Shepherd, TX to Silsbee, TX
Upon leaving Shepherd Sanctuary, about half a mile down the road, three to five dogs were sitting in a yard, and started barking as we approached. All of a sudden, they lunged toward us, with one of them passing in front of me at close range. I didn't have time to maneuver, and therefore hit the dog. Not bad - he yelped - I'm guessing that I ran over his foot. Sure glad I didn't t-bone him, otherwise I would have gone down. I couldn't stop to see if he was okay, as the other dogs were still on the chase, although we were faster. Poor thing, he doesn't know how to chase bicyclists. He certainly didn't know not to run in front of one!
I rode with Eileen all day, from the start. We took a break in Thicket, leaning our bikes on a log, then sitting on the log. Wow, that break was refreshing. Upon leaving the rest stop, Ken caught up with us, then he rode ahead. After all, the plan is to stay at his sister-in-law's home tonight. With Ken only about 60 yards ahead of us, two dogs began to chase him. One gave up quickly, but the other chased for quite a while. Eileen and I rode to the other side of the rode, and Eileen got out her mace. She didn't have to use it, though, as both dogs were too tired to chase us. Very unusual to have two dog incidents in one day!
Riding further out of Thicket, (a very small hamlet), we encountered a headwind. The road was very straight and flat, yet we had a wide shoulder. The headwind caught us by surprise, but we just kept hammering the pedals all the way to Kountze, where Eileen and I dined at Mama Jack's for lunch.
We were in no rush to get in early, as Ken's sister-in-law, Jennifer, was not going to be home until later. We did not want to sit around all afternoon, so we took our time.
Arriving in Silsbee, we set up our tents on Jennifer's front lawn. Showers, snacks, beer, and happy discussion for the next couple hours...
Jennifer prepared a wonderful meal of taco soup, salad, cornbread, and cake. She is a very generous and gracious hostess. We have encountered so many wonderful people on this trip - it is unbelievable!
After dinner and more conversation, we headed for the tents.
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