Texas!

Today we crossed into Texas.  Big place, I hear, although, quite frankly, when your tires are rolling down the road it is a little hard to have significant perspective.

The day started out great as Edwin and I, powered by our humans, road together from Clovis into Texas.  Then we dropped off Edwin at the first sag, found ourselves in a Haldeman-Noterangelo powered peleton for 20 miles and then toodled the rest of the way in with Pat and her trusty Moots.

Texas is odd.  Everything about it is a study in contrast.  Take its politics.  Of course, everyone knows the Bush legacy, but  you also have Ann Richards and Wendy Davis, not to mention Lyndon Johnson.  So was it a surprise that today we’d see contrast towards us riding down the road?  There were the cars and trucks that just wanted us to go away, yet we heard more happy toots, waves and train greetings than the rest of the trip combined.

Unfortunately, not surprising was the number of CAFOs.  The last few days have been in lovely grass lands, but very few cattle.  Today, we found the cattle.  Stuck in CAFOs.  With last night’s rain, the mud and muck and blowing, by the time we got into Amarillo we were all filthy — covered in a brown haze.  But, the human washed me off and I’m looking a little better.  Ready for another day…