Distance: 57.57 mi
Average Speed: 15.0 mph
Maximum Speed: 27.6 mph
Time in Motion: 3:49:27
We slept in. The beds at the Gage Hotel have huge, heavy blankets... they were awesome. I slept extremely well.
After checking out of the motel, we wandered around looking for breakfast. Some of the places were open, thankfully. We stopped at Johnny B's Cafe. The food was good. The owner of the restaurant wandered in and started telling everyone in the place that it was about to get extremely cold. It looked like it was going to be a nice day, and the forecast said it would be. But, according to this guy the temperature in Fort Stockton, a way to the north, dropped 20 degrees in almost no time, that car windows were getting iced over in some kind of strange misty precipitation or fog. Yikes! It looked nice outside, but he made us a bit worried.
Once in the road, everything was very pleasant. There is nothing between Marathon and Sanderson. We road east on Highway 90 the whole day, descending 1,000 feet along the way. And we did that in calm weather or light tailwinds.
During the ride, nothing too noteworthy happened. I saw more of the same: cacti, brush, buttes, etc. I did see a cow with a wheel-not something one sees ever day, for sure. At one point, the Amtrak train passed me. I stopped for a break, recorded a short video of it passing, and waved at the passengers. When I stopped to rest along the route today, it was dead silent. Very few cars, hardly any birds, no airplanes, nothing. Just silence. We're truly in desolate territory out here. Eventually, I spotted Jesse along the road.
Once in Sanderson, the "Cactus Capitol of Texas," we first visited the tourist information center. A very friendly woman helped us find our way around town. Again, we asked about lodging between Sanderson and just outside of Del Rio, but she confirmed that we were entirely out of luck.
From there, we wandered over to the Roundhouse restaurant and the attached laundromat. We washed our clothes while we did our laundry. It is very nice to have clean clothes! Most of the places we've stayed either did not have laundry facilities or, more likely, the machines were out of order.
We checked into the Budget Inn on the eastern edge of town. The Indian operators of the place were very kind. The place had wireless Internet, but the signal was too weak in our room to get the signal on Jesse's laptop. The place wasn't too bad.
Supper was at the Dairy King. Anita joked in an e-mail that, in Texas, you judge the quality of a place by the number of pickups parked out front. The Dairy King looked popular, and we'd heard that serve a great burger. So we tried the place, and we were not let down. I was served one of the best burgers I've had in a very long time, and the price was very reasonable. So if you're in Sanderson, stop for a burger at the Dairy King.
Now we're relaxing and pondering the crazy 110 mile ride tomorrow, a ride which we've been dreading for days. Ouch! Will we have headwinds? Will we arrive before sunset? I hope so.
