Jeff & Ruth's Bicycle Adventures

Details of our bike ride from California to Florida.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Sanderson, TX - Mon 3/12

Yesterday Mark Gregory drove 25 miles out of his way to pick us up and give us a ride to church, which was a district conference two hours away in Monahans.  Hey, this is Texas where the towns are small and far apart, but the folks are mighty friendly.  Thank you, Mark.

An interesting fact about Marathon Texas:  There are two ATMs in town, one at the bank and one at the pizza parlor.  They are both out of service and nobody knows when they will be fixed. 
There is also a museum with a big sign on the highway pointing the way to it, but it has no hours posted on the door and nobody in town knows when it is open.
Each small town has its own way of doing things.

Today we rode 58.1 miles through the desert to the next town, Sanderson, the "Cactus Capital of Texas".  Along the way we met two other long distance bikers heading west.  We swapped news about the route and the other bikers we've met.  There is reportedly a Swedish couple on the tandem one day ahead of us.  I hope we meet them.

Today was a deer day.  I think we saw more deer today then all the other days combined.

The truth from Ruth:  Today was a beautiful biking day.  The weather was perfect and so was the distance.  Then we got to town.  These small Texas towns seem so desolate.  There are so many buildings that are boarded up and falling into disrepair.  It makes me wonder if it is because of the recent recession, or if it has been this way for a long time.  Each cafe seemed to have two signs: one saying "Open" and the other "Closed."  If we hadn't spoken to those bikers on the way who said there were places to eat here, I would have been sure there was nothing.
We stopped at an RV park and set up our tent.  Jeff talked to someone there who said the restaurants open at 5:00, and it was still only 4 something.  We got a tourist booklet and found out that many of the shops are closed on Mondays also, and some Tuesdays as well.  I'm sure we will be heading out of here early tomorrow.  This place makes Marathon look like a fancy resort.

Photos:
Our tent in Sanderson
On the road to Sanderson
2 photos of habitats in La Loma del Chivo

3 Comments:

Blogger Donna McNeil Gonzales said...

It sounds like you're having a grand time. It looks like you're headed to San Antonio, so are we. We should arrive Thursday, and plan to stay through the weekend. I wonder if you'll be there the same time we are. Wouldn't it be great if we could meet up for dinner or something? If you think it would work, post a comment here, and I'll give you our e-mail address. Dan & Donna Gonzales

7:54 AM  
Blogger Ruth said...

Give me your email and let's see if we can work something out! That would be fun.

8:02 AM  
Blogger Donna McNeil Gonzales said...

Our e-mail is joyfulbee8@aol.com. Donna

3:41 PM  

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