Spoking Up

When I left Navasota, TX (not Lavasota, like I wrote before: what a dork)
the skies were threatening to open up. But, my luck held again and the
thunder, lightning and rain held off until I was settled in a campground.
This has happened to me several times: I have been so lucky!
The days and miles keep going by in a blur.
The mental part is the most difficult obstacle to overcome. Sometimes I
just don’t feel like riding a bike. But, after a few miles I settle into a
comfortable pace and somehow I keep managing to put in some good days of
riding.
I rode along, for a few minutes, with a group of riders from the Woodland
Cycling Club, I spent the night at my long lost cousin’s house in
Louisiana, I ate gumbo and I met a cycling couple who were headed the
other way and I will be expecting them to stop at my house when they get
into my neck of the woods.
In the next couple of days I will cross the Mississippi, ride by the
infamous Angola Prison and get into New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras.
The road from here is mostly flat and the countryside is beautiful.
I am getting closer and closer each day.

Friday the 13th and all is well.
I am in Lavasota, Texas. I am maybe three days out of Louisiana. I'm so
close that I can smell the Cajun food from here.
It seems that , purely by chance, I will be near New Orleans when the
Mardi Gras is just getting started. It was worth riding here just for
that! Thanks again to Maria and Syd in Austin for helping me out and
giving me a chance to recover from my accident. While in Austin I
witnessed the most impressive display of lightning that I've ever seen.
The lightning strikes were almost constant, the wind was howling and the
rain was coming down in buckets. Fortunately, I wasn't out on the road
when this storm struck because it was a very violent display of mother
nature's power. The same storm headed northeast into Oklahoma and created
a number of tornados that killed eight people.
Onward to Louisiana. Texas has been difficult for me so I will be relieved
to be moving into a new state with mostly flat ground.
Start the gumbo!!!!