One of the least exciting days of riding and by far the worst camping in over 2,700 miles

Our campsite, if you can call it that, at the Kent Mercantile.

Here is another view of the same campsite. Note the Huggies brand pull-ups training undies in the bottom left.

Looking at our campsite from the other direction. Yep those are above ground fuel tanks. We've got regular, premium, and diesel all represented here. The fumes were fantastic.

Dani looking awfully happy after a roadside potty break.

The view in west Texas. This is interstate 10 you are looking at.

Just a preface here from Greg. Before you read this post I would just like to say that the recent comments have been better than great. We both feel, however, that this post will not let you down. Texas just keeps getting better. I mean this state must be digging deep to provide us with the life enhancing experience it has betrothed on us. With that note, enjoy this post.

Van Horn to Kent, TX

1/15/10

Day 72

38 miles

We had a slow start this morning but didn't have far to go. Unfortunately, about half of the riding (17 miles) was on Interstate 10. The distance before we were actually riding on the interstate we rode alongside it. To say the least, riding became monotonous before we had reached the part where we had to ride on the interstate, and thankfully, only one car had even passed us on the frontage road. Oh, yeah...and not least of all, we were riding into a sustained and strong headwind all day. Pedaling hard going downhill into a headwind and only making 9 miles per hour can get old, we both agree. So, I decided that I had to make the best of the dull situation and started waving to the truckers as they passed, asking for them to honk for us. I do not want to understate the amount of truckers on I-10. I would say that about 85% of the traffic on this highway is truckers. I really, really got a kick out of waving at the truckers and getting them to honk. It really brightened our day.

We stopped at a truck stop at the exit which we would get on to the interstate. Greg and I ordered veggie omelets and thank goodness we did. They weren't the greatest omelets by any means, but wait until you hear about dinner. Riding the interstate from there to Kent was uneventful.

We read on our map that the camping at Kent is behind the mercantile. If there was another option for camping on our route within 25 miles, we would have gone there, but this was it. We got to the Kent Mercantile an hour before closing and found that we could camp here and also found a store, again, with barren shelves. Literally, the only thing we could possibly have for dinner from this place was pre-made burritos. There was not a soup mix, pasta, chili, or otherwise. I got the last bean and cheese burrito and Greg sacrificed his body for me by eating an egg and sausage burrito (95% daily value of cholesterol) and a chili and beef burrito (40% daily sodium). There was nothing. But the best was yet to come. We walked around back to where the cashier had directed us to camp, over behind the above-ground gas tanks. Nestled between the interstate and the train tracks, we found a weedy field full of garbage, toilet paper, and feces (species unknown). It smelled like urine. Eww. This is by far the grossest place we have stayed yet. We cleared away the broken glass and weeds from where we will pitch our tent, and shook our heads at this situation. I told Greg that I couldn't wait to leave in the morning, like waking up from a bad dream. But don't worry, we are still having fun! Tomorrow we have the observatory to look forward to. We might even be on our way before the sun is shining.

Dani