6/19/00
Denton, TX.
Mileage 92 miles
Max. 28 mph
Avg. 14.3

By the map, I thought the day would be an easier one than the 107 miles yesterday. Increased heat and humidity took their toll though and despite focused attention on staying on the road, I did not arrive where I was to be picked up until 5:20 or so.

Cheryl Feigel and her husband, Phil, in Colleyville, which is halfway between Fort Worth and Dallas, hosted a dinner for local UK Alums so they could meet me and spend the evening. Cheryl picked me up at Texas Woman's University in Denton and ferried the bike and me to her home. She'll take me back tomorrow morning.

What a luxury to spend time in someone's home! Despite their efforts, the motel chains just can't compete with home cooking and genuinely warm hospitality, especially when it comes from Kentucky Alums.

The humidity was most definitely higher today--the first real humidity since Santa Monica. Temps were up too, into the low 90s which was a deep contrast with the 70s of the past two days.

More variety in the wildlife is evident along the highway. I saw a cardinal and a few in-land gulls. When I was a kid I recall seeing gulls in eastern Pennsylvania and being puzzled why they weren't at the seashore where all the other gulls lived. Later, I learned there are varieties that do not live by the ocean but near in-land bodies of water.

Lakes, ponds, rivers, swamps and bogs all are common here. I bet the bass fishing is good here as well.

Jacksboro, according to an official looking sign is the home of 4H. I asked two girls in a soda fountain shop if they knew the history of 4H and they were surprised their community was its home.

Grasshoppers are everywhere. There were sections of road so covered with them that I heard crunch--crunch like someone eating peanut brittle. Once when I stepped off the road, a single step into the grass set off a chain reaction just like the old film of mousetraps and ping pong balls that was used to illustrate a nuclear chain reaction. Throw one ball into the mass and whoosh. They all go shooting up when the traps are set off. I wondered how anyone kept a garden.

I have been receiving e-mail -- quite a few messages in fact -- from people who say they either are planning to do the same sort of trek or wish they could. One woman said she always wanted to walk, too, but hadn't taken a step (her words).

I wrote back saying she should start out tomorrow morning. In my view, it is of utmost importance to move steadily in the direction of some dream. Thoreau wrote about that. I don't have the quote here, but it was something on the order of, "Advance in the direction of your dreams and you will have success in uncommon hours." That means you must have a dream.

Also, I think it is important to focus on something difficult to accomplish. Hillary said that he undertook challenges for which there was low likelihood of success, otherwise, why bother.

Life is so preciously short. We cannot and should not avoid our inner stirrings to tackle a big challenge, our yearning for adventure.

Over the course of the trek I have seen dozens of people look at me with a gleam in their eye that says, "I want to do that." So I say go ahead. Be smart about it, but don't wait. I'm more of a runner than a biker so when I think of adages, I think about running--Life is short, run as much as you can.