Alamogordo, NM to Alpine, Tx
Our intent today was to ride to Del Rio on Hwy 90. The weather had different plans for us. The day started out with gorgeous weather....fairly cool, clear and sunny.
East of El Paso on Hwy 90
Cactus!! Very exciting for a NC girl!
More Cactus
The ride was going along just fine until we ran into this on Rt 90 at Van Horn. We decided that we'd keep going and see if we could get a bit closer to this mess...then re-assess. We rode about 12 miles down the road when we began to see little twisters reaching from the ground up to the clouds. Winds were gusting to 50 mph and the sky got very black...dirty rain drops began pelting us and the whole scene started looking a lot like the Wizard of Oz....so we made a u-turn and headed like wildfire back to Van Horn. I don't think I've ever experienced Skipper riding like it was track day....she definitely won.
The route to Marfa ....not looking promising
So we parked the bikes and popped in Papa's Pantry for lunch....and shelter from the approaching storm. As we ran from the storm, we realized that it was heading right for us. It tailed us closely back to Van Horn despite the fact we made the speed limit look like just a suggestion.
Really cute little cafe.....specializing in Mexican cuisine. Lucky us!
Hands down the best fajitas with home made tortillas I've ever had
The bikes shortly after arrival at Papa's Pantry
And.....20 minutes later
Big puddles all around us..........waited out the storm for a couple hours. It finally began to move past us and we decided to ride even thought it was still raining. The severe part of the storm had passed and the radar looked favorable for reaching Alpine. Unfortunately, we were delayed long enough to have to abort plans to reach Del Rio today.
As we were approaching Marfa, Tx, out in the middle of nowhere, a Prada store sat on the side of Rt. 90. I had to get a closer look at this. In fact it is not a store, but a permanent land art display by Elmgreen and Dragset. Inside the store was merchandise from the Fall 2005 Prada catalogue. Crazy eh??
The Prada goods
Now we are a tad bit behind schedule, so we will be changing the route for the last four days. Stay tuned for Day 9!!
not gonna lie mum...the Prada ghost store is creepy as hell...I'm still sooooo jealous though!! I want some vroom vroom time! Come kidnap meh.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures of the storm on the way to Marfa are stunning. I really love seeing clouds like that and the feel of the air about 2 minutes before the deluge begins. Too bad riding in the rain is so unpleasant. Looking forward to the next installment.
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