Circling the U.S. Chapter 67: West Texas - The First Half

Thursday, January 9 - Wednesday, January 15, 2020

We didn't play tourist in El Paso; we had business to take care of. Before beginning our trek across the great open expanse of West Texas we needed to make sure our bikes were in good working order. I wanted a new front tire and we thought it would be a good idea to have our chains and my brakes checked. The young mechanic was very helpful, changing my tire, checking my brakes and making adjustments to my rear gear cable at no charge. He told me I needed new front brake pads, but didn't have any in stock and I hadn't thought to bring my spare pair. But he said they'd probably last until San Antonio. I hoped so.

I also got a haircut; we did laundry and stocked up on food. What we saw of El Paso in our brief meanderings did not shout to us for a return visit.

Podium Finish Sport Boutique and Cafe

What a great concept - a bike shop and cafe all in one. After spending money on our bikes, we spent money on lunch. I had a salad with sushi style ahi-ahi and Rob had a chicken wrap. Both our meals had a kick which neither of us tolerates well. We're becoming cautious about what we order in these border town restaurants.

Hayley, our Warm Showers host, is a fascinating and gracious young woman. She comes from Great Britain, but met her American husband while she was living and working in Germany. Her husband is in the military, presently deployed, while Hayley is holding down the home fort in El Paso, working on a degree in nutrition. Coincidentally, she and her husband had a private wedding ceremony on Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder, Colorado, following that up with dinner at the Dushanbe Tea House, our son and his wife's favorite restaurant.

Friday, January 10, we got off to a good start on our 600 mile adventure to San Antonio. With a tail wind pushing us along on flat roads we arrived in Fort Hancock after 54 miles in four hours, just ahead of a massive thunderstorm. 

We passed plowed cotton fields and pecan groves, nothing else of interest.

When we arrived my first thought was the motel had gone out of business, except that Rob had already called ahead and confirmed that they were open. Rob said, "It's a good thing we got here when we did or we might not have gotten a room." We checked in at 1:00, showered and took naps. I slept through the storm. (Given the blue sky, I must have taken this picture as we were leaving the following morning.)

We went across the street to the small diner to see if we could get a salad to supplement our coos-coos and tuna. There were no other customers when we arrived. After consulting the menu, I asked the woman at the cash register, "What is in your side salad?"

She said, "I don't know."

I said, "Could you ask your cook?"

She said something in Spanish to the cook and said, "She doesn't know. She's never made one."

I said, "Well, would you ask her, if we order one, what would she put in it?"

We decided to give the salad a try. It had lettuce, a few shreds of carrots, and several cherry tomatoes.

The sky cleared and the sunset over Fort Hancock was beautiful. When we heard about the damaging winds and tornadoes that blew through parts of Texas we felt really lucky that we hadn't been out in the storm.

Bicyclists often talk about what to do when chased by a dog. One suggestion is to let the dog get close then spray it with your water bottle. I thought about that early on Saturday morning, January 11. 

I didn't even see the dog coming; I heard it. I looked back. It wasn't a big dog, but it still had teeth. I rode all over the road trying to get away from it, heading into the left lane. I needed both hands on my handlebars to stay upright; I didn't have a free one to grab a water bottle. My best strategy was to out ride the dog, hoping he'd lose interest. 

This was actually the second dog that had come after us. The first one went for Rob, not me. 

When we'd started out just ten minutes earlier the temperature was below 30 degrees. Thanks to the dog I wasn't cold for long.

Maybe I am over reacting, but dogs really scare me. I worry about a large dog knocking me off my bike and then tearing into me. Or Rob. We have nothing handy to tackle it with, just our bare hands. In bear country Rob had a cannister of bear spray he kept in his handlebar pack, but now we don't have anything. I think we should buy a pepper spray, but I always forget when we are in a city.

We came to a choice between riding on a country road or on the interstate, which was about six miles shorter. 

"Chances are we won't run into any dogs on the interstate," I said. "What do you think?"

"I agree," said Rob.

We'd made a good choice. The shoulder was smooth and fast. We stayed on the interstate, climbing about a thousand feet, until lunch. Traffic was sparse.

