The story of a 9-year-old boy and his dad as they cross the USA by bicycle.
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LA2JAX
| dep LA | | 3/04/03 |
| arr JAX | | 5/12/03 |
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Wednesday, April 30, 2003
The Blue Angels
 Will's audio message
 We broke camp around 7:30 and wolfed down a quick breakfast at the McDonald's on the base, then hustled over to the Blue Angels viewing area on the airfield. The Angels put on a great show very similar to the one we saw the Thunderbirds perform last month in Phoenix. The pilots signed autographs after the show.
We headed for Bikes Plus in Pensacola, where we had our computer sent after its repair by Fujitsu. We bought a few accessories while picking up the laptop and headed into town.
We just learned that we are the subjects of a front page article in The Villager, a Houston-area newspaper.
Quote of the day: "I thought of that while riding my bike." -- Albert Einstein, on the theory of relativity
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
We are in FLORIDA!!!
 California
Arizona
New Mexico
Texas
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
 We left Gulf Shores, AL, around 7:00 and headed east along the coast, past many hotels, apartment buildings and various condominium-type units. There was a great marked bike lane separated from the road by rumble strips. We crossed several tall bridges, many new since 1979's Hurricane Frederic. We stopped briefly to "high 5" each other at the Florida line.
Our plan today was to visit the Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola Naval Air Station, then continue into Pensacola and Pensacola Beach before retiring beachside. It never seems to work out as planned - we loved the museum and discovered that the Blue Angels would be doing a practice show Wednesday at 8 am. Plan B was set into motion: there is a great campground on base for military personnel. But who can resist a pleading ("not military, but 21 years FAA, ma'am") father with a cute 9 year old boy? The lady was impressed with our trip and called the commanding officer for approval, which he granted.
We met a native Hawaiian seabee who is based in Gulfport and taking a few days break here fishing in the Gulf. Ben Kohn invited us to go spearfishing for flounder with him after dark. We waded through waist-deep water with strong lights with small fish and crabs everywhere. Ben speared a flounder for Wednesday's breakfast.
Monday, April 28, 2003
Ferry from Dauphin Island
 We departed Bayou La Batre (we both enjoy saying "Bayou La Batre") and rode through lush pine forests to the town of Alabama Port where we met long-distance cyclist Ron Fillingim, a retired Navy pilot and Dauphin Island resident, who gave us a brief tour and history of the island as he escorted us across the long bridge. The previous bridge was completely destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in 1979, and the new bridge is well built with a wide paved shoulder. We toured Fort Gaines and rode around the island for awhile before riding onto the ferry for the 40 minute cruise across Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan.
Mobile Bay is littered with oil rigs; there are almost 30 in easy view from Dauphin Island. The Bay is full of oystermen using rake-like tongs to pull up loads of oysters mixed with "other stuff"; the oysters are picked out and the "other stuff" returned to the sea.
We arrived in Gulf Shores, AL, around 2:30, got a beachfront room and headed to the beach for some swimming and were interviewed by Fox10 TV News. Gulf Shores is a typical beach/spring break type community and we're fortunate to have barely missed the ever-growing Spring Break season.
Quote of the day: "Damn the torpedoes - full speed ahead!" - Admiral David Farragut, during the Civil War's Battle of Mobile Bay.
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Shrimping on the Gulf
Will's audio message
 We tried grits for the first time this morning at the famous Waffle House. Will gave them a thumb's down, while I thought they were so-so. We rode along the beach through Gulfport and ito Biloxi, where we discovered an opportunity to go on a shrimping expedition. While this diversion was fun and worthwhile, it caused us to shorten our sights for an overnight destination. Originally we were hoping to get to Dauphin Island, but only made it to Bayou La Batre, which claims to be the Seafood Capital of Alabama. After learning how to pronounce Bayou La Batre, we had some fried (!) crab legs for dinner.
Tomorrow we plan to cross the 4-mile bridge to Dauphin Island, explore the 4-mile long island, then take a ferry across Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan.
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Gulfport was too cool to pass by!
 We got another early start today out of Waveland, MS, and were planning to ride 70-80 miles to get close to Dauphin Island. We stopped at an Oceanarium in Gulfport after checking with the management and getting permission to bring the bike inside to park. Will was enjoying playing with the dolphins and sea lions so much that we checked into a beachfront Holiday Inn so that we could return to the Oceanarium, hit the beach, and get some good seafood. We were hoping to make Pensacola by Monday evening, but we just learned today that the Blue Angels (the Navy's precision flight team) will not be practicing there on Tuesday morning like we thought. We are both enjoying the Gulf and would like to extend our time through this area. Our original route leaves the Gulf near Pensacola, but we may amend it "on the fly". We haven't been on the planned route since mid-Texas.
