Entertained by Strangers....

As I did my title, I was trying to refer to the Bible verse about entertaining strangers...but the battery is dead in my electronic Bible so that leaves me the Gideons version from the motel, which had no concordance, so I'll wait for Julie and Bonnie to fill me in on which I should be quoting! Remember yesterday when we met a couple biking through the park? Arza (who we met in the park) is in the black jacket. As we biked by their ranch this morning, here is Arza with a little ranch vehicle set up as a serving table complete with coffee, tea, milk and kolaches. Kolaches (sometimes called Colache) is an Eastern European pastry filled with cheese, or fruits, or meat. They are very big in this area. We had them for supper last night. What hospitality she showed 23 bikers after meeting only about five of us the previous day.

The name of their ranch is Sabra Ranch; Sabra means prickly pear. Arza and her husband are from Israel and moved to U.S. about 30 years ago. In Israel Sabra means "born in Israel". Her husband still owns a business in Austin and he commutes on Tuesdays and then on Thursdays they both go and stay over night and he works Friday.

I meant to post a close up of the Texas Long Horns they raise, but this is what you get; when we inquired if they sold them for beef...she said no they raise them to lower their blood pressure!

The countryside is changing. We seem to be leaving the ranches behind and moving on to more of a farm country - very charming. As we biked our 70 miles today, we noted the hills were a bit more gentle and rolling; the wind today couldn't decide if it should be our friend (tail wind) or our enemy (head wind). Hot and muggy, but the sun rarely peaked out, which was a blessing due to heat. The Texas pavement continues to wear on our bikes....two days ago the bumps caused my mirror to break off and then yesterday I hit a huge bump and my headlight fell off. I wouldn't mind so much if the pavement would cause some pounds to fall off....

Reporting in on Pam who fell when her tires got caught in pavement ruts...she is doing fine and hasn't missed any biking time. Me, I would probably milk that injury for at least a three day rest! Two of the gals went to the doctor today with various problems and one is going tomorrow. Several bikes are going to the bike doctor tomorrow. I just put in my request for a new mirror and more goo chomps.

My special treat today....our niece, Venette and her one of her sons, Blake came to visit me. Note the Texas Aggie shirt they brought me! After not seeing each other for 17 years, we sat at Dairy Queen licking our cones and catching up on things. Venette is a first grade teacher and those children are very blessed to have her! Go Aggie's!

Last night I got an email with prayer requests from my Soul Sisters (Bible Study group), which of course made me miss their fellowship. So this morning at breakfast God provided me with some Texas soul sisters. At a nearby breakfast table three women were praying, so when they were done I asked if I could join them for a bit of fellowship and prayer. We chatted and prayed together and if they read my blog I hope they know they were a real blessing to me today.

Important Note: Today, for the first time, we started heading North....I guess we are leaving the "deep in the heart of Texas, for mid-East Texas. I actually kept checking the que sheet to be certain I was on the right road....Road 1155 North just doesn't sound right!

Until tomorrow.....