Wednesday, Nov 3, 2010
It was cool last evening, but not real cold. The blanket I received in my “surprise” box has helped a lot. Once again the stars were beautiful last evening…..just light up the sky, and the Milky Way is very visible. There’s a song Tracy Lawrence sings, “Stars Over Texas”, that is really nice…..I wonder if he’s ever seen them or just sings the song? No wild pigs, coyotes, or bulls bothered me during the night, so it was a restful one. Occasionally an 18 wheeler would come by and sound like it was right next to the tent, but I can usually sleep with that noise. I was excited about today….if I can do the 24 or so miles to Anson I can be in a room this evening. So at first light I was heading down the road.
I walked a while and saw a car sitting up the road ahead of me. The guy got out, and told me I had met him before. I soon recognized George McDonald, the attorney from Ft Worth who had stopped to talk some days back. He has been following the blog, and was on his way to visit his mother in Lubbock, so decided to look me up again. In fact, he went a little out of his way to find me. It was nice seeing George again, and very nice of him to go out of the way just to say hello.
One thing that has changed over the past couple of days is the wind direction. The nice, warm, south westerly wind has been replaced with a cooler wind from a more northerly direction. Today it was pretty strong and cool. Around lunch time, a truck passed me, turned around, and came back beside me. The guy handed me a sandwich from Subway, still warm, and, a gallon of water. He introduced himself as Don Price, who works in one of the local oil fields. Don said he has seen me a couple of times over the past few days, and wanted to do something for me. He told me his wife always tells him he shouldn’t eat a whole foot long sub, so he decided to go ahead and buy it, and bring half to me. Don was in a hurry to get back to work, so we didn’t talk long. But he had come out of his way to deliver my lunch……and it was appreciated. A very kind act.
I walked a while farther and spotted the Quail Ridge Ranch. Very nice looking place from what I could see. I walked a while more and spotted what I thought were 2 horses and a colt in a field. When the colt saw me, he came running. From the ears, I could tell it wasn’t a colt after all, instead a burro (or donkey or something similar). He was very friendly, and wanted lots of attention. I have been meaning to get some peppermints for the horses I meet along the road, but keep forgetting it…..maybe in Anson I will remember.
As I neared Anson, the wind was howling. It wasn’t going to allow me to have an easy trip. The last 3-4 miles were a struggle, but I finally saw the town in front of me. There are 2 motels in town, I chose the Morning Star Inn based on the recommendation of some locals. It’s nice, but their wi-fi isn’t working, so that’s a bummer. I’m going to scout around town tomorrow for a connection. After a bath, I headed to Sirloin’s Cafe for dinner…..rib-eye steak, potato, and salad. Much better than beef jerky and string cheese.
After dinner I walked to the convenience store to get batteries for my headlamp. Then back to the room for watching TV and doing normal stuff for the evening. No coyotes nor wild pigs, just a soft bed and warm room. Lots to do tomorrow to get ready to head out on Friday.
It was cool last evening, but not real cold. The blanket I received in my “surprise” box has helped a lot. Once again the stars were beautiful last evening…..just light up the sky, and the Milky Way is very visible. There’s a song Tracy Lawrence sings, “Stars Over Texas”, that is really nice…..I wonder if he’s ever seen them or just sings the song? No wild pigs, coyotes, or bulls bothered me during the night, so it was a restful one. Occasionally an 18 wheeler would come by and sound like it was right next to the tent, but I can usually sleep with that noise. I was excited about today….if I can do the 24 or so miles to Anson I can be in a room this evening. So at first light I was heading down the road.
I walked a while and saw a car sitting up the road ahead of me. The guy got out, and told me I had met him before. I soon recognized George McDonald, the attorney from Ft Worth who had stopped to talk some days back. He has been following the blog, and was on his way to visit his mother in Lubbock, so decided to look me up again. In fact, he went a little out of his way to find me. It was nice seeing George again, and very nice of him to go out of the way just to say hello.
One thing that has changed over the past couple of days is the wind direction. The nice, warm, south westerly wind has been replaced with a cooler wind from a more northerly direction. Today it was pretty strong and cool. Around lunch time, a truck passed me, turned around, and came back beside me. The guy handed me a sandwich from Subway, still warm, and, a gallon of water. He introduced himself as Don Price, who works in one of the local oil fields. Don said he has seen me a couple of times over the past few days, and wanted to do something for me. He told me his wife always tells him he shouldn’t eat a whole foot long sub, so he decided to go ahead and buy it, and bring half to me. Don was in a hurry to get back to work, so we didn’t talk long. But he had come out of his way to deliver my lunch……and it was appreciated. A very kind act.
I walked a while farther and spotted the Quail Ridge Ranch. Very nice looking place from what I could see. I walked a while more and spotted what I thought were 2 horses and a colt in a field. When the colt saw me, he came running. From the ears, I could tell it wasn’t a colt after all, instead a burro (or donkey or something similar). He was very friendly, and wanted lots of attention. I have been meaning to get some peppermints for the horses I meet along the road, but keep forgetting it…..maybe in Anson I will remember.
As I neared Anson, the wind was howling. It wasn’t going to allow me to have an easy trip. The last 3-4 miles were a struggle, but I finally saw the town in front of me. There are 2 motels in town, I chose the Morning Star Inn based on the recommendation of some locals. It’s nice, but their wi-fi isn’t working, so that’s a bummer. I’m going to scout around town tomorrow for a connection. After a bath, I headed to Sirloin’s Cafe for dinner…..rib-eye steak, potato, and salad. Much better than beef jerky and string cheese.
After dinner I walked to the convenience store to get batteries for my headlamp. Then back to the room for watching TV and doing normal stuff for the evening. No coyotes nor wild pigs, just a soft bed and warm room. Lots to do tomorrow to get ready to head out on Friday.
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