Believe or not, as bad as the Truck Stop Motel was, I slept pretty good last night. Come morning I found out why it's called the Truck Stop. There must have been 50 big rigs in the huge parking lot. How I didn't hear them all through the night is beyond me. Finally a relief for me today, no more I-10. I am now taking small farm roads until I reach back up with my Adventure Cycling maps. I bought an extra litter of water so that when I catch up to Nimblewill this morning I can top him off. Off I went, and rode and rode. I was 15 miles into this mornings ride and no Nimblewill. I know we are taking the same road as we talked about it yesterday. Did I go by him as he was breaking down camp somewhere off the road? I was getting upset that I might have gone by my new friend. I was thinking up a plan to leave the bottle of water on the side of the road with a circle of rocks around it, and a large N made out of stones or twigs. I keep going and not long after I saw Nimblewill by the side of the road as he just finished his morning business. He was as happy to see me as I was to see him. I told him that I had a present for him. A litter of water. He was so happy, as he was down to only a few ounces and still had 15 miles to the next town of Harper. I can be there in an hour biking, but walking it takes half the day. I also made him eat a package of pop-tarts that I had. So we had a roadside breakfast together. We talked more, he recited another poem that he wrote and we were back on the road. He went off as I was packing up my gear, but quickly I caught him and rang my bike bell "Nimblewill be safe and God Bless", I said. I rode off over several hills and I stopped and looked back. He was on top of one hill and I was on top of a hill a half mile away. I was standing in the middle of the street waving both arms overhead and I could see he was waving back to me. I hopped back on my bike with Nimblewill out of sight forever and rode on over countless hills thinking that as hard as this is for me, that there is a man behind me doing this same thing but on foot. I will take that with me all the way to Florida. I rode on through hundreds of ranches, and what seemed like hundreds of hills. I have come up with a new plan for these hills. If they are to steep, I will walk them. It takes to much effort and there are to many of them, and the temperature was a crazy 95 degrees with high humidity today. I think I walked 6-8 hills today and more than likely I could have struggled up them but its not smart to waste all that energy with sweat dripping all over your body, while not being able to replenish your lost fluids fast enough. I sure hope that the Texas Hill Country is almost over. This is one tough state to cross. Maybe because Texas is like a continent by itself. I made it to the town of Harper, and filled up my water and took a short break. On to the German town of Fredericksburg. I was biking along route 290 when a man in a SUV pulls up beside me. His window down as were both moving, he yells out if i would mind stopping. Sure, no problem not knowing what he wanted. His name is Chip and he and his son are thinking of taking a bicycle tour later this summer and he just had a few questions for me. Well, i love talking bike touring so he picked the right guy. Pretty much question and answer with Chip, and i just hope i helped him out. The more bike tourers out here the better. i just haven't seen many so far. I was lucky to meet a nice couple in Subway around lunch time and they told me of a bike shop in town. I needed bike tubes and to my relief, I got them. Now I feel better and not worried about being stranded out here with a flat and not being able to fix it. Talking with the woman at the bike shop, she told me not to cycle into Austin and she mapped out a detoured route to get me back on my bike maps. I took her advise. I was on the quietest backroads I have biked yet. To my surprise this route brought me through the town of Luckenbach, population 3. It is really a tourist attraction due to the country music history that this town has had in the past. Many country music stars have sung about Luckenbach, Texas. I never heard off it. I did stop in and it was a well worth stop. It was a neat little village set up for tourists. It had several old fashion shops, and a bar. Also a music stage out behind as well as a dance hall. I realized that I still have 20 miles to bike with many hills before I call it a day. I made it to the town of Blanco, and stopped by the visitor center. They sent me to the towns state park which is only a few blocks away. What a great place. Blanco State Park, and it has a river passing through as well as a waterfall and a swimming hole. I am beat, so I choose the showers and set up my tent. Yes, my tent! I am finally using my tent. I am so excited and can't wait to sleep out side. I just hope it's not a noisy campground. I am so tired it might not matter.
Photos: The rolling hills - Farmland and trees - Ranch after ranch today - Myself and Nimblewill, sad goodbyes - Low water crossing, watch out for flash floods - Cows on one of the hundred ranches I went by today. - Feed plant - Amazing roadside wild flowers - Chip, hope to see you out on the roads touring, best wishes for you and your son - Luckenbach, TX, looks like the post office has been closed since 1971 - The bar in Luckenbach - A rising country music star playing guitar outside Luckenbach - Population of Luckenbach is 3 - Finally camping, and feels good - Blanco State Park - River, waterfall, and swimming hole in Blanco State Park
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