11/21/2014
The Riverbend R.V. Park was like one big family. Sandwiched between San Antonio and Houston, this large property was located next to a beautiful river. By the grounds entrance, to the right, horses ran laps on the dirt track. Others were in or around the barn attending horse school. To the left behind their community kitchen, someone was tending to their organic garden.
As Crystal and I wandered around property looking for various animals to feed, we ran into Sherry. We struck up a fascinating conversation about the area and about horses. We learned so much about horses and horse racing. The conversation was so fun, Crystal didn’t even want to hit the road. As we learned about training horses, Sherry’s husband went galloping around the track with a beautiful brown horse name Cause I’m Secsea. With each lap the horse seemed to grow stronger. He seemed to know I was filming and he wanted to perform. His steady breathing and long stride inspired my legs for the day. It was a good thing too. I needed a bit of motivation after hearing the rain would appear again.
With the day already expiring and my appetite roaring, we headed out to eat; but not before stopping at the front office. With the day’s outlook rainy and our chance of finding accomodations in Waelder, Texas nil, Kate and Sherry’s dad offered to donate another night’s stay.
Around noon time I ran through the town and took in the sights. I discovered many of their moving oil rigs were decorated with ornaments: a kid eating a watermelon, a cow jumping over the moon, dancing flowers. The sights passed quickly. I had to run a stretch towards the old I-10 freeway that had no running shoulder. The ample traffic on both sides of the street kept me from running in the road so I tortured my ankle by running on the grassy slant. I was thankful after the eighth mile had passed. There the road turned left and headed into quiet scenic country. I had ample running room and deciduous trees lined both sides of the road. They often gave way to large open ranges where cows grazed and watched me pass.
Somewhere around mile 15 in the tiny town of Harwood I got stopped by a Sheriff. It looked as if he were pulling everyone over. He directed me to speak with another deputy who was buying a few snacks from the one store in town. The deputy wasn’t too interested in speaking with me. He just said, “You aren’t the guy we are looking for.” It seemed like some kind of manhunt though. Every so often a couple of black Suburban police vehicles would pass in both directions.
After that, the roads remained calm. The hills rolled but there were no real obstacles. Light rain would sprinkle and few cars would pass. We ended the day strong and topped it off with a great meal at Meme’s Mexican Restaurant. My veggie tacos there were covered in nacho cheese just like in the town of Seguin. I wonder if that is an east Texas characteristic of Mexican cuisine.
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