March 30, 2002

Day Thirty-Two

Snyder, TX

Gosh, another rest day already--maybe I'll never get out of Texas. Actually, that would be fine with me. While planning this trip, I always considered the Southeast to simply be practice for Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, the states I really like. I'd love to ride around Texas for another couple months. I'm really enjoying this lifestyle, and if I wasn't married, I'd probably keep traveling for months. As it is, rather than being excited about nearing the halfway point of my trip, I'm a little bummed that it's already half over.

I walked out in light rain to the lobby this morning for the worst continental breakfast I've ever had. They must buy donuts once a week--on Monday. It took me awhile to chew and swallow the rock-hard powdered donut. I even wondered if the clerk put it there as a joke to see if anyone would eat the whole thing. I think I'll skip it tomorrow, but on the other hand, it will be Easter, so I don't know who else will be open.

I commented to the clerk about last night's storm and the booming thunder. She said, " Well, we needed this rain. Usually we just get the thunder."

The rain stopped, and around 11:30 I walked 3/4 mile down the road to the truck stop, which had a Burger King and a Grandy's inside. At one point I had to walk through what looked like mud. However, it was firm I barely left a footprint. That alone proved the area's dryness to me--all that rain had already been absorbed just a few hours later. Never a fan of BK's high-fat burgers (somehow they are worse than any other chain in that respect), I opted for Grandy's, a fast-food chicken place. I had their six-nugget dinner with a roll, baked beans and mashed potatoes. They even gave me a bonus nugget, what a deal. The chicken nuggets were very good, not at all greasy, and the beans were nice and sweet. To top it off, they had Coke with free refills.

I timed my lunch well. About an hour after I returned, another storm came through with heavy rain and roaring thunder. In fact, there was a lot more rain than last night, and soon several rivers formed in the Beacon parking lot, helped along by gusting winds. Yes, this was a good day not to be riding. The lights went out briefly a few times, and I was really glad that I was working on a laptop so I didn't lose my work. It occurred to me that the oil derrick-like tower of the Beacon Lodge would be a great conduit for lightning.

I got a lot of work done. I put several pages of photos from Alabama and Mississippi up on the web site.

Click here to see Snyder photos from yesterday and tomorrow.