Why did the tarantula cross the road?

Seriously…why would a tarantula set off and walk across the hot pavement?  Not just step out and warm up on the edge of the pavement — no, walk across the roads.  Is dining better on the other side?  Is this the spider equivalent of Frogger?  What would possess a slow moving tarantula to cross pavement?  Can it smell something tasty on the other side?  Hmmmmm??!?!?!?!

As we toodle down the road, we’ve seen plenty of critters….coyote, elk (yep, elk in New Mexico), birds of all shapes, sizes, and eating preferences (seed eaters to meat eaters), frogs (usually dead), lizards (almost always alive and moving very fast), and an unknown number of leaf hopping insects from tiny little crickets to 2.5″ long yellow and orange beasts that are the stuff grade B horror flicks are made from.

I don’t mind the wildlife, but the leaf hoppers are out of control here…. and it is my feet that crunch over the critters… my tires that feel the squish and the crunch… and me that has to put up with the bad karma from killing the critters…. all while the human says, “I can’t navigate around them and the shredded truck tires, Edwina.  You’ll just have to accept it.”. Accept it…. yeah… remember that tomorrow when one of those truck tire wires flats out my tires.  Harrumph….

But, a really nice day.  Tailwind and downhill.  Barely felt the miles even when we finally made it out of the flat, flat, flat part of Texas and into a little bit of rolling hills.  Spent most of the day on Route 66, ending by pulling into a renovated 1930’s gas station/diner in Shamrock, Tx.  The humans purred over their old-fashioned cream soda while us bikes sat outside and watched the world go by.   A very nice day.  Tomorrow we’ll be working again.