(Note: I am posting this and subsequent road stories late. For reasons known only to the computer gods, I could not post during the trip. I started this trip on April 17.)
It was beyond humid. As I was packing the scooter this morning, I looked at the sky expecting rain, but the weatherman said no - just low clouds. I was still inside my subdivision when the humidity became liquid. No, not rain - just enough moisture to crap up the windshield.
And I was off on a ten day ride - five days to get to Las Vegas, three days at the reunion of the men of B 3/7 Infantry I served with in 1967, then five days back. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. The weather stayed cloudy with a hint of mist all during the day - and it was windy. Fortunately, it was behind me most of the time.
Riding the back roads, I came across the Eagle Ford shale area south of San Antonio. This is brush country, and until recently was good only for ranching. But the development of the technology known as fracking has turned places like Cotulla and Tilden into boomtowns. The two-lane road is traveled by lots of heavy trucks - and had some signs I had never seen before.
Seismic
testing? I knew they were searching for more oil shale, but I half
expected the feel the ground tremble.
I refueled at Tilden, then put some more miles behind me before enjoying a plate of huevos rancheros at a cracked vinyl seat Mexican restaurant in Jourdanton. Back on the road, I was happy to finally roll into the Texas hill country. South Texas is boringly flat - not much excitement riding through endless miles of flat brushy terrain. As I neared Bandera, the rocky hills began and nicer vistas opened up. The road was not exactly the twisties, but it was a lot more interesting than the first hours of the ride.
In my room in Kerrville - tomorrow will be a much longer day.