Welcome to the longhorn state! Ever since beginning this journey (and long before we ever got on our bikes), almost everyone had something negative to say about west Texas....the size, the nothingness, the proximity to the Mexican border, etc....and now that we're here we're just glad to be back rolling again!
Our stay in El Paso was about a week longer than anticipated. Just figuring out and then exicuting Plan B took a lot more time than anticipated and required a trip back up to Las Cruces. That said, many good things came from the situation. We now have a whole new appreciation for the city of El Paso, we made new friends, we avoided some 35mph headwinds, ate well, and Dot got a real X-ray and then got a scooter!!
As with any change to a great trip, the switch from a two bicycle adventure to a one bicycle, one scooter parade has been an adjustment, to say the least. While our pace has quickened thanks to the fact that the scooter can carry the vast majority of our gear, Dot now has to settle into life at my biking speed, which is painfully boring and very chilly! That said, her good character is shining through and she's taking on the role of "support vehicle" very well....a much appreciated endeavor and very useful in headwinds. And in return I am promising to bike fast enough to make it to our destinations early so that she can at least get a brisk walk in before dark.
Upon leaving El Paso we headed to Fort Hancock by essentially following the US/Mexico border eastward. We saw another pair of cyclist, two guys from Virginia who were biking the same route east to west. We swapped stories and they gave us the heads up on a scary Rottweiler at an intersection that we would be crossing the next day. We made a mental note to avoid the dog by jump on the interstate instead. As relaxing as back roads can be, our nerves are still a little fried from the dog experience and biking through these small towns with unfenced/unchained dogs is an incredibly anxious experience. Dogs just like to chase bikes.
The town of Fort Hancock is another sad reminder of the lack of jobs and overwhelming poverty in this part of our world. With an even more destitute Mexican town just 4 miles away, the repercussions of their close proximity adds an even greater stressor. We stayed the night at the local Catholic Church where Sister Silvia welcomed us with tight hugs, stories, and a bag of candy...I adore her. The neighbor then brought us canned soup and saltines and we slept safely below more religious icons than I could ever count.
Today we rode the I-10 interstate and an adjoining road to Van Horn which is just as destitution as Fort Hancock, but also has about 27 semi-functioning hotels. We passed another biker today (Norm) who was heading from California to Boston for his daughter's graduation from Harvard. Seeing other bikers out here is pretty rare and SUPER exciting....they're like a mirage in the desert. Like almost every town we've gone through, Van Horn has the classic "rock initial on the hillside"....if you don't have one, apparently you don't exist as a town. We are treating ourselves tonight to a hotel room, tv and rewarmed pasta!
To the right is the big Van Horn "V". Below are the two most important accessable items on my daily ride, mace and M&Ms. Sadly, the candy spilled so I fueled up on raisins all day instead.
We made it to Central time!! Whaaaaaat!?!
As we begin the next third of this journey, I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who have helped to support us over the last week. Your words, encouragement, knowledge, ideas, donations, and general love has been overwhelming. I think it will take all of Texas to process what a wonderful group of people we are surrounded by.
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Go girls!!! I continue to be inspired by your trip and the fact that you did not give up. You are doing what many of us just dream about doing. Your story is exciting, I look forward to reading every update that you post! Be safe.
ReplyDeleteI must ask - were you able to get some form of compensation from the owner of the dog that attacked you? Did they at least pay for your medical bills?
Hello Neil! We're so excited you're following our blog still and I hope we continue to keep you entertained....in a good way :) As for the dog, we didn't end up getting any compensation for the medical bills. By the time we had realized that it was a serious situation we were long out of town. A good lesson for us and hopefully for the owner as well. And honestly, as unfortunate as it was, we know that we have the opportunity to do this kind of trip and it's just one of the risks you take for being fortunate
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