sky. For the rest of the day clothing was slowly shed, arriving in Langtry late in the day, a local said their thermometer read 94 degrees. I vividly recall the first time I visited Langtry it was at the end of a long hot ride, and at the local community center, where cyclists are allowed to camp on the lawn, I found a garden hose that spewed a wonderful stream of clear, cold water. That day I had the most refreshing 5 minutes running that water on my overheated head. So when I arrived in Langtry for the second time, that same hose was still there, and that 5 minutes of cold clear water flowing on my head worked the same miraculous recovery. Plus the local store, which had already closed, reopened to let me buy a cold drink. I chose an ice cold Coors.........nothing could have tasted better.

Day 30........Winds 25-35 mph, gusty, straight out of the NW. Headwinds. Since the nearest decent stopping point on my route is 65 miles away, I decided to wait out the  day in Langtry, where I can spend the day touring the Judge Roy Bean Museum and drinking lots of cold water. Maybe tomorrow the winds will be more favorable.