Our computer is fixed and on its way to Pensacola. We plan to update the entries from the last week with pictures as soon as possible.
Friday, April 25, 2003
Diagonally through New Orleans and into Mississippi
 We departed our hotel in Luling, LA, at 6:20 and took US 90 and neighborhood streets to the Jackson Avenue ferry across the Mississippi River into downtown New Orleans. We stopped at a bike store in the French Quarter and replaced our knobby Walmart tire with a slick, high pressure touring tire. (The new tire produces a rougher ride but is much faster.) Upon exiting New Orleans to the northeast, we passed the NASA Michoud Space Center where they build booster rockets. There was a very impressive booster out front from Saturn V.
We stopped to help a large (about 2' in diameter) turtle in his quest to cross US 90 and later came face-to-face (about 6' away) with an 8' alligator.
We finally caught sight of the Gulf of Mexico off the right side of the road with Lake Pontchartrain off the left; we were on a 2-lane highway with waterfront properties on both sides of the street. We saw some new roadkill... an otter!
We entered Mississippi and passed by the Stennis Space Center, where NASA tests rocket engines. We cruised into a Holiday Inn in Waveland, MS, after 75 miles.
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Weather day in New Orleans
 Will's audio message
Severe thunderstorms all day today. We were prepared for the weather and will stay in our nice Comfort Inn next door to a library, which we need since our computer is in the shop. This storm produced some tornadoes and baseball-sized hail yesterday in Texas, but should just be heavy rain and high winds here.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Morgan City to New Orleans through swampland
Will's audio message
 Will and I left Lynn and Katie at the hotel in Morgan City and departed at daybreak. They left a few hours later and passed us on the highway as they headed for their flight back to Chicago.
We started our day on "old" US 90 alongside many shipbuilding businesses on one of the many waterways that lead to the Gulf of Mexico. The highway continued northeast through swampland full of alligators (we saw maybe 6), turtles and many cool looking birds. We again saw signs warning of black bears. At this point, we really don't need much incentive to find a hotel rather than camp. Maybe we'll be able to camp along the Gulf in Mississippi, Alabama or Florida.
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
New Orleans with Diane and Erv
 We left the bike in our hotel room in Morgan City and drove to NO to meet Lynn's sister Diane and her husband Erv. Diane and Erv treated us to a great cajun lunch at Mother's, we walked down Bourbon Street and shopped at the flea markets along the Mississippi River, before driving back to Morgan City for the night.
Palindrome of the day: "A nut for a jar of tuna."
Monday, April 21, 2003
Tailwinds! Thunderstorms! Blowout!
Will's audio message
 We got a great start out of Lafayette today and took advantage of the rare north wind. We had to stop 3 times to let thunderstorm cells pass by; one time we had to take shelter under a huge farm implement. We had an unexplained blowout of our front tire, and pulled into a nearby carport to escape another approaching storm. The homeowners there, Howard and Catherine Matt, were wonderful and drove us back into town to buy a tire at Walmart. We still need to find a bike shop, as this tire is qualified only for "emergency back-up" duty.
Lynn and Katie shipped our laptop back to Fujitsu for service. We will not be able to post pictures until we get it back toward the end of next week.
We met Lynn and Katie in Morgan City and found a little restaurant for a GREAT meal of crabs and crawfish.
Sunday, April 20, 2003
Easter Sunday with Lynn, Katie and the Judice family
 Will and I are enjoying our visit by Lynn and Katie, and we had a great day today on a tour of the area given by Rex and Tami Judice and their 8 year old son Wyatt. We drove to a great park filled with herons, turtles and alligators, then went to visit St. Martinville, a wonderful century old town of huge old oak trees and churches.
Tomorrow Will and I plan to ride southeast to Morgan City. The forecast is for thunderstorms and wind out of the northwest. At this point, I will gladly ride through rain in exchange for a tailwind, as the predominant wind here is out of the south. Lynn and Katie will meet us in Morgan City after touring the Tabasco plant on Avery Island.
