Monday march 29th. We leave Wimberly and it is FREEZING out. Literally. Our tents are frozen with condensation and my bike seat has ice on it. Thank goodness we can get inside the EMS bldg and get warm and have a warm breakfast. We decide to mail stuff home, since I bought cool stuff at the bike shop yesterday. We wait till 8:30 AM and head to the post office and everyone sends stuff home . With the HILLS that are finally upon us it is important to have our loads as light as possible.

I haven't said anything about the terrain of this area. We came up over that rise yesterday and it was amazing that we had such a lush area in front of us. Trees are thick here and it is a beautiful valley.

We head ou out of town headed for Blanco TX. We stopped there to eat at the Deutches Apple House. It is AMAZING. I couldn't believe the fragrance of the apple pies. I had a quiche plate with a large piece of quiche and fruit and a spinach salad. I also had a huge piece of apple pie. I bought a cran/pecan scone for later and also a huge piece of apple cake...oh and a bag of candied cinnamon pecans for my AM oatmeal..I told you we ear a lot !! Oh also a praline for emergencies.

We are now on Old Blanco Rd...whew...we are well and truly in the hills of East TX. To give you an idea we go down them at about 25-30 mph and up them at about 3-7 mph....I am glad I have a granny gear...third chain ring as there have been several times that I was literally in 1 with nowhere else to go. Sheer terror of falling off the bike is the only thing that keeps me pedaling. Also the fear that a few of the less tolerant TX pickups will run over me. sigh..I won't belabor the point but there are few cowboys that need to get their manners in order. I rode alone most of this ride on these hills as I am very good at climbing and so I get ahead better . The others are good too but their bikes are geared differently and also they have the panniers while I have the trailer and it changes the whole dynamic of the process. I got to the top of one very long climb and sat under a gnarled old pine and just listened to the birdsong and the wind. It was so spectacular.

So we reached Comfort TX after riding 66 miles and 7 1/2 hrs of actual riding time...do the math...it was so tough and I am really tired but feel so amazingly strong and full of good positive images of myself completing this trip. We crossed the Guadalupe River into town and I got great pics. We stayed in an Executive Inn last night and at out at a great Mexican restuarant. I had 2 enchiladas, ranch beans, homemade corn tortillas that were out of this world, salad and ....you know....cerveza ! We walked back to the motel and Kim and I shared. We slept till 7:30 AM...unheard of...we were just so tired.

Tuesday March 30th 20 miles only. Pete and Gretchen had to have bike work done and also there was supposed to be a very strong windy front so we shortened our day. Pete had to hitch a ride yesterday and this AM to get to meet up with us. Everyone is now OK and we had a nice small lunch. We are camping at a KOA tonight and the storm has not arrived. I have been in the library all this time and the others are meeting me here in a little bit. I will post again when I can. Love you all....c