Update 3/10
After breakfast at the convenience store, we parted ways with Joe and Bryan who were following a different route which would take them farther south to Austin. We left Kent at 10:30 AM, and the weather had cleared, making it again just about perfect for cycling: overcast and cool. We even had a moderate tail wind again. We have heard people say that West Texas in this area looks like a lunar landscape, but we think there is a real beauty to the area. We would probably have to spend some time during the summer to form an accurate opinion. We had previously decided that we would try to make it to Ft. Stockton if the good riding conditions continued, and at the exit for Balmorhea we decided to push on and bypass Balmorhea, the town where we originally planned to spend the night. By doing this we would be a day ahead of our planned itinerary. Not too long after we committed to do this, we began to feel a few raindrops, and we hoped we would not get a downpour. The weather was threatening for the rest of the trip, but we only had a very light rain that did not keep us from pedaling on. About 30 miles from Ft. Stockton we noticed that both tires were getting soft, and we discovered slow leaks in both, apparently caused by the wires from truck tire debris on the Interstate. Since both were slow leaks, we decided to just pump up the tires when they lost too much air and not take the time to change them until that night. This meant that about every 20-30 minutes we had to stop and add air to the tires. With threatening weather and two near-flats we made it to Ft. Stockton at 5:30 PM, completing our trip of 83 miles for the day. The forecast was for rain, so we decided to splurge and stay in a motel. After a great soup and salad bar dinner at a nearby restaurant we took on the task of changing both tires in preparation for tomorrow's ride to McCamey.