Saturday, April 19, 2003
Alligator, seafood gumbo and shrimp for dinner
 Will and I departed Crowley around 10 am for our 3 hour ride into Lafayette to meet Lynn and Katie. A strong quartering headwind lengthened the trip somewhat, but we were still able to beat them to the hotel, since they had to drive from New Orleans after flying from O'Hare. We have a great 2-room poolside suite at the Comfort Inn that is indeed quite comfortable for the next 2 days or so.
 This area is referred to as Acadiana, and is rich in Cajun culture. We had a fine dinner at Prejeans that included alligator, crawfish, shrimp and some very rich soups. All of the foods were substantially richer than we are accustomed to, and tasted great.
Our wildlife highlight of the day was watching a hawk swoop down and grab a live rat in its talons and fly right across our path about 10 feet ahead of us.
We plan to attend Easter Mass tomorrow and meet up with a fellow cyclist that we've been communicating with since the start of our trip. Rex Judice has offered to show us around the area.
Friday, April 18, 2003
Crawfish, turtles and frogs everywhere
 We got another late start out of Lake Charles; we seem to be losing the enthusiasm required to leave right at daybreak. We never get to bed until after 10, despite being tired enough to go to sleep around 8 pm. We have much to do in our "free" time, such as bike maintenance, laundry, homework, responding to email, updating the web site, etc.
We tried to design our own route today. We learned from previous cycle tourists that US 90 was not as good as it had been. I bet we spent 3 weeks on US 90 before we arrived in San Antonio; it treated us well with low traffic volumes (I-10 is usually nearby) and good shoulders. Although I-10 is still nearby, US 90 is only 2 lanes with no shoulders and a little more traffic than we like. We manually programmed a route using the GPS software, but wound up on some dirt and gravel roads which were unacceptable. We worked our way back to US 90 and tried to hold the white line into Crowley.
We spent much of the day riding next to diked and flooded rice fields. We're told that they become crawfish fields between rice seasons. We saw many crawfish, turtles and frogs in the roadside ditch. Will badly wants to catch something to send home with Lynn. We saw many rats near the rice fields that would scurry around as we passed, and Will was glad his feet are 2 feet above ground level.
We stopped at a supermarket in Welsh and they were excited about our trip and took our picture. I find it interesting how people view us, as some people see this as a wonderful father-son vacation adventure, and others view us as homeless vagabonds. A man yesterday asked me if I was a "doctor or lawyer"; a woman today wanted to know if we were "moving" to Florida.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Adios amigos en Tejas; bonjour les amis dans Louisiane
 We officially left the "Southwest" and entered the "South" when we passed our first Waffle House in Beaumont, Texas. The change had begun back in Liberty, TX, (40 miles west of Beaumont) when the small restaurants and roadside stands switched from "Texas Bar-B-Q sandwiches" to "Shrimp and Crawfish". We even started to notice some Cajun accents 50 miles prior to crossing the Sabine River on our approach to Louisiana.
Our ride today was pretty nice. Long, flat, straight highways with clean, well-paved shoulders, and a slight (5 knot) tailwind. We were cruising right along so we limited our rest stops; one day a few weeks ago we had a tailwind in the morning, but when we got back on the road after a long lunch, there was a headwind. We weren't going to let that happen again. We even passed up some batting cages that we could have used to tune Will's swing.
We are in Lake Charles, Louisiana, tonight at a Days Inn. Lake Charles seems to be a resort-type town with some large casinos and many hotels.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Flatlands!!!
Will's audio update
 We departed The Woodlands around 8:45, with Pete leading the way for about 15 miles. He had to turn back around 10, but we certainly enjoyed our time with him. We found that we shared many interests. We would've stayed for another day if we had more time.
We are finally in a flat area! This was the first day that we didn't need the small chainring! The sides of the roads for most of the day were heavily wooded. It's great being in an area with towns every 10 miles or so. We actually passed up a few mini-marts for the first time this trip.
The wind was strong out of the south, but we were eastbound for much of the day. We finally got a chance to take advantage of the wind when we came upon a golf driving range facing north. I hit a couple drives beyond the 300 yard marker and Will was booming them.
We stopped to fish again off of a bridge, but had no luck catching dinner. We stopped to sit on a bench at a Baptist Church in New Caney, and met the pastor, Bro. Ed Thierbach, who we enjoyed speaking to for a few minutes. Ed is a fellow cyclist, and a former Air Traffic Controller.
We found a hotel in Liberty that might have been OK back in the 60's when they stopped maintaining it. We could've continued for another 15 miles probably, but we're told there are no hotels until Beaumont, 40 miles east. We're tired of camping, and it was a little rainy today.
