Thomas told me I should write about something that I forgot yesterday. As I've mentioned, we have seen a great many trains keeping up our American industrial spirit. But yesterday we saw something really cool. A train was pulling along, with some other things, planes. Yes, planes. Not entire planes, obviously, or else the entire countryside would be annihilated. But minus the wings and the engines and such, we saw some planes going to be built, perhaps.
Yesterday I told y'all how we have been following US 60 for a few days. Today we continued to follow it, and I think tomorrow we will too. While following the highway we've also been steadily gaining elevation (I think I mentioned that yesterday, too, but I just turned 24, can't expect me to remember things...). According to the GPS we almost reached 3300 feet a number of times yesterday but then dropped before ever reaching that plateau. We now rest at just above 3200 feet above sea elevation. Thankfully we didn't have a whole lot of up and downs today. Instead we climbed up a gradual uphill.
We hardly felt the elevation gain, though. The temperature was supposed to reach 89 degrees by noon, but didn't. At noon when we finished it was only 84 degrees. With a bit of a crosswind the weather actually felt terrific. Sometimes I actually felt cold, and other times I barely felt like I was sweating. It was incredible. And, of course, when you feel good you are able to bike a lot harder for a lot longer. I also felt great because I had the opportunity to drop down a steady decline for about three miles that I did in a little less than six minutes. That's the first time I've been able to reach those speeds for any significant amount of time since Michigan.
As we get higher and higher, I think about high much easier it would be to hike the Presidential Mountains in the Whites in New Hampshire. The Presidentials are the ones that have broken down my knees, especially my left knee, to the point that I can no longer safely or confidently descend mountains (shame because I love hiking) and sometimes I struggle going down stairs if there are a lot of them or walking certain distances. So now I feel as if the Presidentials are my rivals that I must defeat like Goku defeated Frieza (DragonBall Z reference). Well, perhaps in some way I have defeated them now, or will soon. We are steadily getting closer to the Rockies, and if I knew the topography of this country better I might say that we will gain elevation all the way to and through the Rockies of Arizona. If that is true, then I will defeat the Presidentials on my bike. But even so, my Cato has gotten me within 1000 feet of some of the Presidentials. I think that counts as a victory because I could certainly hike 1000 feet... maybe.
Also, apparently, the state with a city called Panhandle (Texas) invited one of the states with a real panhandle (Florida) for a guest stay. Tonight we are staying with Tampa's twin cousin, Pampa. I probably wouldn't think of Pampa as Tampa's twin cousin (I realize, that doesn't even make sense) if we didn't travel through the city of Miami, Texas to get here. Let's be clear, though, I don't know how these Texans get away with calling their Miami a city, with a population of 597. From where I'm from I'm not even sure that would be called a village. I'd probably call it an accidental gathering of people.
I really have nothing to say today about the purpose of this trip. Well, I have plenty to say, but I'm choosing not to because I'm trying to entertain you a bit before we hit the homestretch. I do want to say before I sign off that Texas is incredibly beautiful. I only wish that the area we're in now weren't experiencing a drought. The effects of the drought are clearly visible and it makes me sad when I see the beauty of the countryside. The farmers here have only been able to salvage a fraction of their crops. Other than that, beautiful.
Don't worry, I've got a great post all ready for tomorrow.
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