I’m posting from the visitor’s center in Langtry. It closes in about 30 minutes, but I’ll try to get in what I can now, and extend later.
Stocking up on food at Stripes in Sanderson. Top shelf, 250 calories, middle, 300 calories, bottom 350 calories. I got the bottom, of course. Also two breakfast sandwiches.
Isn’t it interesting how once you learn a new name, you start seeing it around?
The turkey sandwich wouldn’t fit nicely into my front pack, so I repackaged it. To the right is a breakfast sandwich. I ate one, and am saving one for tomorrow.
The seam on one of my panniers tore, but I fixed it (I think) with E6000 cement. That pannier had the big and heavy water jug. Since I haven’t had to tap the reserve jug since California, I’m going to a smaller jug, a 64 oz iced tea bottle that I got yesterday. I hope to replace that bottle with a more rectangular one when I get to a supermarket.
These structures were out in the middle of nowhere. Border patrol?
I came upon this stand of Sotol plants by the side of the road. It’s supposed to be good for fire by friction.
There were downed stalks lying around so I took some pieces.
Everything in Dryden is closed except the post office. Leicel (R) is the temporary Postmaster, and Charles Hines was visiting. The post office is apparently the social center for this town of population 7. It was once a bustling town when the train depot was there, but when the depot left, so did the people. Charles told me that those brown millipedes have cyanide in their skin, so don’t touch them. Leicel (newlywed – congrats) said that the purple sage is in bloom, so look for it.
Is this the purple sage?
I am grateful for picnic areas, because I can eat my lunch in the shade. Note the Sotol sticks.
This time, I went over the stile to use the bathroom. Just #1.
The 3-building ghost town of Cedar Creek. The writing on the wall says it all.
Fortunately, it was mostly overcast in the afternoon, shielding me from some of the heat. It was still long.
Or maybe this is the purple sage?
Pumpville, population 0, is where Leicel goes to church.
I made it to the visitor center at about 4:15 pm. Air conditioned, staffed by really nice people. Wi-fi. But no food in Langtry, and no lodging except camping. The former motel/cafe/restaurant is permanently closed. There is camping on the lawn of the community center about a block away.
The visitor’s center didn’t close until 6 pm, so I ran it right up to the edge, taking advantage of the air conditioning, wi-fi, and just before 6, the bathroom.
This is a critical feature of the visitor’s center, a spigot outside with good water.
This is the Vashti Skiles Community Center, formerly the Langtry School, where I am camping.
In the late afternoon, I walked down to the end of the road, where there was a gorge, presumably the Rio Grande. I think that’s Mexico on the other side. No border wall or fence, here. But this area has little enough resource even for guys like me, who have money. The nearest food to purchase is 30 miles away, in Comstock (if it’s open).
At first, I was considering sleeping under the stars, but there were just too many flying insects in the area. I even got a few bites, so had to put on repellent. So I set up my tent. Remember, it’s about 90 to 95 degrees outside.
I heated water for my freeze-dried spaghetti on my camp stove, shooing away buzzing flies and other whining insects all the while. At first, I tried to eat my dinner on the steps of the community center, where there was open air circulation, but the bugs were too annoying. I went in the tent, where I was safe from bugs, but braised myself in the heat. Sweat dripped onto the tent floor from my body.
Initially, I had my sleeping bag laid out in the tent, but even sleeping on top of it turned out to be hotter than just laying out T-shirts. I had all the flaps down, so I was basically sleeping in 3 walls of mosquito netting.
I went back to the visitor center to sit at a table outside and use the wi-fi. I heard a nut fall out of the tree next to me. My first thought was that it was a stone, and second that it was hail. Turned out to be this. Dime in the picture for scale. It’s not a roach, it’s a beetle.
Although I had repellent on, I still got bit multiple times.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m grateful for Langtry, and especially for a water source. But this is probably my worst camping day so far.
Tomorrow, my target is Del Rio, which is another 62 miles, but this time, there should be food at the 30-mile mark, at Comstock. I’ve got to leave early. Riding is much easier in the cool of the morning. The ride to Del Rio is supposed to be hotter, too.
