Mission Trail and Headwinds

Today was our first full day in West Texas. Sometimes there just isn't a lot of civilization out there. In this case our day was just 48 miles because that's where there is a hotel to accommodate us. Our route took us from El Paso to Fort Hancock. It was a short and flat day, but we had a bit of a headwind all day to give us our daily challenge. We came out of El Paso easily enough and soon found ourselves on the "Mission Trail", a series of missions established by the Spanish in the 1600s. The buildings below (Socorro Mission and San Elizario Mission) are from the 1800s and are beautifully cared for. Unfortunately they were not open for us to look inside. We also found a statue of Billy the Kid, who helped to spring the only escapee ever from the local jail. The landscape was somewhat agricultural, although it appears that most crops are not yet in the ground. We saw lots of water being pumped into the irrigation ditches, so perhaps they're getting ready to plant. Still lots of pecan trees, alfalfa fields and the odd winery. Our weather today was on the chilly side; somehow I thought that with the Mexican border in sight we would be having warmer weather and I wouldn't be wearing quite so much wool. Dogs were very much in evidence today. Thankfully most were securely behind fences. I didn't get chased by any but some of the women did. We ended the day with a pie stop and are spending the night in an antiquated no-star motel.