My roommate for last night is one of the few ladies that made the entire 111 miles in those terrible windy conditions. I sat outside waiting for my laundry to finish. They had some machines sitting outside next to the hotel, uncovered with coin slots, so a few of us did some laundry as the places for washing are few and far between for this next week. While I was sitting there looking at the dark sky, I was watching the these nine palm trees tops dance and move about in the relentless winds. They were around the pool and playground across the parking lot. The palm tops were swishing this way and that in the night and they reminded me of Cousin It on drugs thrashing to and fro.
This Monday morning, we left for a calm, fairly easy 42 mile ride to the outskirts of Brackenville, TX. Officially, after a week, we are in central Texas. There was no hurry to rush out today as we had a “short” ride and the terrain had some gradual climbs that were not that steep. The temperature soon reached the low 80's and you could feel a little more humidity in the air. We headed through Del Rio where there were shops of all sorts and more greenery. It felt like we were in civilization again. There was a breeze but it started to wane as the day went on, so different than yesterday. The shoulder was smooth and I commented on how refreshing and stress free this ride was. The we hit Texas chip seal and bumped our bottoms, and numbed our hands and feet the rest of the 22 miles. Just as we were about ½ mile from our destination, several of us stopped at a Mexican food place. I had the cheese enchilada special of the day for $3.99 with an orange juice. The food was good and the price was very reasonable.
We headed down the hill and turned into the Fort Clark Springs, just outside of Bracketville, which used to be an old post for infantry in the 1800's. Much of the post is stone construction and they have turned it into a gated recreational and retirement community with about 2,700 acres. There is a large spring that feeds into a large swimming pool with a year round temperature of 68 degrees. Several went swimming and I dipped my feet in for some relief from the warm day. We are staying in one of the old barracks. I was expecting 8 people in a room with cots, but was pleasantly surprised to find a lovely hotel room for two, tastefully decorated, one of the nicer places we have been.
For dinner we had chicken or eggplant enchiladas, beans and rice, salad, with some lemon pie or brownie pie for dessert. I was so full from our late lunch and dinner, I did not have the dessert. In fact, I was so full, that I went for a nice long walk around the "parade ground" past some lovely and historical homes. One of the homes was for sale for $279,000 and it had 5 bedrooms upstairs and looked like a lovely place to live. John Wayne stayed in this house while filming "The Alamo" way back when. It does cost some money to become a member in this gated community, so I am not sure how much more it would truly cost to own the home, but coming from MA, it seemed very reasonable if you had some type of work in the area.
Going to Campwwod tomorrow and am looking forward to a day off on Friday, April 3rd.
Love to all,
Robin
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