Hank – I woke up a little after 11:00 last night to the sound of pouring rain. I was thankful we were staying dry under the pavilion. At around 3:00 am I woke again. It was still raining but the temperature had dropped. I put my puffy jacket on and went back to sleep.

When we got up at 6:00 the temp had dropped to 31 and a steady wind was blowing. The wind chill was 27. I boiled water for tea.

We discussed our route options and possible destination for the day during a light breakfast. We decided to go to Lumberton (22 miles away) first and eat and go from there.

We had the wind to our backs most of the way to Lumberton but it was still cold enough to keep our hats, gloves and puffy jackets on. While we ate we talked over our destination for the day. There’s a motel in Sour Lake where we could sit out the cold tonight. Also we could use a shorter day after the long ones we’ve had.

We had crosswind most of the way there, which feels like headwind on a loaded bike. I kept me expectations low so I wouldn’t be terribly disappointed at the Economy Inn motel. Unfortunately, it met them and there were no pleasant surprises. It’s not the worst place we’ve stayed in but it’s a close second. All part of the adventure, I guess.

I didn’t take any pictures today because I’d have to stop and take my gloves off to do so.

Kathy – It was another cold morning and day of riding. We started our 42 mile ride in 31 degree temps (with the wind chill it was 27 degrees). The sun was shining but not enough to warm the bodies. Hand warmers in my gloves helped the frozen fingers somewhat, but the toes were cold and numb the entire ride.

Not only were we blessed today with the cold temps but we also had a nice strong headwind almost our entire day which added to the chill in our bones. This cold front passing through most of the U.S. right now is making for much colder temps north of us, so I’m am feeling for you. I’m thankful I’m not north freezing like many of you are, but I’m also wishing I was at home with my warm electric throw and the fireplace running. Sometimes the outside elements don’t make for the best rides. Today’s cold and wind made it one of those days.

We decided to get a hotel since the temps were dropping below freezing again tonight. There is only one hotel near our end point today, and it is a dump! It’s dirty, nothing is working in the room, it smells like mildew mixed with cigarette smoke, dead cockroaches on the floor. The bathroom window is broken and has a hole about 2 inches by 3 inches just open to the wind. I stuck a washcloth in the window hole when I took my shower to keep the cold air out and to ensure no one could see in.

I could say so much more about this dumpy hotel, but lets just say this one is at the top of our list for the worst hotels we have stayed in. Since the heat didn’t work in our first room (the main reason for getting a hotel tonight) we eventually moved to the room next door. The second room was just as bad as our first room, only this one had a very loud heater that somewhat worked. We did notice a dryer sheet in the heater vent slots that someone apparently left to help with the smell. Our bags are all up high and sealed shut because we are not interested in taking any critters with us when we leave early in the morning. Disgusting place!

We always hear, “everyone wants to be like us” and “we are living the dream”…but you may not really want to be like us. This is day six of riding, tomorrow (day seven) we ride in to Huston, Texas and will take a few days off the bikes. Looking forward to the break.

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