Day 17- Mar 3 - A lovely day (for a change)

Morning dawned with frost on the ground. We had slept in a city park on a stage under a pavilion, hoping it would be warmer than sleeping on the cold concrete. I suppose it was, but not by much. Soon after we awoke, water started dripping from the roof all over our stuff as we tried to pack up. I managed to make some hot chocolate with frozen fingers, and tried to warm up. It didn't help much.

We hit the road about 9 a.m. and stopped at a convenience store for some hot coffee. That did the trick. It also warmed up pretty quickly, as the sun was shining brightly. Before noon, there was hardly any wind or hills, so we cruised, making it to Silsbee, 30 miles away, by noonish. I had a court hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m., so we sat in a combo Taco Bell/KFC until then. It was very bizarre giving testimony by phone from a fast food restaurant in Texas. I was lucky to have cell service and enough battery power, since the city park didn't have electricity last night.

We had no fixed destination and no idea where we were going to stay tonight, but we wanted to do more than 30 miles today, so we hit the road after my phone hearing. We wound up in Kountze, TX, another 10 miles away. The headwind was fierce, and the traffic was bad, but we had a nice paved shoulder all day.

We were going to try to push on another 7 miles to Honey Island, but it was getting late, so Ryan and I approached a man outside a large Methodist church next door to where we had stopped at a convenience store. Although he was the head of the board of trustees, he was not able to give us permission to camp on the church lawn. That would take a meeting by the board and a vote, don't you know. He also chastised us for showing up in a strange town in the afternoon without a fixed place to stay. On top of all that, the church did not have a Wednesday supper. So much for community outreach.

Ryan and I walked a few blocks over to the police station/courthouse and asked if they could help us out. They offered a vacant lot next door or suggested we ask Laverne, the librarian, at the library across the street. The library has a small gazebo and picnic table outside. Laverne was very accommodating, so we'll be staying in the gazebo tonight. Night two without a shower, and no restroom facilities, but there's a 24-hour convenience store a few blocks away, so I guess I'll be brushing my teeth in their restroom. Hmm.

                                                (The police department in Kountze, TX)

                                                               (The Kountze library)

                                                          (Our "home" for the night)

So I was hoping that things were beginning to look up. The weather is improving (somewhat), but now . . . I have a cold. It's been coming on all day. That burning in the sinuses and drip down the throat. Now my nose is stuffy, and I can't breathe. What else? Really. What else could possibly happen to make life more difficult? I hope it's not freezing tonight. I'm really, really tired.

I'm at the library, trying to post this before they close at 5:30 p.m. No photos for you today. When the raccoon stole my phone charger, he stole my data cable, too. I managed to replace only the charger. Thus, I have no way to upload photos from my phone to the computer. Sorry.

I'm not sure where we're headed tomorrow. Shepherd, I think. Or Coldspring. We probably won't know until we get somewhere. You'll know when I know.

Okay, that's it for today. Talk at you tomorrow.