As expected, it was cold this morning when we left our hotel – it was only 28 degrees and we could see our breath vapor whenever it hit the cold morning air. We had a long day ahead of us, so we left our hotel at just about 8 a.m. The day was pretty uneventful. We decided to take the road less traveled, which would eliminate most of the traffic. The price we paid for that was having to deal with all the dogs that wanted to chase us. We got chased about 4 times that I can remember, and the last two times Mark tried to tactic of yelling “Stay!” to the dogs, to get them to stop. It worked for him and when I tried it, it worked for me also!
We rode a total of 89 miles today. It eventually warmed up to 52 degrees around 2 p.m. when we had stopped in a town named Thicket. It was back in the 40’s by the time we made it to Lumberton, just before 5:00 p.m. The lobby of our LaQuinta was nice and warm, and boy did that feel good! After showering, we each had a post-ride beer in Beth’s room, went out to a delicious dinner in an Italian restaurant, paid a visit to the town’s Wallmart, and then went back to our rooms. I plan to finish this blog, take a look at work email, and fall asleep!
Here are the few pictures I took today.
Tim checking directions on his phone not too far out of Conroe. It isn’t even 30 degrees at this point in the ride!
Tim at the McDonald’s Restaurant in Cleveland, TX. It had warmed up to 36 degrees at this point in the ride.
Blooming tree along Farm Road 1293 between Thicket and Honey Island, TX. The roads were flat today, which was great. But the scenery, for the most part, was pretty forgetable.
We have 80 miles to ride tomorrow, in weather similar to what we had today. And tomorrow, we finally leave Texas, where we have been riding since the end of Leg 2.