I didn't get started until about 10:00 a.m., so I knew I wasn't going to get in a full day's ride. It was a pleasant day, but wind was a factor, as I had a very strong cross wind all day that tended to slow me down. There were also a number of small hills, and that also keeps the pace a little slower than on flat ground.
It really started to look stormy when I reached Burton, so even though it wasn't late yet, I decided I should start to look for some cover. It was a good thing, too! During the night, it was very strong winds, thunder, lightening, and heavy rain. I had found a nice cover to build my tent under, but there were a few times when I thought my whole tent, with me in it, would blow over to the next county! I didn't even get out of my sleeping bag until 10:00 am the next morning, as it was still raining hard and the wind was still blowing.
Burton is a very nice little town, and it has a lot of old buildings. They don't have a public library, but a local real estate office let me use their computer to check my e-mail. There was also a museum showing very interesting facts about a cotton gin located in this town. I enjoyed the video they showed, and was very surprised when two of the volunteers from the Washington Celebration recognized me. I'm telling you, it's a very small world! They live in San Antonio, and they invited me to come and spend a day or two at their place outside of San Antonio. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Alamo, the River Walk, and the Mission tour, so I'll detour from the Southern Tier Route and head into San Antonio to see what's there. It should be a great place to visit.
Here are some shots of Burton. The first shot is the train station.
This is the cotton gin, where the cotton farmers would bring their cotton to be cleaned (remove the cotton seeds), and packed into 500 lbs. bundles for shipping on the train.
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