Day 12 Saturday January 24, 2009

Overnight the weather took a turn for the worse. We awoke to a temp of 41 with the wind blowing at 20 mph and gusting to 30 mph. Cathey was freezing once we got out of bed and I finally deduced that the LP tank had finally run empty. I am surprised that the 30 pound LP tank lasted this long. We have been using it every night since we got to Louisiana as well as running the furnace at least twice before we left home. I wasn't in any hurry to leave with the wind blowing like it was, so we went out for breakfast and later did a little shopping.
We were west-bound by noon and the wind was still blowing but had diminished from what it had been early in the morning. There is a dam and reservoir (on the Rio Grande) near Del Rio and we crossed one arm of the reservoir on our way out of town. There are a lot of developments started but still a lot of shore area undeveloped. Our first stop was in Langtry, TX which was the home of Judge Roy Bean 'The Law West of the Pecos." There is a Texas Tourist Information station there and right behind it is Judge Roy Bean's Saloon. Cathey was more impressed with the cactus garden that was adjacent to the visitor center and it gave us an opportunity to stretch our legs and learn a little about the desert plants of this region.
Next stop was the Roundhouse Restaurant in Sanderson. US-90 in this area parallels the Southern Pacific RR (which is now part of Union Pacific) so the Roundhouse name actually is a reference to a railroad roundhouse that was located in Sanderson during the days of steam locomotives. Our waitress was Barb, who after asking where we were from and where we were going, told us her story of how she ended up in Sanderson, TX. She had been an ICU nurse in the cardiology department at a hospital in Boise, ID. She said she had enjoyed her work for many years even though it was stressful. She changed her attitude about her work after having one of her co-workers committed to a mental hospital as a result of too much stress. After working successive shifts short handed, she just turned in her resignation and has not looked back. She said what she was giving was more than she was getting out of the job, and she feels a lot healthier now.
Well the Roundhouse had great "Cowboy Chili" and I enjoyed a bowlful, while Cathey tried a big hamburger. It was nearly 5pm before we got out of there so Cathey called a RV place in Alpine and got a reservation there for the night. That was about 75 miles ahead so we got to witness a beautiful desert sunset before we arrived in Alpine. We did an abreviated set-up here - didn't disconnect the hitch from the trailer so we should get a fast start tomorrow.