Miles total: 2762
Toured The Alamo before I left San Antonio. Wasn’t expecting a whole lot — thought it was really just the facade of the church — but the entire church had been restored/rebuilt, and the surrounding grounds had some nice historical markers in addition to a gigantic monument. Hallowed ground if you’re a Texan I guess.
The ride was straightforward. Take US90 due west for 400 miles. Aside from a brief patch of sun in San Antonio it was thick overcast and a brief shower for the first 250 miles.
There’s this curious thing when you drive west where right around the 100th meridian the landscape suddenly changes to desert sagebrush. I noticed this near the Colorado/Kansas border in 2016. Today it happened just west of Del Rio TX, almost exactly on the 100th meridian. That’s also where I got close to the Mexican border, and even had to go through a US Customs checkpoint. For the next 100 miles it seemed like the few vehicles on the road were Border Patrol pickups.
Marfa is an interesting oasis in west Texas. Its claim to fame was being the shooting location for the 1955 film “Giant” (James Dean’s last movie).
Steve, your chronicles are awesome. I am catching up tonight on your last 8 days of adventures, and so far enjoying riding vicariously with you. A lot of history lessons, I spent the last hour searching Google for your spots, the potato flour donuts, the non-public funded capitol, and why the Mississippi river moved south. I am also delighted to see that someone can become extremely famous with a reporting household income of $1K @ year. Keep up the good spirit and the great writing throughout your trip. Don't pick up any hitchhikers in OK, or near the Mexican border. Cheers!
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