We saw our first cyclist since Cleveland, OH that was actually heading our way (actually a guy in Kentucky was headed our way, but for less than 10 miles). We also saw two guys heading east, so it is encouraging to once again be seeing fellow cyclists on our route. We are looking forward to once again finding some fellow cyclists at one of the campgrounds that we stop at along the way.
We did stop and chat with the guy heading west (we didn't get his name). He was on his first bicycle tour, having started in Lake Wales, Florida a couple of weeks ago (he was doing a fair number of miles every day, which is why he was already in Texas). The irony is that we had talked about how great the roads in Texas have been, especially the ample shoulders. Wouldn't you know it? The shoulders disappeared less than a mile father down the road... (they did reappear later.)
There wasn't much needed to describe the terrain for our first 50 miles today - it was flat. Or more precisely, it was flat and there were a lot of chip-sealed roads. At least there were a few hills the last 20 miles, but we also turned mostly due north, which meant that Alea also had a headwind to contend with.
At least once we arrived at Wolf Creek Park ($21, power, water, non-adjustable push button showers) there was a cool breeze coming in off of Lake Livingston.
The park is run by the Trinity River Authority, which we suppose is a regional water authority. We got one of the funkier campsites here. When we first pulled up we couldn't figure out where the vehicle pad was supposed to be, it having been washed away in some prior rain storm. Eventually we found a scrap of land where the camper could be level fore and aft, and side to side. I think some of our fellow campers were a bit surprised that there was any way to make a decent campsite out of our little piece of chaos, but we did. But it meant setting up in a spot where our water hose can't reach the spigot, so we topped off our tank before setting up for the evening.
It was another hot, humid day, but fortunately for us there was a Mexican restaurant in town that served margaritas. It was decent food, and very inexpensive, somewhat reminding us of Florida. Our theory there is that there are so many retirees on fixed incomes that few restaurants can survive without keeping prices fairly low. At least not in many of the older, more established neighborhoods.
We once again opted to stay put and extend our stay to Saturday night. Trying to find a campsite on a Saturday is a lot like playing Musical Chairs. If you don't have a campsite when the music stops playing, you are out of luck. Staying put relieves the stress of wondering when the music will stop.
We used some of our spare time to get a better idea of where we will be as we head across the southwest. The current plan is to be in El Paso, TX around the 11th of October and in Phoenix, AZ around the 27th of October. We'll likely be in Tecate, CA a little more than a week later, and hopefully we will be heading down the Baja Peninsula shortly thereafter.
I've perfected my technique for dealing with showers that lack air conditioning and don't allow us to alter the water temperature. The technique is "waist down, then waist up." While completely wet, I start by putting away my soap, etc, including drying my ears with a Q-tip. The first clothing to don after a shower is my shorts, so I dry below the waist to accomplish that. Then I dry my feet, so that I can put on my sandals. Then I dry my torso, then my arms and finally I dry my head (where it is still hard to tell if that moisture I am feeling is the shower water or sweat...). Then I quickly slip on my t-shirt, which I have draped over the shower door, reading for that specific purpose. At that point I gather up my stuff and get moving as quickly as possible, as the air movement offsets the sweat that I am generating. From there I either head for our garage fan to have the air flow cool me down, or I climb inside the cabin of our camper so that the air conditioning will do likewise (only much more quickly).
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