11/27

frost. everywhere. tiny fishstick fingers upload our campsite and try desperately to shake icicles from the rain fly and tent poles. i attempt to mix an emergen-c in my water bottle but only succeed in an emergen-slushee. it is 15 miles to hot coffee.

the last few days the twins have been developing great concern over my chronic numb toes. yea, son! my toes are the chron! but instead of being super heady, they spend half the day flip flopped between feelingless and hurty. i am up to 3 pairs of wool socks with no change in my body’s inability to retain heat. the impact of this development is undecided.

Menard was a site for sore brown eyes as we, once again, gracelessly wrestled the hill country. elder twin was having rectum (darn near kill ‘em) dislodging the whole morning which led to a twice clogging of the gas station facilities. awesome.

we held up at the tiniest of swankiest cafes for sometime enjoying a bottomless cup o’ joe and plush recliners. we considered making a home there based solely on the music selection. Elton John, Heart, The Cure; it seemed possible that hero steve’s iDarn wan pumpin jams through the power outlet. it was at this cafe that the waitress informed us that hill country, eh, doesn’t end in the route we’re going. wtf?

and it truly hasn’t. and the winds are coming. after 15 miles spirits soften and the twins pulled over for a pow-wow.

this isn’t fun anymore.

the twins are no babies, but girls just wanna have fun, alright?! going home? nay, that is the last option. but maybe a hitch or two and a chance to actually see some sights. we agreed to two more days in order see if the adventure flame rekindles. and thus we rode 15 more miles.

and steve’s tire went flat.

we hitched to el dorado.

we ate at a quaint mexican joint (one of two restaurants in town) and a kind stranger picked up the bill. we then set our tent in the local park and dreamt of better days and our fears of texas.

the hours before dinner were spent in a local gas station (staple of our stays) which doubled as a hub for aged townies to gossip and chatty cathy the strangers. they mused at out journey and gave tid bits on roads, weather, and distance.

“don’t forget to visit Orla!” one included, and they all laughed maniacally. hero steve flipped through his map and found orla on our route, “that’s one of our stops! what’s it like?”

“The end of the world!” they cackled in delight. senior twin wikipediad it from his iDarn:

Orla; a ghost town in texas that is believed to have 2 residence. there is a post office.

Brother twin gave the frumpy face. hero twin kate signing out.

PS. my elder twin’s flat today was a twofer; a pinch flat caused by a slow leak which brought his tire under pressure. very impressive! i’m still living with a slow leak which means a pump up at every rest. fun! and lastly, el dorado was a strange melting pot of a town. from the increasing mexican population, to the two asian children at out diner spot, to the middle eastern young fellow driving with the while dude who asked us our business, to the full spectrum of economy array. the devil is this multicultural utopia?