Texas Variety
Big hats. Big boots. Big oil. Big guns. Perhaps more than any other state, Texas has its clichéd accretions. I had been here before, but not to explore. This time, as I traversed the second largest of the U.S. states over the course of several days, I would see that open range and nodding oil pumps were only a fraction of the story.
The first sign (other than the sign) that I was crossing into the northeast corner of Texas was the abundance of large, fenced properties with arched iron gates proudly displaying names like Mystery Ranch, Diamond 5 Ranch and Flying L. The early-May temperature was already 35 C and the humidity was stifling. Hope lay in my direction of travel: over the coming days, I would be riding generally west, and that would mean drier, more tolerable air. Here, however, the moisture meant the fields were deep and green, and tall dogwoods, live oak and tulip trees adorned the roadsides.
Riding south through Paris and Terrell, I skirted the heavy traffic of Dallas and arrived at the home of my sister and her family in Red Oak, conveniently in time for dinner(!). After an evening of
