The Super 8, traditional style rendered in plastic.
As we met for breakfast and watched The Weather Channel announcers doing their best to make weather riveting viewing, the group voted to take the day off and wait out the storm in the comfort of the hotel. In their defense, the media warnings were dire and part of our route was closed due to flooding, but I don't know how I am supposed to regale you all with stories of danger and high adventure if we run to a hotel every time the government issues so much as a flash flood warning.
So we did what we always do on our days off and headed to a bike store. The nearest store being in Beaumont, we rented a car and so saw a bit of country along the way. With all due respect to the good and well intentioned people of the Kountze/Silsbee/Beaumont area, this really is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to urbanised areas. If you take a group of people and some land, and then completely remove all traces of culture, this is what you get. I suspect the interesting culture is underground here; not apparent on the surface. Perhaps it exists in the churches, of which there seems to be at least one for each house. It is ironic that a place with such an excess of churches looks so close to my conception of hell.
The impending doom didn't materialize for us and the forecast is for 6 days of sunny and warm weather, so the team is refreshed and looking forward to tomorrow's pleasant conditions and our first new state in 1000 miles of riding. .
One of my strongest memories of Texas will be as a zoological lesson written in road kill. We saw deer, javelinas, rabbits, a variety of dogs and cats (wild and domestic), snakes from 5' to 5", many frogs and toads, turtles (which don't look pretty when crushed), butterflies, dragonflies and cicadas, tarantulas, many caterpillars in brilliant colors, huge buzzards and small sparrow-like birds, the shell of an armadillo, and the infamous nutria (basically a rat the size of a dog that lives in water). The incredible variety of creatures a metaphor for the diversity of everything in this Lone Star state.
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