We left the RV park as early as possible this morning. We headed down the commercial strip but missed our turn and ended up in the "historic center". It exuded the melancholy decrepitude of town centers that were once vibrant and are now passed their last hope of survival. I wonder what will become of Del Rio: its center gone it will exist only as a commercial strip on Highway 90 populated by Motel 6, Burger King, Dairy Queen (and Sirloin Buffet), no hint that it has history longer than oldest franchise.
Out of town our route turned 90 degrees (we were going southeast along the Mexican border, we now head northeast towards Austin). This change of direction put the wind to our right side - for which everyone was thankful. As we were leaving town we rode for while with Ryan, Jon and Caleb, cyclists on the same route cross country route, who are raising money for Ryan's mission trip to South Africa. You can read more about their ride here:
http://changingone.com/2009/10/just-around-the-river-bend
As the day progressed, the scenery kept improving. We passed along roads fenced high on both sides. We believe these fences define leased hunting sections. The plan seems to be that people pay to use these pre-stocked sections. They then set out an animal feeder and sit nearby in a small tower and wait. Hmmmm, shooting confined domesticated animals at close range - is that really hunting?
The road narrowed and became hilly. Tall grass came right up to seal on both sides and there was very little traffic. Warm weather. Many butterflies of yellow, red, blue and black. The landscape freshened up with large vivid green trees and grass. Perfect conditions. We are riding into Texas Hill Country.
We did somewhere around 80 miles today. At the last 15 we made a sharp left turn and put the wind behind us for the ride into camp. Yay - the wind behind us. Tomorrow we head deep into Hill Country, which will be, well, very hilly.
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