Day 38 [Deridder, LA]

Update 5:00 am: I was awoken in my tent around 4:30 this morning by strong winds and rain.  Took shelter in the laundry room here at the RV park.  Looks like it may be like this all day and I doubt I'll be able to ride.  I Google'd things to do in Deridder and #3 on the list was "Dairy Queen".  So it looks like if I am stuck here, it'll be with boredom.

Today I feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment as I have conquered our biggest state in the lower 48 by riding through the dead center of it.  Texas represented about one third of my total trip and it was quite interesting to very slowly see it change from a dead desert to a state of dense vegetation.  The western most part of Texas is best left for the cows and ranchers.  There's really no reason to be there unless you hate fresh food and living things.  Once you get towards the middle, the state starts to bloom and just keeps getting prettier the further east you travel.  All in all, Texas took me 18 days and 920 miles to cross.  Parts of it (mainly Austin) I loved.  Other parts not so much.  Some of those days where I'd be doing stretches of 60 or 70 miles without civilization out in the desert...well let's just say there were many moments where I didn't think I was going to make it.  It was all just part of my adventure though, and I am glad I can look back on it and say I did it.

Today was much better than I'd hoped.  I had 50 miles done, and the state line crossed by noon!  The winds that I expected were present, but much milder than originally planned for.  Much of the day was spent at 15-20 mph.  That's warp speed for a loaded touring bike.  There's some bad weather moving in that I want to outrun, and as long as it doesn't impede upon tomorrow's ride I should have another big mileage day.  Since I managed to miss my "welcome to Texas" sign when I entered the state, I took a picture at my exit point just for good measure.