We started our Thursday biking right from the hotel in Brownfield, Texas. We then biked to Plains (our last stop in Texas) which was about 42 miles. We continued to bike on Rt 380 and it had a good shoulder when it was one lane of traffic in our direction and a narrow shoulder when it was two lanes of traffic in our direction. The switch from 1 lane to 2 lanes happened about every four miles. Madeleine would be proud as I have gotten stronger at biking on the narrow strip of shoulder when necessary. The temperature was nice for biking and the challenge of the day was the wind. As the day progressed the wind increased. We started off with an easy ride and fortunately, we ended before the wind was too strong.

We had a reservation at the Rock'n N B&B in Plains Texas for the evening. Before we went there we stopped at Dairy Queen for a quick snack. We have gone 3 times on this trip and Marie always wants a chocolate ice cream cone with chocolate dip top. The last store we went to was in Abiline, Texas and she was disappointed as they only had vanilla ice cream. The same thing happened today in Plains Texas. Marie asked when they got rid of chocolate soft serve. They were surprised as they said they never knew there was chocolate offered. We were surprised to learn that Texas DQ is unique from the national DQ and they only serve vanilla. From there we headed to the B&B. It is in the middle of a giant field with the perimeter fenced. We had to enter a code to get the gate to open and get on the property. As we drove up the driveway we were greeted by cows and babies which was fun. The house is also surrounded by a fence and cattle guard so the cows don't come up to the house. The house was incredibly cute with a welcoming front porch. We were waiting for the hosts to arrive so sat on the porch and just relaxed. We were all quite content. About an hour later the hosts arrived and told us about the B&B property and their home and vineyard which was about 6 miles away. Plains, Texas has a great climate for growing grapes and the area provides 95% of the grapes for the wines produced in Texas. The Newsom's have about 150 acres of grapes. They used to grow cotton and watermelon but switched to grapes about 37 years ago which, from what we learned, was a good decision. After showering, we decided to follow their recommendation and go for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. They, apparently, decided to go as well and invited us to join them for dinner. We learned more about the area and growing grapes and they kindly bought us dinner. It was a wonderful dinner and fun spending time with Janice and Neal. We were grateful for their hospitality. We then went back and relaxed some more on the porch. Marie was so happy with the location and house that she wanted us to extend our stay for a week! We ended the night with a few games and everyone had a great nights sleep.