Cold and wet

Good Friday April 7th, day 33. Bracketsville to Campwood 44.5 miles or 72 km. Day 10 in Texas

A hot cup of coffee with some oatmeal and yogurt prepared me for the day. Eventhough the forecast called for rain it was dry with pleasant temperatures. There were green trees and high scrubs on each side of the road making it feel like a forest.

I saw several pronghorn Antilopes but they were too far off in the distance to take a good picture. They were majestic animals who can jump over very high fences. Their horns were about 1 meter in length. Quite the sight. 

It didn't last long before the rain made an appearance. It was a kind of misty rain that dropped the temperatures quickly. I put on my rain gear which kept me somewhat dry but my hands steadily got colder and colder. They began to hurt as my gloves became soaked. Time to stop and put on my "kitchen gloves". They kept my hands dry but not warm.

All I could think of was that one of these ranchers would invite us for a barbecue and that he would have a woodstove so I could warm myself. Many ranches I passed but their gates remained closed.

Vicki wasn't doing much better so we decided to stop and have a break. Don had fallen behind so this would give him a chance to catch up with us. However, no Don showed up but instead our 3 amigos from Israel cycled up to us. What a nice surprise! After saying our hellos and hugs I saw what they were eating. Bread with mayonnaise, meat and cheese. Wow we should improve our lunches. It looked so good.

Don joined the group as well and collectively we decided to sleep in a motel tonight. There were 3 which surprised me as Campwood only has 560 inhabitants.  So on we went again. And that's when we met Maurice from France. A space engineering student who had taken off a year and decided to cycle the Southern Tier. He started in Florida but didn't mind the headwinds or so he said.

In town we became confused. The 1st motel called "The Cowboy Motel" wanted $150 per room but Don got it down to $120. So we biked over to the next one. Well let's say it wasn't quite up to par. So Vicki went to the Sherriff and asked for some advice. He told her that this town wasn't safe and the only place safe was the Cowboy Motel.

Camping came at your own risk. A bit fishy but it unnerved us. At least the room is clean and it has comfortable beds. We should have a good night sleep. After a stroll through town we settled in for the night.

Tomorrow is going to be a very tough day. Lots of climbing but under a partial sunny sky.