Trekking to the Central Time Zone

I noted in my camera some videos that I could not upload to Youtube.com due to a lack of charge on my cell phone and laptop (plus with the tethering to my laptop would have taken over an hour. So anyway, below are two links of Karma running beside me on remote farm roads in rural Texas.

Running in my shadow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DURZTlurLP8

Running with music - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgJD17tvelU

I also forgot to upload this photo of my favorite sun worshiper from a prior day. Can't remember exactly which one.

Sun Worship

So Monday AM, Karma and I arose from our tent, but not before I had the opportunity to photograph the sleepy girl as she rested upon me.

Good morning Monday!! A little cuddle time with the girl.

As promised in my last posting, the large snake skin. Here it is. 

Closeup of the snake skin. I estimated that it was approximately 5 1/2 feet long and it was well fed!

View down mountain on Frontage Road of I-10 that Karma climbed, thankfully. It was about 2 miles.

View down Frontage Road again.

While riding on a long, straight and monotonous road, I saw something I truly wish I could have photographed. It was a Hudspeth County Sheriff's bus and made me immediately think of the movie Cool Hand Luke. The bus was in excellent condition, but was rather old. I wondered about the various criminals who had the opportunity to swelter in that bus over the years.

Sierra Blanca. One crummy town (I sound like Holden Caufield). Almost every building was in shambles, those that weren't were near shambles. Additionally, I went into a restaurant that refused to permit me to eat there because of Karma's presence. I explained her role as a therapy dog. They refused. Because I didn't know of another restaurant in town, and didn't want to search for that matter, I ordered food and ate outside. 

I met a lovely gentleman who was turning into the restaurant parking lot. Karma was off-leash for a moment when he saw her. I told her to sit. She did, and then laid down in the parking lot in front of the truck. He got out and wanted to pet her. She was very receptive to being petted. She rolled over on her back waited for a belly rub. The gentleman and I exchanged information and he said he'd catch up with me through my blog (he already has!).

Karma and I headed out of town with every intention of hitting Van Horn by sundown. But, with a few mechanical issues (with my back and my bike), we didn't make it but rather, slept directly under I-10. Surprisingly, it was much quieter than sleeping beside I-10 the night before. I suppose having 3 feet of concrete, tons of stone and asphalt does tend to limit sound penetration. When getting ready for sleep, I took some photographs of the clouds at sunset (ala Jenny Campbell - my Cloud Queen friend)

Karma and I awoke in the AM and I'm always the first out of the tent. She likes to stay snuggled up in the sleeping bag while I get everything packed.  I snapped a few photos of the moon setting in the western sky.

And clouds seeming to arise from the ground.

Because it had been a while since I took a panoramic view, I decided I should do so by photographing the Carrizo Mountains, first without feet,

then with feet as I lay across a cattle guard crossing grate.

Karma climbed the last bit of the frontage road before we got onto I-10 once again for the final ascent of the mountain and then the descent into Van Horn.

It was strange, but my clock on my cell phone changed to Central time zone before I hit Culberson County - about 12 miles west. Please call Mr. Verizon and have this issue fixed!

We limped (or actually, I limped) into Van Horn, visited McDonald's for some wi-fi, some battery recharging and some relaxation, I made a reservation for a hotel (woo hoo, I had enough points so Karma could sleep under the covers tonight, indoors  -  on a queen sized bed, and didn't cost me anything for this stay!)

We made it to the hotel, were able to check in early, and plopped onto our beds and Karma slept, I wrote and rested my back, and continued to hope my back would be fine in the AM so I could ride for many miles with my friend.