We began the day thinking that while we had a long, hard day ahead with no services whatsoever for 74 miles, it was still relatively flat compared to what we would have encountered going through the Davis Mountains. What we didn’t anticipate was another strong 25mph brutal headwind the whole way. We wanted to explore Marfa a bit before leaving town as it has a thriving arts community built around the work of renowned artist Donald Judd, even though it is literally in the middle of nowhere! We also stopped by Seph’s (one of the fellas we met in Ft. Davis) house to see the art he had displayed there. As we were turning to leave, Seph’s Air B&B guest came out of the house, so we chatted for a bit. Turns out he is also riding his bike across the country, but he’s carrying over 100 pounds of books which he is reading to prepare himself to write a book. We should have told him about Kindle. We got an extended lecture on the economic exploitation based on charging interest dating back to Mesopotamia. It was interesting, but sometimes cyclists needing to go 75 miles just want to exchange pleasantries! We stopped for breakfast at a busy Mexican diner on the way out of town. The service was slow, but the food was good. Another road angel anonymously paid for our breakfast-thank you whoever and wherever you are!!! Finally we got on the road. First we met the sign saying “No services for 74 miles,” then we met the wind! Finally, we realized that our relatively flat road would come only after several long climbs.There are no easy days! We were treated to some unique wildlife sightings- several tarantulas made their way across the road at various times, and Bruce saw a roadrunner (but no coyote🙃). About halfway through our day, we came to the Marfa Prada Store, which is actually in Valentine. The store is an art installation complete with shoes and handbags. It’s so bizarre to see this on the side of the road halfway between nowhere and somewhere! As the sun got lower in the sky, the wind slackened, so we were able to make better time. The mountains took on a beautiful purple hue which we watched for several miles. Finally we watched the sun set over the mountains and finished our ride to Van Horn in the dark. The next day we headed to Ft. Hancock, which is where Andy Dufresne and then Red crossed the border into Mexico in the Shawshank Redemption. Kind of gives you an idea how close to the border we actually are. The first several miles of the day were actually on the interstate! Who knew that was even legal??? Once off the highway we had several chipseal miles before getting to Sierra Blanca. Once again we had wind in our face, but for the most part not as strong as yesterday. On the way to Sierra Blanca we passed a van with a bike on top, then shortly afterwards 3 cyclists on racing bikes with no gear. One gruffly told us they were heading to St. Augustine. Once in town, we met Michael, from Berlin, who we chatted with for some time. He shared some good advice with us, and we shared some with him, and we parted ways. Michael was an interesting fella who appeared to be cycling across the United States in running shorts...(ouch!). We had a breathtakingly long descent into the valley, and the another short stint on I10. When we exited the highway we went south down along a deserted road with the mountain range encircling the desert in the distance. We were totally alone with no signs of habitation. We traveled south for several miles. We could have been intrepid travelers from the 19th century, except our steeds were steel rather than equine. We reached Ft. Hancock and stayed at the only motel in town and ate at the only restaurant in town. As we walked back to our motel, we noticed it was quite a bit chillier than it had been. Total cycling mileage: 79+76=155 Total hiking mileage: 2.5+2=4.5