Onward thru the Fog... uh, make that Sand

Day 20
Since today was to be a short and hopefully downwind  57 miles and I was feeling much improved, I decided to try riding the first 26 mile leg to Alpine and see how I felt. I could always grab a SAG ride to camp and since the next day is a rest day I could afford to try.
The ride to Alpine started a bit hard for me. We stopped at the Marfa Lights Viewing area 10 miles out of town and I took a short rest and after that the trip to Alpine was quite doable. We did have the expected tailwind, got to Alpine just in time for yours truly to grab the VERY LAST, VERY FAMOUS Cinnamon Bun at the Bread and Breakfast Cafe! Doug's Lucky day!
The last part of the ride was downwind and though hilly was easily done. I took it very easy and didn't bomb down the descents or do anything else that took much energy. I arrived at the campground in Marathon, TX feeling fine but when I got off the bike and relaxed I immediately felt a bit weak. I felt better after more fluids and rest and am feeling fine now as I type this the next afternoon on our rest day here. Tomorrow is to Sanderson, TX and is supposed to be into a strong headwind so.....
The campground/motel here is quite interesting. While it is impossible to fence the desert out completely, they have created a bit of an oasis in parts of the grounds. While the sand still blows into everything, as you will see from the photos, the "refuge" areas are quite nice...
The bottom photo is of a Rosemary plant about five feet high and eight to ten feet wide in one patio area. It is in bloom and there were hundreds of honeybees alighting on each of the tiny, orchid like flowers of the plant. I asked the staff it thee bees were wild or domesticated and was told they were wild. Too bad, I would LOVE to taste honey made exclusively from the herb Rosemary!

my tent just to the right of the tall stalk

a huge Rosemary herb plant covered with  honeybees 

Day 19
Well, I was up at 4 AM and not for a good reason. I finally caught whatever everyone else had; norovirus? 24 hour bug? Who knows. It was a bad night so I decided to SAG it today and not ride. I took some meds that one of the three Doctors on the trip had, napped out in Bubba's RV to be woken up so I wouldn't miss trying to pick something nice up at the Prada store near Marfa, TX for Victoria and Maggie.... Unfortunately, it wasn't open, Honest!!! But I took pics!
The ride for the others was a slight headwind to start then a quartering tailwind. A number of riders encountered a local sheriff who does not know the traffic laws of his own state. They were told that by Texas law they HAD to ride on the crappy far too narrow shoulder, not on the road. When Bubba found out he made a point to go see said officer and after a conference call with some Texas State Troopers, the Sheriff was set straight. Helps to have a Homicide detective/SWAT team member on your team! ;-)
A bunch of us took a few cars out to view the famous Marfa Lights. took an hour or so. We all agreed to come back and tell everyone how cool and mysterious they were but the truth is that we saw absolutely nada, zero, zilch, but had a good time doing so!!

Yes Virginia Victoria, there is a Prada in West Texas 

Sorry girls...

Day 18
75 miles to Van Horn TX today. Pretty hard day with a stiff headwind and a steep climb 18 miles into the ride. Spent some time on Interstate 8 today. We have been told many times that both the roads and the drivers in Texas are the worst we will encounter on the trip, and as far as the roads, that section of I-8 certainly seems to bear that out. The shoulder was pretty bad and the main lanes looked the same. And we spent about 1/3 or all our riding on this trip in Texas. So far the drivers, at least near El Paso have been quite courteous, as have the very large majority of drivers in the last three states.
Staying in a KOA tonight with decent shower facilities. It started raining as soon as we got in but is supposed to clear before morning.

dry most of the time but watch out in the monsoon season!

my typical nightly mess... repacked every morning

Day 17
The short 57 mile run from El Paso to Ft. Hancock was an interesting ride from the north west of town through downtown to the southeast side of town where we found a market with awesome baked goodies.  Then on through Fabens where we had a great Mexican food lunch at Margarhita's Cafe then on down the road to the Ft Hancock High School where we spent the night in the gym.
While we had been traversing desert for some days at this point, this was our first experience with blowing desert sand that covers and penetrates EVERYTHING. The sidewalks at the school were virtually buried in sand and accretions that you's need a chisel to remove. The sand blows under and thru door and window seals.

about to head downtown

El Paso

Breakfast of Champions!

Whatever you do, do not pick pecans.....