“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
Peddling is going well. I am getting use to the daily unpacking/packing routine and peddling to a new destination. I think I am fully enjoying and appreciating the entire experience more than ever. I know I am going to finish with about 800 miles mile to go until San Diego. It's a good feeling. It's going to be great when I see the Pacific. Possibly sad that it will be over? Maybe.
Del Rio, TX- Silver City, NM (today)
A little bit of privacy while surrounded by giant RV's and golf carts, in Del Rio
The Pecos river.
Tailwinds headed to Langtry,TX. Covered about 55 miles in 3 hours. Langtry has a population of maybe 10-20 people. Getting into the desert, there is nothing between towns spread out 50-100 miles apart. So you have to choose your destinations wisely for you don't want to run out of water.
Reminded me of something from a movie. Silent except for the wind blowing metal roofs around on abandoned houses.
This was the old Sheriffs office
Langtry was the home of Judge Roy Bean. Quite the character. Was the only judge west of the Pecos river. He would have trials on his front porch of his saloon.
This was him
He even had a pet bear..
I stayed In this trailer owned by a guy named Keith. I never met him, but he said I could just go on in and crash
Border patrol everywhere. Also checkpoints along the road where k9's give you a good sniff.
I love reading through the guest books. Gets me stoked on the road and makes me feel good I haven't had to go through some of the experiences written about. I can usually see who I've been trailing behind along the way by reading these.
Texas: where seatbelts are required, but motorcycle helmets are not
Ran into this couple on the road. They started in Oregon and have been traveling ever since. They warned me of getting a flat with all of the goat heads along the road. Ironically 3 minutes later I had my first flat since Austin.
Oscar kept me busy telling me about his life while I was patching my tube. Offered me a beer too. Cool guy.
Getting deeper into the desert
A long hot day peddling down the same long never ending road for hours.
Pulling it together
I decided to stay in a hotel for the night in the tiny town of Sanderson, TX. The billboard said breakfast was included. When I asked the guy what time breakfast was served, he reached behind the desk and gave me this. I guess that's what you get for a $25 motel room.
Early morning fog in the canyon.
Jason Anderson recommended I stay at this hostel. La Loma Del Chivo. It was the coolest place. All of these adobe/recycled material buildings. Cyclist
Stayed for free.
Made some good dinner that night. Middle of no where grocery stores are expensive as hell. $5-6 bucks for a jar of cheap peanut butter.
Marathon was a cool town. Bigger than some, but had a really good vibe to it. I give it thumbs up.
Open roads into the amazing landscape.
I saw this historical marker. Placed here in 1936. Last sentence reads "while the country was being cleared of Indians and bandits." Hmmm????
2nd flat since Austin. Goat heads are no joke.
Climbed a mountain To the McDonald Observatory. Multiple giant, high powered telescopes. John was an engineer there and allows cyclists to stay at his home.
John and his wife Deb
Met this couple at John's house. They were cycling from Oregon to Florida. They were great company.
The only thing to eat was grilled cheese and Hot dogs at the visitor center.
(The view on the other side)
Inside the telescope
Doing routine maintenance
I saw this guy crossing the road.
Met nick traveling east while I was fighting 20-30mph headwinds going 7-8 mph against them. Always good to talk to other cyclist doing the same (except he had tailwinds)
Flash floods happen. You see these gauges everywhere along dry river beds. This region has been in a drought for the last few years.
Time zone! Now 2 hours behind The Eastern time zone. Daylight savings time change +crossing into Arizona in a few days is going to be crazy (Arizona doesn't recognize daylight savings)
Met this guy riding a recumbent bike heading east while for the 3rd day I was still fighting massive headwinds. The wind was blowing his bike uphill when he hopped off.
He let me give it a go. Besides looking so cool on it, I couldn't do it. But he says its good for a bad back. The price of a used car as well.
Rest stop buffered from the headwinds
Fighting headwinds and being about 70 miles outside of El Paso and right next to the US/Mexican border, I was looking for a safe place to camp. I ran across this abandoned run down gas station in the middle of the desert.