Song of the day: "Lollipop, lollipop, O, lolli-lollipop" (Only the words of the first line are known)
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
We're north of Houston
 We left Hempstead around 7:45 am and were thrilled to find a flat road with a great shoulder and a crosswind. We had breakfast at McD’s, since Will is making a run for the car in the Winning Time contest. No car yet, but he did win a Big Mac and large fries. He claims to have a system that can't lose.
Pete met us with about 12 miles to go and led us to his beautiful home in The Woodlands. The Woodlands is a community with beautiful dense pines everywhere, golf courses and bike trails. We met some neighbors and headed out to dinner to meet my niece Michele, who is a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Houston and works on political asylum cases. We had a great dinner courtesy of Pete and returned to his home to talk. Michele is ready to start law school at CUNY in the fall.
Song of the day: "The 12 days of Christmas" (or 10 days, anyway)
Monday, April 14, 2003
LaGrange to Hempstead, Texas
 We pulled out of LaGrange about 8 am and headed northeast guided by the GPS with its mapping feature. We had formed the route with the help of our new friend Peter Nolan, who was introduced to us as a Houston contact through the San Antonio Wheelman. Will and I programmed the route into the laptop and uploaded it into the GPS; the GPS can then give us a moving map and prompts for all turns.
The widflowers around here are spectacular, and we're told the season is almost over. We've seen huge fields full of red, blue, orange and mixed flowers. We came face to face with a snake at a picnic area, but he turned to take off before we had a chance to. Roadkill numbers were down today, led by a dozen armadillos.
Peter and his pal Steve met us around halfway on our trip to Hempstead and escorted us into town, then took us to dinner.
Sunday, April 13, 2003
More hills and headwind
Will's audio message
We left Lockhart at 7:30 this morning into a fog on seldom used country roads through areas of cattle ranches. The terrain throughout the day was long, rolling hills, and we pulled into LaGrange around 5:30.
We are now officially past half-way on our trip. We passed half-way on the difficulty chart a long time ago, but we’re pleased to have more than half the miles behind us.
Saturday, April 12, 2003
We love San Antonio
 We left San Antonio bright and early escorted by George Rutherford (our hero), Debbie, and her daughter, Cassie. About 18 miles out, we had an explosive blowout of our rear tandem wheel. There was a 4” split in the sidewall that could not be repaired, we had no spare, and we were in the middle of nowhere. That tire had been specially ordered back home before the trip from our local bike shop. George made a few phone calls and Bike World, San Antonio’s largest bike store, delivered the exact tire to us in an hour! It pays to have friends in high places!
We continued to Gruene for a great Mexican lunch, courtesy of George; they then turned south and returned home, leaving us to fend for ourselves the rest of the day. Will and I continued to Lockhart to a so-so hotel, some laundry, and some TV.
Friday, April 11, 2003
A fine day in San Antonio
 We are staying near the airport, so after breakfast we walked over there to visit my brothers and sisters at the tower. We had a great tour of the tower and tracon and enjoyed chatting with the controllers for 20 minutes or so; Will helped them work their way out of some jams during an inbound rush :-). We then caught a bus for the downtown area, and enjoyed the tour of the neighborhoods on the way.
The downtown area is really great. We first found ourselves at the famous "riverwalk", and took a 45 minute boat ride through the narrow twists and turns of the San Antonio River. The river is about as wide as a 2-lane country road, with sidewalks, restaurants and shops on each side. We then walked over to the Alamo for a self-guided tour, followed by an IMAX® movie "Alamo... The Price of Freedom". It was a good education about what happened there in 1836.  We stayed for another film, "Coral Reef Adventure"; we try to catch IMAX® films whenever we can. We wandered around downtown before heading back to the riverwalk for dinner; it was starting to get busier down there with Mariachi bands, portrait artists, and many more riverboats. We ate dinner near a busy "T" intersection of the river that probably could've used a traffic light! It was fun to watch the action while enjoying our Tex-Mex fare, with a bottle of Lone Star beer (just so I wouldn't look out of place!). We took a bus back to the airport and enjoyed chatting with the driver.
We plan to depart the area tomorrow morning, bright and early, and will try hard to get to New Orleans before Easter. That will be tough, but we should be rested enough, anyway! And some people say that a good sports massage is worth a 3 day rest. We should be as good as new!
Thursday, April 10, 2003
The San Antonio Wheelmen welcome us to town!
