Fifty-two years ago today, as the leaves colored up
the hillsides of Northern Ohio announcing the arrival of autumn, it was a great
day for going steady. Those of the Boomer Generation know the going steady of
which I speak. Susan and I exchanged high school rings in the parking lot of
Garners Drive-in, the place to be if you were an attendee of Buchtel High
School. The next day Susan had my ring adorned with an angora wrap so as to
make it fit her ring finger.
More to the point of this blog, it was a great day to
be on a bicycle. Today marks the completion of four weeks of riding since we
left San Diego. Starting tomorrow we have 14 days, two weeks, of riding before
we see the Atlantic Ocean. We have covered 1700 miles with 1000 still on the
board. Both of us are feeling good and in good spirits. Furthermore, we have
two nights left before we leave the state of Texas, with four in LA, one each
in MS and AL, and seven in FL.
Last night at the New Life Farm B&B, we used the
kitchen to make an ad hoc dinner from an amalgam of tidbits in the van. To my
surprise, the proprietor, a shortly cropped, gray haired, amiable Texan joined
us. Estimating from her high school graduation date, Amy is in her late 50s. The
contributions of her life’s events made for a delightful addition to our
evening conversation. As all things do, the evening came to an end, so we
retired for the night.
Breakfast was moved up an hour because Amy and husband
Michael had a church commitment. It was great for us that we had a meal ready
at 7:30. The spinach omelets were not only very tasty and abundant, but a
welcome change from the watery, imitation variety offered by the hotels. A
dollop of agarita jelly flavored my toast. The conversation picked up where it
left off the evening before, never stopping until Sara clicked into her
pedals as we moved out onto the roadway. We left town on US 281 into a
pleasantly cool 60-degree morning and a calm wind. Traffic picked up all day as
we rode toward our destination. As the end of the ride, there was an
uninterrupted stream of car traveling mostly toward San Antonio. The hilly
scenery since Del Rio has been exceptional, reminiscent of central Missouri.
As I type this we are in the van heading for
Livingston, TX to spend the night there. If you remember, Livingston was our
stop a few days ago whereupon we loaded the bikes to return to Kerrville. Now
that those links in the tour are filled in, we can continue our journey to the
East Coast. Stay tuned.
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| Looking extra safe in our Safety Yellows in this morning's light |
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| Climbing out of Johnson City |
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