Kountze, Texas

We are now in Texas and we will remain in Texas for many days. The weather is good and there is a noticeable tailwind. We made good time today. We left Merryville and hit highway 96, a busy road with wide shoulders. Log trucks shoved the air violently. The riding seemed a blur. It was fast paced but uneventful.

I saw the silhouettes of cowboy hats through the windshields of trucks all day long. Nearly everyone in Texas drives a large pickup truck and wears a cowboy hat. The people here are friendly but difficult to understand. A thick, sincere dialect sort of rolls out of their mouths in a smooth jumble of words, some of which I have never heard before. The scenery is plain: flat terrain with pine trees. Wildlife is minimal.

We got a motel room in Kountze. There is no official place to camp in town. We decided against camping in Silsbee, a town eleven miles back, because it would have put us out of reach of a US Forest Service campground tomorrow. We’ll be well rested and able to make it from here.

I never thought I would be so sunburned and pocked with mosquito bites in March. The weather really has taken a turn for the better. I only hope the winds stay in our favor. It’s the difference between sixteen miles per hour and six miles per hour.