Some feared that we would be riding into a horrendous head
wind all day. Although the wind did
exist, it was not as fierce as imagined.
The road meandered, thus the direction of the wind relative to our
travel would change. This difference
made it easier at times and harder at other times. A welcome relief from the constant head wind
we faced a few days earlier. The mind
and the body need relief from constant stress.
In spite of the wind, we had a great day of cycling. The temperature was comfortable, the skies
blue without clouds, and the road in good shape with wide shoulders. The last 12 miles were almost all downhill,
requiring little to no pedaling. The tent
sites at the camp ground where a breading ground for goats heads. Remember those nasty little plants with
thorns that like to puncture tires?
Well, they like to puncture everything, including tents.
The city of Alpine, about half way into the trip, was a
welcome stop. It is a very interesting
and artsy little town, very much like Marfa.
Some delayed a bit to just cycle the downtown area soaking in the
various murals painted on the sides of many of the buildings and see the
interesting architecture.
There was nothing between Alpine and Marathon ,
except one little road side rest area, consisting of two shelters with one
picnic table each. Joe and Tom stopped,
laid down on the picnic tables and took a 45 minute mid day siesta. It was very relaxing in the shade, out of the
mid day sun. The rest of the trip was
easier. Ken stopped to make sure everything was alright as it is not usual to see these two last into camp.
The sky at sunset is once again great. This seems to be the norm. While waiting for the laundry machine to
finish, we stared at the star filled sky.
Being such cloudless skies, the stars come out by the thousands in this
part of the country. On the way back to
our tent sites from the laundry, we were reminded that the owner and a few of
his friends have set up telescopes that we could use to peer at the
heavens. One of the telescopes, given to
the local school by the McDonald Observatory and kept in a special building at
the camp ground, was aimed at Saturn. It
was fascinating to see Saturn and its rings.
A second was aimed at a dead
star. And the last was aimed at the
moon. The large deep craters on the
surface of the moon were easily visible. This was a very nice way to end the evening.
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