Will's audio message
We left Devine at 7:30 am into unseasonably cold weather (about 40oF) and headed east on the route suggested by the Wheelmen to avoid the city traffic. We were about 30 miles into our trip when a pick-up truck passed us, then pulled over a few blocks ahead. A man got out of the truck, walked around to the back of the vehicle, opened the tailgate, put 2 Gatorades on the roof with some snacks, and said, "Hi Dave and Will!". George Rutherford (who completed the Southern Tier in '98) of the Wheelmen gave us a great welcome to the area! He then helped us get to our favorite physical therapy office, Spinal Dynamics, and Julie Barnett, PT, who so graciously offered to provide some sports physical therapy to us! The staff at Spinal Dynamics treated us like celebrities; we were treated to lunch, given massages and other therapy. Julie did a cross-country tour 2 years ago, and we are learning of this special bond between those who cross. Thanks Julie and staff! The president of the Wheelmen, William Hudson, tracked us down at Julie's office to offer his support, and visited with us for awhile. George then helped us find a hotel, and we've decided to spend another day here in town to check out the Alamo and the rest of downtown. Thanks George!
We learned of an incident last week in the area that involved a lion getting loose from a game preserve. The lion ultimately was shot by police officers when it charged at them. I guess being chased by pit bulls isn't so bad!!
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
We circumvent San Antonio
 We left the hotel in Uvalde while it was still dark out to head across the street to Jack in the Box for breakfast. We were ready to depart at first light. About 5 miles out, we were chased by 3 pit bulls. I got the first one right in the face with the HALT! and he immediately broke off the chase. We were able to outrun numbers 2 and 3; numbers 4 and 5 were chained in the yard, presumably the meanest of the 5. We think that these people must have been breeders.
We later stopped in Yancey at an old general store run by a real nice lady who we spoke to for awhile about some local customs. One of her friends came by on his way home from the livestock auction with a Hereford bull and a donkey. The $1,000 bull was on his way to his new job as a daddy, and the $200 “guard” donkey was hired to keep the coyotes off the goats.
We rode by some exotic game ranches where one can pay a fee and hunt animals that are not native to this continent. Other ranches raise deer to be hunted on game ranches.
We arrived in Devine (on I-35 about 25 miles SW of San Antonio) at about 5 pm after 68 pleasant miles.
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
A little too windy to ride
 We took an undeserved rest day in Uvalde today due to 35 knot winds and threats of thunderstorms. As it turned out, we probably could’ve put a few miles in, but we enjoyed resting and walking a few miles to check out the town. We played a little baseball to keep Will sharp as his team in Barrington is already practicing without him.
Monday, April 07, 2003
Del Rio to Uvalde
 We departed Del Rio, which after a 2 day stay is more like a "home" than our other stops, at 7:30 and headed east. And we don't want to sound like whiners, but we had another 15 knot headwind. The terrain was manageable, with big, rolling hills. We stopped to watch some Air Force trainer jets in operation at Laughlin AFB; there were 3 in the pattern while we were there.
We have been stopping at the Texas DOT "picnic areas", which are every 50 miles or so. Today we met a couple with a motor home who came up to us and said, "We heard about you guys 2 nights ago at a campground about 200 miles east of here". Apparently our reputation precedes us!
We have been seeing the Border Patrol a dozen or so times every day for the past couple weeks. They seem to be pretty intent on doing their job right, but have never even looked at us twice. And we've finally figured out some of their tricks. We've seen tractor tires chained together in groups of 3 about 20 times on the south side of US90. The Border Patrol guys drag the the tires every evening to remove any footprints between the ranch fences and the road. Then every morning they drive along the area very slowly looking for footprints. We've been through 3 or 4 mandatory "Immigration Checkpoints" on US90.
We rode 70 miles today, which is more than we want to into a headwind, but we had no choice if we wanted a hotel. We could've camped, but a lady at lunch was talking to us about our overnight habits and she said, "You guys better be careful with those rattlesnakes! They're coming out now you know. My husband had to kill 5 of them yesterday." We try to be somewhat macho about this adventure; we both do things routinely outside that I would not have done a year ago if you paid me. But I'm not sure about this rattlesnake thing. And we don't really want to encounter some of these other things, either. Check out that wild boar (?) in the picture! It was the Inn of Uvalde tonight. Will wanted to camp, but I was able to persuade him to my way of thinking.
