Ft. Stockton , Texas

Couldn't blog yesterday because of no wifi or AT&T service in the dead town of Iraan. You can't believe what a sad place that was! We bicycled 14 miles off the route to find it. The town was made up of empty stores and trashy tiny homes. It was unbelievable. The people who still live there are oil drillers. They had a couple of restaurants. We ate lunch when we arrived around three in one of them. But the waitress made it very clear that she had been working since 7:00 and wanted us to hurry up because she was tired. When I ordered the salad bar, even before she took the other orders, she told me to "then hurry and get what you want because I want to put it away". She then started to sweep the carpet with a broom, dust flying everywhere. When she brought the plates out she carried the food with one hand and held on to her broom with the other. When we left we asked if there was a place we could get supper later after we cleaned up. The reply, "The only other one is Isabella's but she only opens if she feels like cooking". Darn, wouldn't you know it, Isabella wasn't in the mood last night. So off to the gas station to pick up whatever we could call supper.
We left Iraan at 7:00 to try and beat the hottest sun. Getting out of Iraan involved a steep mountain climb that was exactly one mile up. Good way to start a long day.
Just yesterday we had drawn the conclusion that the only armadillos that exist are dead ones. Then this morning we spotted our first live one. Now we know why they are always road kill - they are rather slow moving, At least our one spotting was. Also saw several skunks wandering around and then a herd of wild boars. (not sure if the plural is boar or boars, and not sure if a bunch of them is really a herd). Anyway, they were pretty interesting to watch. I hopped off the bike to try and get a picture but I freaked them and they ran off pretty fast.
The ride to Ft. Stockton was long and hot. 67 miles in sun that was dangerous. No place for water or shelter. You just have to keep going. Ft. Stockton is a bigger town but not much going on here either. We tried to walk to one of the many restaurants but they obviously didn't feel like cooking today either. We talked to a man who was from Vietnam and asked him if he'd drive us somewhere to get supper. He had a pickup but since the back seat was full of beer we had to ride in the bed of the truck. He had to go quite a distance to find a place open. We offered to buy his dinner if he'd stay and drive us back to town. He said he wanted to go get his wife first. So he came back with his wife, a teenage boy and both of his wife's parents. It turned out to be an expensive taxi. But after dinner, back into the back of the pickup.
Tomorrow is Easter. Bob was so nice and suggested that I look for a church for Easter morning and we would just get a later start. I started calling all the churches on my phone app. The catholic church only had a mass in Spanish at 11:30. The others didn't even answer. I even tried the "cowboy church".
So I will spend Easter Sunday in the same bike clothes, sitting on that hard seat again.
I will be waiting for pictures of my precious babies in their Easter outfits.
Happy Easter to all my family and to Bob's family too. We will be thinking of you. More tomorrow, if we have service.