An old Mexican man got out of a truck and asked me some questions in Spanish. I don't speak much Spanish, but went and got his son who was inside.
Raul had purchased the place and was trying to fix it up. Him and his father live inside of it during the week to keep vandals away.
A rancher offered me to camp on his land
A few miles down the road, on the rio grande river across from Mexico. He and Raul told me to be careful since a lot of illegals cross into the US there. Also that border patrol would be paying me visits during the night. 
Turns out, the more i chatted with Raul, he warmed up to me and offered me to camp out Under a gas pump which turned into me sleeping in a broken down van to letting me sleep inside the building. I took the inside option.
The gas station use to have a tiger in the cage out back to bring tourists. There were still Polaroids on the wall of people with the tiger
Still having Jason A's story of a horrible experience around this area on his bike trip a few years back, I was skeptical. The more I chatted with Raul, the more I relaxed and felt comfortable. He gave me some coffee and talked about his life in Mexico. He was threatened by gangs in Mexico to pay them ridiculous amounts of money every week for his 'safety.' He decided to get out and come to the US. He still has family in in Mexico that he is trying to legally bring into the US.
Raul's father. Wouldn't allow me to take his picture so I snapped this. Washing dishes by the water tank.
The horrific stories he told me about the drug smugglers and troubles in Mexico made me feel good I was in a safe place for the night. His father took care of me like I was his own son. They made dinner and breakfast and some good Mexican coffee. His father kept making me eat and reassuring me that I was safe and I could wake them up anytime during the night if I needed anything. Maybe it was because he told me I looked just like his brother. This was one of those times that made me appreciate my trip even more. We have so much to be thankful for living where we do with what we have. Even having things we don't even really need most of the time.
The Rio Grande river is almost completely dry.
Finally out of Texas!!!!!!! Enjoyed it. Just a huge state and a lot of nothing once you go west of Austin.
Made my way into Las Cruces New Mexico and stayed with Larry and his wife Anne. They were friends of Ron and Lois (who I had met in Mississippi and then again in New Orleans) They put me in contact with them.
(Larry, Elyse and Anne)
Amazing place all to myself.
They put me in their incredible guest house for the night and Larry took me out for some great Mexican food. Larry made me a huge breakfast for my long ride that day. Thanks again guys! Ill see you again in San Diego.
Las Cruces
Google maps showing me a shorter route? Yeahhhhhh
Heading North
I crushed about 80 miles that day to set myself to climb the mountains into Emory
Pass. Stayed in a run down RV park in the town of Hillsboro.
Charlie lived in a small beat up RV in the park. He had been living there for 4 months. He was a pretty big hippie/paranoid anti government guy. The inside of his trailer was Wild.
He told me not to drink the water bc of all the crap they put in it (it was fine, i think he was just paranoid). He filled up all my bottles with his filtered water. I think Charlie had had some addiction problems earlier in life and said he was living off VA checks. He was really into nutrient supplements and all natural diets. He talked about an hour about things I could do to save my health from dangerous food additives.
He made me take these supplements with me. Said they would save me if I was bitten by a brown recluse or rattlesnake. I took a picture in case a border K9 found them and wanted to know what they were.
He kept offering me other supplements to take with me. I kindly declined. I couldn't help but think to ask if he had added anything to the water that he gave me.. He reassured me that it was just filtered. Ha! He was really kind though. I wish him well.
The view climbing up through Emory pass. The highest elevation I have ever been in the US. About 8,200 ft above sea level.
The downhill section of the pass. Gorgeous views.
Love seeing these signs more than ever.
Giant copper mine. I mean huge.
Currently in Silver City, New Mexico. Taking my first rest day since Austin. I was so hungry when I made it here late yesterday. Dominos was the first place I saw. I love having a front rack on my bike.
Silver City is a cool town. I'm going to explore and take it easy for the day. I should be in Arizona by Thursday.
Enjoying the trip and looking forward to lots of things in the next few weeks.
Hope everyone is well back home. Still haven't found anything better than Richmond.
-Dave.
