The Ride - April 22

Today we rode from Mittie, LA to Sillsbee, TX.  Yes, we have entered the Lone Star State!

Texas has so far not been very welcoming to us.  We were greeted with wind and wind.  How much wind?  You know how rain rolls across a car’s windshield as you drive down the road?  At least those who live outside of Arizona probably know about rain.  Anyway, that is how the sweat on my face was today also.  It was rolling from the left side to the right side.  Kind of a strange feeling.

We took some pictures at the Texas state line.  Today we wore our Davis Phinney jerseys so it is a fine looking picture.

I counted nine road kills today – two of which were rather large birds.  I believe I smelled at least another five or six but didn’t see them.   So on average, that is one road kill for every 10 miles traveled.  Not sure why I tracked that today but I needed something to focus on besides watching the miles add up on my GPS. 

While riding through one of the towns I saw an old Hinke Dinke grocery store where the words were actually painted right on the building.  Most have probably never heard of this chain but it brings back memories to me. 

We also saw some Oreo cows.  I’ll upload the pictures when I have internet again but these cows were black on both ends and white in the middle.  I’m not sure if they produce the milk to go with Oreo’s or what but they sure were cool to see.

Shannon stopped to talk to a turtle and take some pictures.  Apparently it was a snapping turtle and he didn’t like all the attention.

The hotel we are staying at, Pinewood Inn & Suites, is a nice place.  We spoke to the owners for a bit and they wanted to see our bus.  They are nice and bought a few of our shirts. 

We ate at Novrosky’s, a local joint and I had chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and gravy.  Mr. Estle paid the tab and I think we all enjoyed our meal and had a good time.   Mr. Estle has a good sense of humor.  He takes our jokes and jabs like a man and dishes them out when he can.  Thank you Eileen (his wife) and Kendra (his daughter in law) for lending him to us.