Will continues to be the ideal partner for this adventure! He's kinda tough to get up in the morning, but the rest of the day he provides endless entertainment and is just soaking up the educational benefits presented to him. He goes weeks without seeing another kid, and easily fits into conversations with adults. He sings and jokes all day long, and provides needed encouragement often. We will never forget this time together. I need to close this entry before I get emotional.
Sunday, April 06, 2003
Rest day in Del Rio, Texas
Will's audio message
We spent Sunday in Del Rio going to church, catching up on our internet duties, doing some laundry and resting by the pool. We also caught a movie at Will’s request.
We are in contact with some members of a San Antonio bicycle club who are helping route us through their area. We have decided to pass through or south of the city rather than go through the very hilly area between SA and Austin. We hope to rejoin our route on the other side of SA, and then continue north of Houston as originally planned. We are really looking forward to passing through towns every 10–20 miles, rather than every 50-60 miles between towns since we departed the left coast. It will be nice to drink something in the afternoon that hasn’t been cooking all day in the sun!
We hope to leave here at sunup tomorrow, but it is getting increasingly more difficult to figure out when the sun comes up. Over the last three weeks we have passed from PST to MST to CST to CDT. During this time, first light has ranged from 5:40 to 7:30 am.
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Comstock to Del Rio in the rain
 This morning's weather: low ceiling, visibility about 1 mile in drizzling rain, 15 knot wind RIGHT IN OUR FACES! We had hoped to cruise the 32 miles into Del Rio by 11 am, but we were able to get there by 1. Sometimes I think we should change our title to "America at 6 mph". We went to the bike shop (the first shop in 450 miles!) and got a new chain and some derailleur adjustments. The bike shop mechanic said that there is a headwind coming down here from Van Horn about 90% of the time. I guess we should be happy that we had a headwind about 60%. We found a nice hotel to rest up on Sunday and prepared for the Marquette game on TV (we won't discuss the result, thank you). Will purchased a Super Soaker to help defend us against dogs, and we spent some time together in the hotel pool.
Songs of the day - some of the works of Rory Cooney.
Friday, April 04, 2003
88 miles today!!
Will's audio message 
We left the Desert Air Motel in Sanderson (the best hotel value yet) at sunup after seeing the Weather Channel forecast for a tailwind today. We were cruising right along to Langtry, where we stopped to tour the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center. Judge Roy Bean was a colorful character who administered the law in the USA west of the Pecos River. He would sometimes hold court in the local saloon and was known to sentence the guilty at times to “buy a round” of drinks for everybody in the bar.
We departed Langtry after lunch and hit the long rolling hills toward Comstock with the 90oF sun on our backs and a headwind in our faces. We traversed some breathtaking river valleys and canyons on high bridges and pulled into the Comstock Motel around 6 pm after 88 miles, our longest day yet.
We asked the owner of the motel for a dinner recommendation and she immediately insisted that we take her pickup truck to a restaurant on the edge of town, which we did.
Thursday, April 03, 2003
Our finest day yet!
 Our best day so far! We have been spending the past week or so around 4,000-5,000’ msl (mean sea level), and finally got to descend to about 2,900’. Almost all flat or downhill and a tailwind to boot! We could’ve easily gone way beyond Sanderson, but it’s our last motel for a couple days. We hope to get to Del Rio by Saturday afternoon.
This day was probably the most exciting otherwise as well. We stopped at a dry creek bed (so we can lean the bike up against the steel guard rail; not only is there no shade around here, but nowhere to lean the bike!). As we stood there (there’s also nowhere to sit), we heard a rustle in the desert scrub and turned to discover a javelina (an ugly, nasty, wild pig with horns and big teeth) charging at us! He stopped about 10 yards away as we both grabbed our cameras. We stared him down and he eventually reversed course and trotted off.  While this was happening, I turned to see an F-18 about 1 mile north of us screaming eastbound at about 100’ agl (above ground level). We later encountered a herd of buffalo and a prairie dog.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Marfa to Marathon
Will's audio message
Once again we followed US90 and the old Southern Pacific RR into Marathon. We camped out Wednesday night as about 4 thunderstorms passed through the area. Will slept soundly as I prepared to be blown into the next county.
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
The promise of a tailwind was an April Fool's joke
Will's audio message
We departed Van Horn at first light with the hopes of a 100 mile day, wind permitting. Unfortunately, the wind was right in our face for the first half of our day, and across our path for the rest of the day. We pulled into Marfa and stayed at a wonderful old hotel where the movie “Giant” was filmed (James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor).
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