Sanderson to Langtry, TX

This was the same view all day.

Texas logic. Can't really argue with that.

Even Chompy was bored today. Just look at that desolate landscape behind him.

Sanderson to Langtry, TX

1/20/10

Day 77

62 miles

Sanderson seemed like such a peaceful place, that is until about 5:30 this morning. Our tent site at the RV park was right next to the main road into town, and at about this time a whole barrage of semi trucks drove through town. This lasted for about a half an hour to an hour. We slept in a little once it quieted down. Once we got up, we were dead set on going to the bakery in town for breakfast. We had seen the bakery in the town's brochure and it looked very good. We were exceptionally hungry too, so we packed up quickly only to find that the BOB trailer had another flat! We couldn't believe it. The thorns around here are nuts. We mended the flat and headed for the bakery. When we got to the middle of town, we asked a local where the bakery was, because we couldn't find it. They told us it was closed! We were really looking forward to that too. Oh well we ended up eating some gas station muffins and some bananas for breakfast instead.

Once we headed out of town, the wind seemed to be non-existent. We were hoping for a tailwind, but no wind is just fine too. The terrain today was pretty flat over all with some big rolling hills. While the rest of the country is covered in clouds and storms, where we are is totally clear. Noting but bright blue sky and scorching sun. The sun does not get very high in the sky because it is winter, so it always seems like the sun is baking us right at face level. We cannot imagine what it would be like to ride through here in the summer.

This highway has some nice picnic shelters spaced every 10-20 miles, and they are pretty nice places to stop and eat lunch. We stopped and met a nice couple from Maine who offered us ice cold sodas! It tasted so good! They were down touring the country with a little tow behind camper. They told us we missed the best part of Texas, Big Bend National Park, and that we should turn around and go there instead. Maybe some other day, but we still have nearly half of the Southern Tier to explore for now.

The riding today was otherwise very monotonous. There is not much to look at, everything looks about the same. The landscape is littered with scrubby shrubs, cactus, a few sheep, and many elevated deer hunting blinds with automatic feeders close by. Yep, this land is all private, and the folks who live out here have to eek out a living anyway they can with grazing, hunting, and who knows what else.

About ten miles before we reached Langtry, I (Greg) started feeling really hungry and out of energy. I should have known better than to keep riding without eating, but I did. By the time we got to Langtry I was dehydrated and completely out of energy with low blood sugar. I walked into a little store and bought a soda and an ice cream bar and that helped a little. Then I had to drink a bunch of water, but I still could not get caught up. I should have known better. It is so dry and sunny out here we need to drink bunches of water. There is a visitor's center here in Langtry that we will check out tomorrow. It is about a Judge named Roy Bean that used to be the only judge West of the Pecos River in Texas. It sounds like he was quite a character. Tonight we are sleeping behind the community center in this tiny little one horse town.

Greg