I woke up early and was at the diner by 6:40am. It had rained during the night but as I stepped out of the motel room, I could see stars . . . a good sign. There is a fast moving cold front moving through that will keep the temps below 70 today . . .

. . . but is brining with it a STRONGGG 20-25mph north wind with gusts to 30mph!!! Guess which way we are riding. NORTH!! This could be our toughest day.

I was done with breakfast and on the road by 8:00am, just as the sun came over the mountains. Everyone else left within a half hour.

This is what greeted us right out of town. Two relatively good climbs, 80 miles and the wind . . . it ended up being a big day.

This was one good thing that happened early on . . . large aggregate to medium size aggregate. Much smoother riding conditions!

I looked back on the first climb  . . . big! You can see dome of the guard rail below.

Soon we were in Leakey, where I stopped for some water . . .

. . . and met Keith who was cuttin’ up some good vittles!!!!

Across the street was the The Hog Pen . . . TX barbeque!

. . . already smokin’ at 9:00am!

They are ready for the lunch crowd . . .

Just out of town, heading for the next climb ahead was this sign. A good reminder to the Harley crowd that frequents the Hog Pen and might spend a little too much time at the ‘water tap’!!

Got to find out what this is that grows on telephone lines and all over some trees!!!

The first cut of the next climb . . . long!!!

At the top was a memorial to  Pop’s . . born in 1941. Someone had left a beer!!!!  Nice view.

BIGGGG . . downhill, yippee! The headwind was so strong, and variable in the pass, one had to hold on for dear dear life, both hands!!!

TX voodoo . . .

I think they are wild pigs that farmer’s hang out as ‘trophies’ ???!!!

In the last day, we have really noticed the trees and shrubs starting to ‘pop’. Spring has sprung!!!!

After 55 miles of EXTREME headwinds, and many hours in the saddle, we came to a 90 degree turn, east onto Hwy 39. What had been a less than 10mph/average  ride soon became much quicker. YES!!!!

Afternoon coffee clache  at one of the old watering holes  . . .

. . . I stopped to say hi to these guys. The little one was very apprehensive and backed up. The one with the horns held it’s ground . . . never moved. The rest . . .couldn’t have cared less!!!!

TX rural humor . . .

After 15 miles we came to an impoundment and some very interesting bluffs. LOTS of summer homes along the river/lake as we headed to Hunt, TX.

From Hunt, we had a nice ride along the river to Ingram, our home for tonight. The trees are BIG in TX, too!!!

To bad we are not here this weekend. Would have been fun to go to this rodeo. First rodeo grounds we have seen!

This morning, I went to pull my camera out of my bike bag and when I pulled it out, had a cockroach like this one on the back of my hand. It jumped down on the floor and went under the bed. Tom and Dan track it down and wacked it. Tonight, as I stepped out of the shower and pulled the curtain back this big boy jumped onto the wall. It may have come out of my kit  bag. Probably a few of the critters we brought with us after our stay at Langtry. We saw ‘several’ of their relatives there.

 

It was a big riding day today. Most of it spent with your head down and just grinding into the wind. 80 miles, 5200ft of climbing, headwinds for 55 miles and 8 hours in the saddle. Had peach cobbler WITH ice cream tonight for dessert!!!