More BIG

Another beautiful, cool, Texas day with no head winds allowing for 107 miles of freeway travel. Yes, we have changed our travel plans once again. In looking over the planned route, Leroy just didn’t like the back roads with no shoulders and opted for freeway travel along I-10 – as it is the shortest distance between two points through a lot of nothing. He enjoys the eight feet of his own lane with billows of boosts from passing semi-trucks (the shoulder).

At our mid-morning break in Van Horn, Texas we ran into two very nice young men bicycling from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Seattle, Washington. We enjoyed visiting with Jason Taylor and Aaron Van Gelder (a Dordt College graduate). They had been zigzagging through Texas to visit with family and friends. Hope their travels go well.

Texas is big as far as the eye can see as portrayed in the picture above. It has its own beauty, but really lacks in rest stops, motels, restaurants, and places to relax. We did find a really nice motel in Balmorhea, Texas, population 527. It is located three miles off the freeway close to a State Park fed by a natural spring creating a perfectly lovely swimming hole of which the locals are most proud.

The restaurant recommended by the motel owner was excellent and also owned by his family. It is dubbed as “the best little restaurant in Balmorhea”. We chatted through dinner with two of the local teachers who were all excited about the completion of a junior high 6-man football game. The local school heralds 115 students in K-12.

Miles Traveled 9/18/08 = 107
Total Miles Traveled = 1,065
Trivia = Passed by at least 100 semi-trucks carrying generators to Houston to help with the power outages.
First day to average 13 mph.
Encountered two dead havalinas that won’t be chasing Libby!!