Friday June 01, 2007 Ozona, TX

What a wonderful day to ride. Did you ever notice how dogs stick their noses out the window when they’re going down the road? That's what it was like. Just a great mix of weather and smells. Started out from Beaumont about 7:00 and 73 degrees in a foggy mess. Looked like it would rain again, but I figured the rain gods got me pretty well the day before, so I didn’t bother with the rain gear. After about 10 minutes, I came out of the fog, but it still looked like rain. In fact, it looked like rain all the way to San Antonio and got nothing more than a sprinkle. I even braved going through Houston during morning rush hour. It was worse going out of town than getting into it. Lots of construction, but they probably don’t have an orange barrel “season”. After I got west of San Antonio I was driving in “Texas hill country”. What a great part of the country! This part of Texas isn’t like the old black & white cowboy movies. In fact, if you take those pictures, and put a beautiful green to all the grass and trees – that’s what it’s like. Other than my ride through upstate NY, this is definitely the most scenic of all rides to date. I’m finally getting to the part of Texas that looks like how I always pictured it – flat, dry, and brown. I don’t know how far I would have driven except for the fact I saw a sign for a Best Western 90 miles from here (Ozona). Seemed like a good place to stay, since there is no other place around this place. The temps were between 73 – 84 all day long, so other than the wind through hill country, I can’t complain about the weather. Planning on going to Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow in New Mexico to see the bats take off in the evening. Hard to believe that I’m almost ¾ done with the tour, and not even half my allotted 21 days are up. I’m gonna have to really drag my anchor the rest of the way.
As an aside – congratulations to my favorite oldest granddaughter – Maddie - on receiving a presidential award for excellence in academics after “graduating” 5th grade. Grandma Weez in really beaming! As of course mom and dad are also.