June 10, 2023
Day 27 - ending at Goodlett, TX
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I microwaved a cup of yesterday's leftover coffee shortly after getting up at 5:07am. The wifi here at this motel is the fastest I've ever seen, but you have to be outside to get a good signal. There were storms to the north this morning blowing a cold wind from the north, so I worked fast to get yesterday's report posted.
Back inside I started gathering together all the stuff that had been scattered about. I remembered to get out of the freezer the bottles of Gatorade I'd put there yesterday. I've never tried this before so I'll see how that works. At least the bottles didn't explode in the freezer.
All set and on my way at 8:22am, after turning in my key and thanking the motel owner for his hospitality.
My destination for today is Ole Towne Cotton Gin RV Park west of Quanah, Texas - about 66 miles away. But first, breakfast at Subway in town. At 8:48am, I was on my way south on US-183. Flat road ahead, and that strong north wind pushing me south.
At 9:53am I was passing by Davidson. Received free ice from the ALON store there. I arrived at the Red River at 10:20am, and was at the Texas State Line at 10:28am. A slight uphill after that to a picnic area for a break. The wind was changing direction and now seemed to be from the east. After I got started again I saw my first multi-combine wheat harvesting operation. They were creating a lot of dust that landed on me when I went by.
I turned on to US-287 going west when I got to its intersection. It's kind of like a freeway, except there's no controlled access, so bicycles are allowed. There was a good wide shoulder but it was sure full of tire tread debris - probably the worst I've seen. At noon I came to a place where there was an access road exit. I guess you could call it an access road. It was two lanes but they were both going the same direction - west. That was a much more peaceful ride and took me past some interesting sites.
By noon I had done 26 miles, which is pretty good for me.
Referring to Google Maps, I saw that a place to eat - Huddle House was along this access road. I stopped there at 12:40am for lunch. I'd also noticed that there was a Walmart along this road, so I went in to check if they have my medication in stock. I arrived at the pharmacy counter at 1:30pm. No one was there and a sign said the pharmacy personnel eat lunch from 1:30pm to 2:00pm. So that didn't work out.
The access road I'd been on merged back onto the main highway. Ahead was another picnic area. Stopped for another break there at 2:06pm. Thirty-one miles left to go, except the wind was now from the west, but not too strong.
At 3:13pm, I was at the city limits sign for Chillicothe. As I entered the town the shoulder disappeared which made riding on the highway a concern. When I was able to, I diverted onto business lots. Riding from one business to the next brought me to Dairy Queen. I had a banana split there as I figured out how to get through the rest of the town. At 4:00pm, I was back on the wide shoulder of the highway west of town.
When I got to the town of Quanah, I had the same no-shoulder-in-town problem. Fortunately traffic eased up enough that I was able to ride on the highway to the first road that could get me a block north of the highway. Took a short break in town at a park I passed. And again, once I got to the west edge of town, the good wide shoulder was back.
It wasn't too much longer - at 6:59pm, when I arrived at Goodlett, the town where the campground is. The office was closed, but there are great self-check-in instructions. Tents are allowed at sites that are set up for RV back-in parking. I chose Site #12, deposited my fee, and was ready to get camping at 7:34pm.
I had to walk a little ways away from the campground to get a sunset picture tonight.
Back at camp I started work on picture selection, but kept falling asleep. Decided to call it a day at 10:40pm; let's see what I can get done in the morning.
Jeff
Spent: $8.88 (breakfast) + $15.13 plus $3.03 (lunch) + $4.97 (banana split) + $23 (campsite) = $55.01
Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 1,168 miles (1,880 km)
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10 months ago
Thanks.
I am carrying with me an Olympus TG-630. Probably not a real camera in the sense that you mean. It's waterproof and that's why it's along. I'm finding I'm not using it much. I wouldn't be able to upload pictures from it until I returned home anyway. So, to answer your question, all the pictures I'm posting are from my Samsung Galaxy S22.
Jeff
10 months ago