Then we had 24 beautiful miles on a smooth frontage road. West Texas is indeed vast and desolate. With a tail wind and mountains to break up the monotony I was having a tremendously good time. We rode 67 miles to Van Horn where we stayed at a Red Roof Inn on the outskirts of town.

Sunday, January 12, the count was four chasing dogs and one just came out to look. Rob bears the brunt of it. Three of them only went after Rob; I just heard the excitement. We figure that when I ride by I wake them up; then when Rob gets close they're ready for the chase.

Our route often takes us alongside railroad tracks with busy traffic. Sunday two of the engineers blew their whistle at us. Rob, a connoiseur of simple pleasures, loved it. He said it made up for the dogs. 

Early in the morning we passed this house with its enormous array of lawn sculptures.

Rob took this closeup of a larger-than-life armadillo, part of the collection in the picture above. We both wanted badly to see a real one, and people told us they are often seen along the road. Unfortunately all we've been seeing are dead ones. (Every time we pass one we are both reminded of our ill-fated whale watch.)

The Marfa Prada art installation west of Valentine was the perfect place for lunch.

At least five cars stopped and disgorged passengers who took pictures while we were there. Most were traveling to or from Big Bend National Park. This group of young women had just spent the weekend in Marfa. They recommended a coffee shop/bakery on the edge of town. It was closed.

Valentine's sign says pop. 217 but given the number of abandoned buildings it has to be less. Valentine has no services, just loose dogs. But it does have a post office which gets very busy on February 14. Evidently you can mail your mail there and they will stamp it for you and send it out with the Valentine, Texas, postmark.

With a tailwind and only a very gradual uphill grade, we easily covered 75 miles. We'd left I-10 for Route 90, a two-lane highway that would take us all the way to San Antonio. It started out very smooth. Then we crossed a county line and it was rough chip seal. Then we crossed another county line and the road got even worse. We'd been warned. The shoulder was so rough we couldn't even ride in it. Fortunately there was scant traffic so we were comfortable riding in the rightmost wheel track of the cars where it was reasonably smooth. (I should also note that the cyclist who warned us about the rough chip seal in Texas suggested that we double up our handlebar tape. That has helped calm my tingling and numb hands.)

Rob wanted me to take a picture of one of the many ranch entrances where you see nothing but emptiness stretching out forever. There's never a house to be seen. Sometimes we'd see a sign on a dirt road to a ranch 16 or 24 miles away.

We were looking forward to spending time in Marfa, with its reputation as a funky artsy town. Too bad our timing was off.

The tent set up and dinner cooked, we had time to relax at El Cosmico Resort in Marfa, where we could have stayed in a furnished RV, a yurt, a teepee, or a safari tent. We peaked our inside a teepee the next morning. There was a gas fireplace and sofa inside. The safari tents had electric blankets. But we chose the least luxurious option, pitching our own tent, sleeping out in the cold. What sold us on camping here was the availability of a lounge with heat and wifi that was open until late at night.

We'd heard that Marfa is a quirky, artsy town so we planned to spend some time in the morning on Monday, January 13, perusing art galleries and popping into a coffee shop but, alas, everything was closed. Most galleries and shops seemed to only be open on weekends. 

We did find an art gallery open in the Hotel Paisano, but even the restaurant had limited hours.

Rob and I have a marriage based on many agreements. When we travel we often find a luxurious historic hotel where we would like to stay when we return to a town or city. When we come back to Marfa we've agreed that we'll try to stay in the Hotel Paisano; we'll make sure it's on a weekend night.

One of many art galleries in Marfa.
Closed on Monday.

We only had 25 miles to get to Alpine where we had a Warm Showers place to stay. We saw some interesting rock formations along the way, and a long downhill into Alpine. 

Liz, our Warm Showers host, invited us to join her and Shane, her colleague and friend, for dinner. Both are native Texans. Liz grew up in west Texas and Shane is from Houston. They both love the small city feel of Alpine and the wide openness of west Texas. They are also both criminal defense lawyers who spend a lot of time trying to help immigrants. When I told them about the work my friend does in the local jail in New Hampshire helping immigrants they said to send her down here. They need her.

