The travels of the Rambling Roses: Rockport Tx to Beeville Tx March 10

67.1 in 6:20. We lost an hour of sleep last night due to daylight savings time, and that combined with the rain in the morning made it seem like I was getting up very early. In the time it took for the rain to stop, the wind switched from out of the south, to out of the north. That's good because I rode north today, and I needed the extra workout. I prepared for a cool windy day, and I got that, for half the day. Then the weather changed again, and the sun came out, and it got into the eighties. The wind kept smacking me in the lips, however, and they are really getting torn up again, since I've been in Texas.
My first 23 miles were ridden on Tx1069 and Tx 188. Nice roads, nice shoulders, no butt complaints, good scenery. I saw a longhorn cow ranch, lots of farm country, with the crop just beginning to pop. The most unique aspect of the trip from Rockport to Sinton, was the wind farms. There must have been 100 wind turbines to the left of the road, as far as the eye could see. Taking pictures absolutely could not do the scene justice. Those things must be 25 stories tall, and the huge propellers make a whooshing noise as they go around. Sinton was a neat little Texas town with old buildings, one Main Street that a gunfight could have broken out on at any time. The only thing I didn't see was Matt Dillon walking out of a saloon with swinging doors, to get on his horse.
From Sinton to Beeville, I rode US 181, and it was beautiful. Four lane like a interstate, with smooth, wide shoulders. The scenery deteriorated into the typical, however. I stopped and took a picture of a big cactus because it was the highlight of that stretch of road. Once I got into Beeville, I still had about ten miles to ride until I found the little campground, where Pam was set up. That town was bigger, still with an old school Main Street, but lots of big box businesses on the outskirts. I attracted quite a bit of attention as I rode through the streets, mostly from teenagers. I could just tell that they are not used to seeing my type around here. We are in very big oil country here, and there is not much else.
Pam had already met our neighbor. A guy named Buggs, from Tuscaloosa. AL, who makes over a thousand dollars a day, working on the pipeline. He warned Pam about our next stretch of road, and he also warned me. I guess the trucks related to the industry can be a real problem, and he recommended a route for Pam to avoid the bad stretch. He also spoke of the large amount of accidents and deaths on the roads around here because of the pipeline cowboys and their crazy driving habits, mixed with the big truck traffic. Here we go! He also warned me about the rattlesnakes and the tarantulas - well, we are in Texas!