Day 22 Fort Davis to Marathon

When cycling the roads one notices a lot of roadside trash. You can generally gauge the population density by the volume of litter. Areas of greater population generate higher trash levels. Certainly exceptions exist. The Apache Reservation in Arizona has very few people, but copious rubbish. Of course there is the occasional sofa, scattered cardboard, and tire fragments. But beverage containers seem to dominate the landscape. In the city the discarded is mostly fast food plastic cups, in the country it is cans and bottles. In areas that are economically depressed, alcohol containers predominate. I guess thirsty people and drunks litter the most. Americans seem to accept littering. Many states have volunteer clean up crews that are comemorated with a road sign. Eilene and I have thought about adopting a road for the Eric Okerblom Foundation, although Eric wasn't particularly fastidious. He might not have wanted to be associated with trash. Sure would be easier if people just disposed of their rubbish responsibly.

Today I travelled through 56 miles of rolling hills and lonely landscapes. I ended in Marathon, named after it's similarity to Greece. That's a tall tale if I ever heard one! The geology transitioned from volcanic formations to sedimentary deposits. One doesn't normally think of Texas and volcanic activity. It is a beautiful area. People were rare, and services frequent. This is the pattern that will continue and intensify.