4CT Tour - Day Three - Sunday, June 8th. 08

Tour Day: Three
Day/Date: Sunday, June 8th, 2008
Time Started: 4:15 AM CDST
Time Ended: 2:45 PM CDST
Starting Location: Sulphur, LA
Ending Location: Fort Stockton, TX
Total Miles Today: 673
Cumulative Miles: 3226
Low Temp: 82F - Sulphur, LA
High Temp: 95F - Fort Stockton, TX
Highest Gas Price: $3.99 Fort Stockton, TX
Lowest Gas Price: $3.88 Sulphur, LA
States: TX (8)

I left Sulphur, LA with an early start. I happened to notice on the way out of town the elevation was -11 feet. Only 20 miles or so from the Gulf, it kinda makes you wonder what that town would look like if a Hurricane came calling.

It did not take anytime before I crossed the Texas border and continued on to Beaumont, passing through around 4:45 am. Twenty miles into Texas I saw a sign that pronounced El Paso, 837 miles. Man, Texas is really big!

My timing could not have been better for the traffic in Houston and San Antonio. I rode through Houston between 6:30 and 7:00 am. It was on to San Antonio at around 9:30 am. Traffic was next to nothing in both cities.

I will say I have ridden in a lot of big cities and I believe Houston takes a back seat to no one when it comes to mega freeways. I have never seen so many elevated bridges and roads.

Funny Billboard of the day: " If you don't see a Lone Star, you're in a foreign country!" Apparently they mean it, you see Lone Stars on "EVERYTHING!"

I saw many churches in session as I rode through the three major cities. What struck me as odd was all of them were non-denominational. Hmmm ... I wondered if this is a Texas thing or a growing movement?

The weather today was mild most of the morning. It started out before daylight with thin wispy clouds and a sprinkling of stars. It was not long before the dark clouds gathered and threatened rain until well past San Antonio. I may have seen a half dozen drops of rain, if that.

West Texas .... A whole lot of nuttin!

Beyond San Antonio the clouds cleared and the wind increased to 30 mph with gusts to 40. As the clouds cleared the temps began to rise ending at 95 by the time I reached Fort Stockton. The interstate speed limit is 80 mph but that can be tough to maintain in high winds.

Fort Stockton train station and Oil Platform.

All is well and going as planned. At the present rate I expect to be in San Diego late Tuesday afternoon (Day Five) to collect the second corner.

One last thing: While gassing up, west of San Antonio, I had a chance to see an interesting trike/chopper. The Cheetah Chopper, made in Indiana. I think the guy said it had a 383 Chevy small block in it. I am not a trike or chopper fan but I did think it was interesting. Check out the rear tires!



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How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time!