Day # 15... Goodbye Desert!: Listening to Crickets and Frogs in Camp Wood, TX

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Thursday April 10, 2008, 113 miles (182 km) - Total so far: 1,441 miles (2,318 km)

I finally left the godforsaken desert after being surrounded by it for 3 weeks. (1 week in Mexico and then 2 on the bike). I quickly made it to Del Rio this morning, covering 32 miles in an hour and a half and then cut east towards Bracketville and a final long push of 49 miles into Camp Wood. There was nothing for that long stretch except a very few ranches out of sight from the road. It was pretty and I only saw a few cars all afternoon. It was around 95 degrees and I was loaded down with water but got close to running out with about 20 miles to go. I was getting severely dehydrated but managed to push on, finally stopping at a farmhouse with people outside to ask for some water from their hose. They insisted on cold bottled water and came back with 4 bottles! I gulped down 3 in a few minutes and talked to them about hummingbirds; they had just put up a feedeer and there were 4 of them flying around getting their nectar on. When I got to town I found out there was a motorcycle rally going on and only 2 rooms left, 1 at each of the motels in town. One was smoking, the other was not. I got the non smoking room and then had a really good burger at BJ's cafe.

Additionally, there were some cool highlights today and no real lowpoints except the dehydration.

Highlights:
-tailwinds all day.
-smooth tarmac out of comstock.
-making it through del rio without having to stop.
-seeing some cool planes flying around an air force base.. F-16's and some high-performance single-engine trainers.
-some random creek under the road called Sycamore Creek.. Amazing! The water was crystal clear and looked like something in the carribean. If I knew it was safe/clean I would have jumped in.
-getting one of my care packages in Bracketville, and mailing 2 maps home and my leg warmers and long fingered gloves.
-strawberry milkshake at Bracket Burger and Shake. Yum!
-seeing another rediculous police stakeout on the road with no traffic. Got another picture too!
-meeting Bill Easley (no journal) of Cincinatti in the middle of nowhere. He's a westbounder, doing the same route as me in reverse. We traded stories and road conditions and noteable places ahead.. Including his dog-attack locations. He's been chased 3 or 4 times already and has pepper sprayed a dog or 2 already. He got me freaked out and when I found out he had 3 cans of "Halt!" I offered to buy a can off him and he just gave it to me! Sweet! Super appreciated that one. No less than an hour later I had a mean looking mutt come after me.. I grabbed at the spray but didn't have to use it because the dog stopped at it's property line. Whew. At least I have some protection now. I'd feel better spraying an attack dog than kicking it or something mean like that.

Sometime tomorrow I think I will hit the halfway point for the trip. I'm wondering what I'll feel like when I hit the Atlantic. Probably surreal.

Tomorrow there is some climbing to be done but I am ready for it. Bring it on!