Ah what a difference a day makes! Fresh legs, cross to tail wind. Very light traffic, beautiful wide open landscape. Quiet quiet quiet. We had a long way to ride today so we had a pretty early start and rode while the sun was rising. Started with the full cold weather gear but quickly started to peel layers until lunch at about noon and then it was warm. One of the warmest days we’ve had to date. It looks like the rest of the week it will be high 80’s into the 90’s! That’s hot!!
We went slightly off route today. We had been told that Marfa is an interesting town and the road and shoulder were good…plus less climbing for our recumbent friend Curt😊Along this route is an artist’s replica of a Prada store. Out in the middle of the western landscape. Oddest, funniest thing to come across! Apparently Marfa is somewhat of an artist colony. Lunch spot was at 38 miles in Valentine. We had to get water at the US Post Office because the rest of the town was closed up. Not sure if that is normal or Covid19 related. Not much there, mostly vacant buildings.
After lunch the wind changed slightly more westerly so we had a pretty good tail wind for the final 36 miles. Along this section we came across the dirigible that we could see in the sky most of the morning. It took us a while to figure out what it was, so large and stationary in the sky. Turns out it’s for border patrol radar surveillance.
Starting to get close…20 miles to go. I’ve hit my 3pm slump and a man has pulled over on the highway. Super nice guy…J (something) Fischer from Ft Worth He’s offering us ice cold cans of coca-cola.. Yes! Just what we needed to make it into Marfa!
2nd flat. Mine again, same rear tire. No noticeable culprit. We think it might have been a slow leak from the patch. 5 miles from Marfa.
We knew yesterday that the town of Marfa had closed restaurants, motels, RV parks, air bnb, to short term guests. The beauty of being from a large family that lives all over the US is that someone knows someone… as luck would have it my sister Margie knew a daughter of a friend of hers in Charlotte that lives in Marfa! Through Facebook I contacted Molly who put me in touch with David and badabing, badaboom we had a backyard to camp in! Nothing open in this town but the local grocery store named Porters and DQ.
cinnicrew 
Its always great to have family or friends know somebody who knows somebody. A day of rest looked good on You Suzy. Rest well journey on….
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I was thinking that 90 to Marfa would be today’s leg. I see your original plan was to take the 10 over to 118 and then south, but that route looks pretty rugged on the Google Maps. And your photos along 90 look like a cyclist’s dream – flat, plenty of shoulder and light traffic. For me, riding along in my blog back seat, this change in plans gets my Spoke Shop Dean’s Certificate of Merit. The tail wind was frosting on the cake. 73 miles in the rear view mirror; a good day’s work. I have to think that Marathon is in your sights for tomorrow. You’ll catch some hill country on tomorrow’s leg if you are missing hills from today’s ride. By the way, it’s a good flat tire if it goes down after you have reached your destination. It’s no fun repairing a flat sitting on the hot ground next to a hiway with cars flying by. It’s nice to have a chair for that job. Here’s hoping you catch some more tail winds. You’ll be eatin’ gumbo in the bayous before you know it if this keeps up!
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Keep on. Keeping on!!🚵
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Marfa has been an art town for a long time. There is a famous museum there Calle the DIA. It has a later counterpart in Beacon, NY. I love the NY one which is in a former bakery. There is a Frank Stella there. Maybe you will see the building. I’m sure the owner of the yard you are camping in will tell you what an art area it is
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I’m living vicariously through your adventures, keep it up!!
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love these updates “living the dream” 👍😎😎😎
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love the updates “living the dream “
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love the updates “living the dream ” stay safe stay healthy
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