Day #31: Sanderson, TX- Marathon, TX 55.1 Miles.

Today, as we filled up our water bottles at the convenience store next to the Outback Oasis Motel, we got closure to our Border Patrol saga. A Border Patrol officer (Agent Kelly Smiecinski) was in the store and asked us if we were the bikers that called in the report yesterday that helped nab the two infiltrators (wow - news travels fast in a small town)... we told him we were,  and he asked if we got our map back (its all about the map).  Getting the map back hadn't dawned on us (we figured that map was gone, and we didn't need it anyway). He explained that often illegal immigrants will have maps with markings for where they should deliver the drugs they are carrying (our map had A LOT of circled markings but they were places we had been... not places for people to bring drugs). He was nice enough to take pictures with us (see below), and he gave us his card so we could send him our blog.  We also wanted his hat, but we can't ride with one of those.


The roads we were on today were absolutely beautiful!! (see videos below)  We were in Sanderson Canyon almost the whole ride to Marathon. We gently gained close to 2000 feet in elevation (our highest elevation of the day was 4350 feet), which was very manageable! The mountains to our left and right were breathtaking and we are grateful that we were able to experience today's ride. We had plenty of water which was good, and we had these great chocolate muffins which gave us the extra push to make it to Marathon.  There was no place to get food or water for the full 55 miles.


After taking a picture at the Marathon sign, we thought we heard 2 people speaking Hebrew at the gas station across the street. We walked over and asked what language they were speaking, to which they replied, Spanish. They explained that it was a slang version of Spanish which doesn't usually sound like Spanish from far away. We bought cold drinks, thanked them, and headed down the road (towards the hotel). Half a mile later, we checked into the Gage Hotel! When we were in Hunt, TX, a man we spoke to told us great things about the Gage Hotel so we were looking forward to it. The hotel definitely lived up to his praises! The pool was clean and nicely chilled, the decor is rustic, the bathrooms are very nice, and the beds are incredible! We just got back from a great vegetarian dinner at the restaurant next door to the hotel. They had great animal heads hanging on the wall (see pics), and the service was great. We tried a new beer over dinner which we really enjoyed (see below). 


Last night's beer (Icehouse) wasn't anything special. We feel that very little love was put into the production of this beer, and there wasn't anything particularly enjoyable about it. We are giving it a 4 out of 10 (we rated it so highly only because the alcohol helped us sleep well).


Tonight's beer was Mirror Pond. This beer is something you gotta try...just see some of the reviews it got..
"outstanding"- Cycle of a Life Time/ "Gotta try this!"- Sloyer Co. 
On a more serious note, the beer had a nice citrus element to it and was very smooth. We give it a 9.43 out of 10. 


Thanks for coming along for the ride!


Check out our route at the link below:
Sanderson, TX- Marathon, TX