Painted Cats, Yellow Roses, and one big state.

Today was an uneventful day. The end.

If you were to catch me 6 hours ago that’s what I would have said. Then I would have fallen asleep. I was perfectly comfortable lying on a lightly carpeted floor, in the middle of a hallway, second of two riders to reach our final destination, The Family Worship Center of Whitesboro Texas.
As I was inches from dreamland I was awakened by the sound of voices. Grover and Miriam of The Family Worship Center, happily greeted me from above as I managed to shake myself awake. Pastor Miller had already left for Lubbock. But with Grover and Miriam’s help we were provided enough food for a lunch banquet, and the starters for a wonderful omelet and pancake dinner.
Once the rest of the group made it to the church we discovered there were showers too! This is suddenly more important than ever as once we crossed over the Texahoma lake we rediscovered humidity. Despite earlier claims three of our riders haven’t displayed a tendency to snore. Unfortunately we all sweat. Our shower came without heated water, and with only flashlights, it was still just what we needed.
Two days ago we were in hotel suites, graciously provided by the Marriott Inn Residents Inn, sleeping on luxurious beds and overlooking a surprisingly beautiful outdoor scene (only surprising to those who haven’t been to Oklahoma.) Now we are back to church floors, and strange shower arrangements. How are we taking it?
Just fine. It was nice to be pampered for a few days, and it was a good change. But this ride isn’t about staying in great hotel rooms. And it wouldn’t have much value if we did that all the time.
We have ups and downs, but for the most part all of us remain on task. Our purpose is to raise awareness for the Fuller Center for Housing… and to fund raise (hint, hint). Ultimately our goal is to help change the housing situation for those in need. And one of the ways it would be great to do that is to inspire more people to the Fuller Center, or simply to make more people aware of organizations like this.
In order to do this, each of us can now be considered spokesmen for the Fuller Center. Warning we are armed with brochures, and anyone who asks any of us what we are about will get quite the explanation. But more then that, it is about reaching those we can at each of our stops along this journey. And mostly this means our hosts.
The backbone of this trip is the kindness of strangers. Well, not strangers so much but good friends that we just haven’t met yet. (not something to tell your young children.) It is the members of churches we stay at, the people who open doors for us and let us stay in their communities, make us dinner, and sometimes even let us shower in their homes who make this trip possible. Their kindness and willingness to help is blessed, and inspiring. So I say bring on the church floors and cold showers and let us tell you about the Fuller Center.
O yeah… we road today. What happened with that?
There were dogs. They chased some of us. There were cows. We scared some of them. There were hills. We biked up and down them. There were a few of those pesky flats. Almost all of those belonged to Ryan, who, while the rest of us were 20 miles into the ride, was stuck back at mile 9, having tried unsuccessfully to ride either of his patched tubes. There was wind, but not a lot of it. There was Humidity, and it deserves a capital letter because it took us by surprise. There was construction, but nothing compared to the 2 miles biked on a loose gravel road yesterday. There were verdant lands and small towns and one lake. And there was a return of grey cloud, but no threat of rain. And there was 81 miles of riding, nothing really.
Hmmm…. Something else happened today, but it can’t have been important.
(from behind me someone shouts)
“We entered Texas!”
There was that.
Another border crossing at 65 miles. No border patrol, but that’s because we must have been going the right way. We are in another country now right? Or was that only a 10 year period 115 years ago?
But the State of Texas has welcomed us warmly. The roads suddenly turned smooth. Yellow Roses bloomed in abundance. Mosquitoes sung welcoming accompaniment to our theme song (which will hopefully be posted at some point soon in the future.) A tail wind picked up, sent our way by Pecos Bill. And we all began to watch our backs, (that’s where the Rangers are supposed to be. Hmmm… Maybe they’ll help us with our build in Dallas.)
Texas is the first current home state of any rider that we have reached. 1 1/2 of our riders are from the state. So this a homecoming. The way this group is acting as I write this, I hope that Katherine doesn't decide to bike for San Antonio tomorrow, instead of joining us.
All is well in the big country. Oh, and no shuttling. Yey
Nate Landrum