Day 24

So on Day 23 we stayed the night at the Best Western in Johnson City; front desk clerk Emma set me up with access to a computer and gave cousin Duffy and I a good recommendation for dinner across from the Blanco County Courthouse. Emma arrived at work today to set up breakfast with a bruised “racoon” eye; she told us that last night she had got out of bed to go to the bathroom and tripped over her dog and fell into the edge of her door, eye first. Ouch! But this 19 plus year old, made sure she was at work to help get breakfast started a 0600; a very dedicated and hard worker for Best Western. I forgot to mention too, the clerks at the Best Western in Del Rio, sisters Lexi and Madi, were also excellent representatives; Madi doubles as the manager for a race horse training ranch – and her husband is a bull rider in Mexico and the USA.

We rode from Johnson City, through Austin, and Montopolis, finally staying in Del Valle. We rode over 71 miles and bicycled 4049 feet of elevation gain. We rode through an area south of Austin proper called Barton Creek, which has a golf resort and the steepest climb we made yet. We were fortunate to make some more veteran friends at American Legion Post 83; the manager of the social facility, Ted, told us about the services offered by his post, we met John who donated $20 toward the Travis Mills Foundation; I met Antonio who told me about his journey since his service in the Marines. All members at the post were very friendly.