Sunday October 23, 2011, 43 miles (69 km) – Total so far: 1,542 miles (2,481 km)

We woke up this morning in Hondo to discover two flat tires on Jocelyn’s new tires. We were totally surprised. So after the breakfast at the Regency Motel in Hondo we took both tires off and discovered two flats from the steel wires of the many shredded steel belted radial tires on the shoulders. She has had four flats from these wires. The latest two were from wires penetrating the sidewalls so there isn’t much you can do to prevent that. One left the wire and the other was like a stingray penetration with no wire left behind. After changing out the tubes and finding the local Wal-Mart Tire Center for air we were on our way at 11:30. The first several attempts to get air from the local gas stations air machines failed. The last one that we found working was in Pensacola Florida. These machines are very disappointing and not to be relied upon. We carry two pumps but I can only get a tire to 60 psi even though one is rated to 120.

I had originally thought of maybe getting to Del Rio today with a 100 mile run but leaving so late we only rode 43 miles to the town of Uvalde, Texas. We arrived here at 4:30 and looked at our options. Brackettville where the next accommodations were was about 40 miles down the road – way too far for the 6:50 sunset. So we opted to stay here at the Holiday Inn. We did a full load of laundry then across the street to a local Applebee’s for dinner. We are ready for a full day tomorrow to Del Rio about 73 miles. Many trains passed us today as we rode along the countryside. As one passed I gave the ‘blow your whistle’ sign with my right arm and the engineer complied. We were so stoked! How cool!