.
The above map shows the places I have slept on the first half
of this ride to Chicago. Map prepared by Michael Angerman. Click on the link below to open an
interactive version of the above map, where you can zoom and pan.
I’ve been starting in darkness the past few days because adverse
wind typically rises to near unridable strength by noon. Sunrise comes after about an hour of slipping
through the quiet night with the lights on, with hardly any traffic, usually on
a frontage road of I-40.
This morning, after fifteen miles, I saw in the distance what
looked like civilization. The left
picture is greatly zoomed from four miles away.
Russell’s Travel Stop at MP 369, close to the Texas line has a great café,
which I always appreciate when I find it at this time in the morning.. 
Somebody must think this is a windy land. I passed hundreds of wind generators today,
all of them pointed southeast. My
direction of travel is nearly due east, catching that strong wind at about
three o’clock. 
I’m happy to be settled into the only motel in Adrian, Texas, midpoint along Route 66.
All sorts of reminders of the midpoint can be purchased in Adrian, and one who has ridden all the way from Pasadena to here might be tempted more than most travelers. But I must wait until nearly to Chicago to load the bike with non-essentials.
Others, coming in cars, RV’s, and motorcycles can more freely accumulate
remembrances of their trip.
Sunrises and cafes, those are the best souvenirs
ReplyDeleteThey are certainly the lightest and least bulky. And I have pictures too.
DeleteAlways amazed. Now you're in big (mostly flat) Texas. I used to travel alone a lot (sometimes on trains in Europe) when I was in my 20s but I couldn't attempt this now. I hope the Texas winds are kind to you. I'm following all your pictures and comments. A big Texas blessing on you. Lee C.
ReplyDeleteTexas, the Lone Star State, and out on its seemingly endless plane today I was a lone star, pushing a headwind, a star, if so it be that someone all by herself can be star at all.
DeleteClickety click lickety split, Jean!
ReplyDeleteNice blog maneuver, Sharon!
Paul, Altadena.
Thanks for commenting here, Paul. I hope more people will recognize Jean and wonder how I accomplished this feat.
DeleteYou had me wondering for a while how you accomplished this feat, Sharon ....... but I figured it out eventually! :) They don't call Jean "Route 66 Woman" for nothing. So Jean surreptitiously slipped away from her dinner party here in Southern California and into the local telephone booth, donned her Route 66 Woman costume in a split second and then ascended upward and flew out to Adrian through raging hailstorms with baseball size hailstones, all in the blinking of an eye. All of a sudden she appeared there in Adrian, TX, looking completely immaculate and beautiful. In the second photo of Jean you can see one of the giant hailstones still melting away on top of a tree stump. After which, you two dined in the sylvan oasis visible in the photos, before Jean flew speedily back to the rocking chair in her parlor without anyone having suspected a thing.
DeleteBy the way, for those among us less familiar with clickety click and other British bingo nicknames, see them via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_bingo_nicknames.
Paul, Altadena.
lickety split
Deleteblink of an eye
up from her dinner
in Pasadena she flew
into a phone booth
through baseball size hail
to meet a fellow Route66 woman
for big Texas steak
on a sylvan oasis
in Adrian
Yep. Paul, you've got it ol' chap.
Congratulations on reaching the midpoint of the U.S.! I love the sunrise photo and the t-shirt.
ReplyDeleteYes, Keiki, it does feel good to be halfway.
Delete