We stayed next door to Liz's main house in this little casita, or guest house. It had everything we needed for a comfortable stay.

Liz and Shane assured us that we would find no sizeable grocery store before Del Rio, at least four days  of riding away, and a few more days if weather kept us in Sanderson. After stocking up on food Tuesday morning, January 14, we headed to Marathon.

I'd heard about the Prada store, but didn't know there was also a Target out in the middle of West Texas.

The ride to Marathon, even though only 31 miles, was not a slam dunk; we had headwinds starting out. Then it got easier and I coasted to the Marathon Motel, leaving Rob behind for the last couple miles. I waited for him at the entrance to the motel and got talking to a woman who told me she and her husband were "work campers." They worked part-time at the motel and, in addition to an hourly wage, camped for free in their RV. They were about our age and chose to spend the winter in Marathon so that they could explore Big Bend, about 80 miles down the road. They'd already gone on two backpacking trips there.

I began to worry when Rob didn't show up and Twila offered to get her pickup truck and go looking for him. And, sure enough, he'd had a flat. Unfortunately after he'd put in a new tube it still wouldn't take air. We got there just in time to rescue him from his frustration.

Twila insisted that we stop by for a beer before setting up our tent in the campground. We enjoyed meeting her husband Mike while we fixed Rob's tire. 

When I was loading Rob's panniers into the back of Twila's truck, I noticed a Bernie bumper sticker. Mike told us their sons were responsible for their transformation from Rush Limbaugh followers to Bernie supporters. After hearing that and thinking about the Bernie supporters we met in Minnesota and California (we didn't see anyone out campaigning for the other candidates), I decided that Bernie is the one to generate enough excitement to beat Trump and deserved my vote in the upcoming New Hampshire primary.

Mike and Twila invited us over later in the evening to watch the Democratic debate, when they plied us with wine, a sweet and spicy snack mix, and ice cream. After the debate it was hard to leave as we found we had much in common. Their next work camping gig is in Wyoming this summer where Mike will be working in a bike shop and Twila in a visitors center. We're hoping they'll come visit us in Boulder.

Mike and Twila are full-time RVers supplementing their retirement by finding temporary part-time work in beautiful places they want to explore. Working at the Maraton Motel and RV Park allows them to spend time hiking in Big Bend National Park and helping bicyclists like us.

As soon as we woke up on Wednesday, January 15, Rob checked his rear tire. It was soft again. We'd have to wait until the sun came up to fix it. Then, just as we were packing up, Mike came along with his standup pump. When we told him about the flat he said, "I'd be happy to fix it for you." 

Rob said, "No, that's okay." 

I said, "That would be wonderful." 

Mike checked the tube and found that the valve was leaking. He fixed it and we were ready to go at 9:00. 

The riding, 55 miles to Sanderson on U.S. 90, went by quickly. The morning sky was beautiful with the sun shining through soft clouds along the horizon over the mountains. We were both enjoying riding through this part of the country, really glad we hadn't rented a car and driven it.

The highway has picnic areas spaced at about 20 mile intervals which we very much appreciated. I'd been checking for signs that say no camping, just in case. We had a long stretch of nothing between Sanderson and Comstock, 88 miles. In case we didn't make it, it was good to know we'd have a back up. Most of the rest areas don't have any signs, or they say you can't stay more than 24 hours and you can't set up a tent. But the fine is only $1 - 200.  

With 10 miles to Sanderson Rob noticed that his tire was soft, again. We pumped it up, hoping it would hold until we arrived at our destination. It did.

Liz, our Alpine Warm Showers host, also owns a house and casita in Sanderson that she lets bicyclists use. We didn't need a key. She said, "It's okay to lock the door when you are inside, but don't lock it when you go out. I don't have a key." 

We sat outside with cups of tea on the back deck of the house and tackled Rob's flat tire. After much searching I found the metal wire that caused the flat. We hoped we were done with Rob's flat tires, but we weren't.

We stayed in Liz's casita during our time in Sanderson which stretched out longer than we would have liked. We had a stretch of 88 miles ahead of us with nothing but open country along the way and bad weather moving in.