Not much in the way of things to report on the route itself today though.  The Texas panhandle is pretty desolate.  The only action that was going on was lots of large cattle trucks streaming down the highway and the ever present freight trains that pass by every few minutes...we did roll through a couple of small towns today, but the key words here are "a couple."  Tonight we are staying at a Best Western motel right by railroad tracks so I'll probably be able to tell you how often they pass by by morning. 

The traffic was never a problem out here.  Hwy 54 has wide shoulders in New Mexico and Texas albeit when we got to Texas it got a little rough.  There was plenty of room for us to ride even side by side on the shoulder as we passed the time in the saddle.  We did pass our first feed lot today (right).  The winds today were blowing the full force of the aroma right into our faces as we rode by.  For those of you who don't know what a feed lot is, it's an area where they bring cattle to fatten before they are processed and there are thousands of them in every lot.  It's sort of a sad sight because you know that in about 6 weeks, every one of them will have met their fate and a new batch will take their place.  It is quite a sight...and quite a smell especially if you are down wind like we were today, but it's what makes this part of the country prosper.  I guess knowing where that Big Mac comes from makes one feel a little different about eating red meat.

We are off the interstates now so we don't have to worry so much about the radial tire wires we pick up in our tires, but now we have the notorious Texas goatheads.  These little plants produce a round, prickly thorn that plays havoc with anything it touches.  At our SAGs, we had to be careful and not ride our bikes in the grass at all...if we did, we'd pick up so many goatheads that we might as well throw the tire away.  No end to the challenges we face on the road.

Even though it was a tough day, everyone got in by 3:45 even after losing an hour due to entering the CTZ.  Since we had little to do in exciting Dalhart, I offered a drivetrain care clinic before rap and maintenance time.  Almost everyone attended and now we're having a run on chains after they heard one should change it out every 2000 miles.

Tomorrow we do it again...forecast for rain and winds in our face again.  We could use a little luck and some tail winds for a change.  These days that are supposed to be easy are getting tougher...oh well...we continue on.  Savannah won't get any closer if we just sit here and wait it out.  See you tomorrow.