Over the hill to Van Horn

Yesterday's horrendous windstorm which blew us into Fort Hancock continued into the evening. We had to find a section of the hotel grounds which was somewhat sheltered in order for Linda to cook dinner and to set it up and eat. It was a mess. Grit got into everything. By dark, however, the winds had abated. But, just in case, Linda arranged for us to eat breakfast at Angie's restaurant across the street (because she just couldn't cook a grit-free meal in the wind).

So, at 6 a.m., a dozen bicyclists waited by Angie's front door. The cook arrived, got coffee started, and got the grill going. The waitress showed up 5 minutes later. I don't know how they did it, but they had all of us served with our breakfast of choice by 7:15 or so, and we were on our way. Kudos to Angie's!!

Patty and I traveled together today and chatted up a storm. While I enjoy bicycling alone, it was nice to have company and she enjoyed pedaling at my relatively slow but steady pace. She had earlier been tagging along with the faster riders or riding alone. The day started pretty flat through more horse and alfalfa and cotton country. We then climbed back up into 4,000 ft. elevation terrain on I-10 and its frontage road. Stayed at that level much of the ride, with a pretty flat roll. The last 5 miles were a nice, easy downhill right to the hotel front door. Once again we had favorable winds. We're getting spoiled!!!

We also changed time zones just before Van Horn. That meant we got in at 2:45 instead of 1:45. Lost a whole hour, but got in early enough to be second in line for the washing machine. The laundry procedure is to tape a piece of paper to the washer and sign up. When the person ahead of you on the list is done, they let you know so you can start your wash. The dryer here is creating a problem because it runs longer than the washer. Our literature doesn't indicate that we have laundry facilities in Ft. Davis, our next destination and layover day, so we need to do it now or in 3 days.

Bike stats: 75.42 miles; riding time 5 hrs. 45 minutes; total mileage 816. Food: Last night spaghetti, bread, salad, and a brownie; breakfast was an egg & cheese burrito and hash browns; had two protein bars on the ride and a banana on the ride, and a DQ hawaiian blizzard upon arrival.

Tomorrow I drive the sag wagon (known as Lil Bo Peep). It will be a long day - 90 miles, so will mean lots of back and forth to keep track of my sheep.