Still in Hill Country

I'm in Blanco, Texas tonight. Hill Country. Lavender country, though we're a bit early for that. And, due to a drought, though we are also in Bluebonnet Country, we might not get to see any.

Today's ride, a gorgeous and perfectly manageable 64 mile jaunt, took us through limestone, more limestone. It's drier here than it was when we were lower down. We've climbed back up a bit now and it's arid and, today, hot.

Comfort, Texas is a cutie pie stop where we ate German pastries and bantered with the saleswoman/owner. She was sarcastic and funny and we tossed it right back to her, which made her laugh out loud and shake her head at our audacity. We're always ready with a smart retort, at least I find myself in that spot a lot these days. And, well, we're not FROM here so that's a license for a smarty-pants and, though I don't often let these smarty-pants thoughts OUT in the rest of my life, they seem to be escaping with reckless abandon. It's fun for a change.

And Blanco is a one street town of cute stores and lavender this and lavender that. We had some superlative barbecued beef brisket here along with beans and coleslaw and, for me, an icy cream soda. Hit the spot. And we ran into Brian, a fellow who is riding alone across the country. He knew we were out here and had been hoping to find us. We know of two men from Alaska and one guy from Ohio who are riding now too. And the other day we ran across 4 men who are doing this route from east to west. It's interesting. We compare stories, backgrounds, whys.

Tomorrow we go along some more in Texas. Have I mentioned recently how big Texas is? When we get to Alabama or Mississippi, two days each, we'll not know what to do. I have to say that any preconceived notions I had have all been smashed to bits. This is a beautiful part of the world and I am, still, delighted to be riding my bike on top of these old rocks and through these old hills.

Tomorrow is also a long ride. 94 miles. I'll tell you all about it when I get finished with the ride.
Cheers, until then.

Oh, this picture is for my two sisters, Heather and Lucinda. They've been following these reports and I screeched to a stop to pose in front of this sign. Hello sisters dear!!!
(Love to you both!)
Laurey