Tuesday, October 12, 2010

THE EYES OF TEXAS

Two Welcome Signs as Texas constitutes over 1,000 miles of our trip



Post Ride Yoga - No Shower Until We Have Stretched
Kirbyville Gateway Motel

Tuesday, 10-12-10. By 8am the clouds remaining from a thunder storm last night began breaking up, allowing some sunshine. We had previously ignored a warning from Adventure Cycling about avoiding rush hour. Since it was again advised for this section, we checked email. Our friend Anne Cox in Springfield sent us an article from MSNBC that had a photo of us meeting with Roger Grooters along the road. The headline read, "Mourners Pay Tribute to Charity Cyclist Killed in Crash." We met Roger and his wife Vicki who was driving a support vehicle for their cross-country journey to raise money for Gulf Coast Oil Spill Victims. They impressed us as being a generous couple and offered to place our blog site on his. Three days after we met them, Roger was struck by a pickup truck only 300 miles from completing his ride across the Southern Tier. Our hearts are heavy. You can visit his site at rogerxcountry.blogspot.com. Our thoughts today were with his family and we hope the memories they hold of him will help them deal with this tragedy. As we took to the road, Hwy 190 had nice wide shoulders separating us from the big logging trucks. We passed large stands of pine trees that seem to be grown for a nearby paper mill and a plant that manufactures plywood. At mile 23, we crossed the Sabine River and entered Texas, state #5 and definitely the largest of our 8 state odyssey. We turned onto Farm Road 363 which was much quieter. It had no shoulder, but the logging trucks were respectful of the small space we occupied near the white line. We arrived in Kirbyville, TX as the gray clouds overhead began connecting, promising rain before days end. This town was settled in 1894 at the foot of what became known as the "Scrapping Valley." The name derived from a feud between two local families during the 1870's that resulted in lots of shootings. Local citizens asked the Texas Rangers to stop the feud. Unfortunately the feud did not end peacefully. It ended with a pitched gun battle between the feuding families and the Rangers, who reportedly reduced the number of family members by an even dozen. Again, thanks to all who are supporting us from afar. It means alot to know you are there. Peace.

3 comments:

Kelly said...

Congratulations on making to it to state #5-Texas! It seems that you guys are making tremendous progress and you are providing great reading for me as well through the blog. I was saddened to hear about Roger and think about your safety daily. Stay safe and keep peddling!

rmedwards9 said...

We were so sorry to hear about Roger. I will be praying for your safe journey, and look forward to your next post!

jan said...

Ann and Norb: Was sad to read about the death of Roger. Stay safe and know that we are all in awe of what you have accomplished so far. Really enjoy reading about your journey.