Marathon, TX - Thur 3/8

Our axle arrived and we hit the road again!  Big thanks to Randall, the owner of the Stone Village Tourist Camp Motel, and his son Aaron, for driving us to the bike shop in Alpine twice.  We finally picked up the wheel and assembled the bike in Alpine at 1 o'clock today.

Then we bought groceries and set off through the desert again.  But today a storm was brewing and the temperature dropped to the 40s.  The first 10 miles we had vicious headwinds and hills and we froze.  Then the road took a turn and we had tailwinds for 15 miles and we froze.   Then we had 8 miles of dangerous cross winds and we froze.

After a long three hours of riding we were thrilled to arrive in the small town of Marathon ( actual motto: "Where There's Nothing to Do".)  We checked into La Loma del Chivo, a funky hostel that offers free accommodations to cross-country cyclists.  (Photos above.)  A cyclist we met before, Ty, is also staying here.  It's not well heated, but heavenly compared to the cold, howling wind outside.

Yesterday was windy but warm as toast.  Today we had to ride with numb fingers and toes.  This Texas weather changes so fast.  We are feeling good and anxious to ride but the weather is daunting.

The truth from Ruth:  My best friend right now is a little space heater that I'm sitting right beside.  It feels so good!  We are so glad to be out of the bad weather.
This morning, while waiting in Fort Davis for our bike part to arrive, I spent some time in the cutest little library!  It's housed in one of the oldest buildings in town.  There are shelves near the ceiling decorated with old-fashioned items like trunks and boots.  Best of all are the super-comfortable leather chairs, each with its own ottoman.  I could live in that library.