We had a slow start to our Tuesday due to the weather. It was raining with the forecast calling for clearing by noon. Marie was yearning for eggs so we decided to check out of the hotel and go out for breakfast today. We went to Mr James’ cafe for breakfast and left happy. We decided to drive to our starting point in Stamps AR and monitor the weather. Sam navigated and we went to Stamps via a lake so he could do a little bird watching in the rain. We saw several beavers swimming around the lake. Sam reported that he has seen 33 species of bird in his 2 days in AR and two of which, the Eastern Meadowlark and the Ring-tailed duck, are firsts for him. We also saw a coyote and a field shared by cows and a few small oil rigs. Sam said the oil rigs will become a common sight.

At 11am, we realized that we had to bike in the rain if we were going to bike at all. Despite not being excited to set off, we had a great riding day. The rain was relatively light although too much for me to wear my glasses. The first 20 plus miles were flat and on AR 82 with a wide shoulder. Traffic was light and I think I am getting used to it. We saw some birds and a coyote while biking. We stopped at a Baptist Church for lunch out of the truck and then took off for the last leg to Texarkana.

With Sam’s coaching and support, we rode through the city and crossed the state line into TEXAS, our sixth state. Very exciting. Texarkana is half in Arkansas and half in Texas. I had been thinking we would be in Texas tomorrow but we went about 5 miles into the state today. Tomorrow starts the long stretch of riding through the state. somewhere in the middle of Texas will be our halfway point.