15 April 2014
Kountze, TX to Merryville, LA
65 miles (Total Miles = 1,920)

Welcome to Louisiana! Four states down, four to go. It wasn’t easy getting out of Texas. It was as if she wanted us to stay, pushing us backward with her headstrong winds. But we persevered 30 miles down the four lane highway, 20 miles along a prettier road with no shoulder and big trucks, and inches past a few dogs that really should live on properties with fences, before making it beyond her eastern border to a small state line celebration followed by a similarly small town aptly named Merryville.

I say aptly because the local folk who run the Merryville Historical Society and Museum who were hosting us for the evening were cheerful and lively, the very definition of merry. They served up gunshots and gumbo and lucky for Gina and I, did not discover that we’re Seahawks fans until after we’d eaten, otherwise I think we’d be a bit hungry right now, being down here in Saints territory. Hopefully they won’t turn us away from tomorrow morning’s breakfast.

Now that we’ve left her behind, a few thoughts on Texas:

Forget the Cowboy Hat, an Easter Bonnet is probably your better choice. It’s been the windiest, gustiest state thus far and let’s hope I don’t have to write that again about any of the states yet to come. Typically no one but sailors and cyclists care about which way the wind is coming from but with headwinds like the ones we’ve faced, even Betty Jo’s beehive ‘do may start paying attention.

Everything really is bigger. Particularly the state. Nineteen days to pedal across. That’s one third of our entire trip spent traveling from one side of Texas to the other. Graduate students write their PhD dissertations in less time than that.

Green is the new brown. Whenever I’ve pictured Texas in my mind’s eye, it’s always been brown and dusty and gritty and mostly like an old western movie. I never pictured the green that took root in the Hill Country and continued to blossom and deepen as we moved into Austin and then all across eastern Texas. Add to that the wildflowers and you come out with a most unexpected treat.

Let’s be honest – I liked the State more than I thought I would. Being the land of the Bush dynasty, Texas was never very high on my list of places to see. But the starkness of the Far West, the intrigue of Big Bend National Park (another ride for another time), the beauty of the Hill Country, the vibe of Austin, and the colorful wildflowers of the eastern range were all Winners in my book and definitely worthy of another look someday.

How Candy stays out of the critter-filled grass