Monday 16th March
Just when you think you have seen it all. On interstate 10 just outside New Orleans there was a broken down car on the hard shoulder it had been jacked up on bricks with all its wheels missing and if we had stayed in the first motel we found I'm sure my bike would of gone missing.

Heading off for Texas we found some fairly good roads not only were they twisty but also hilly which made a very pleasant change from the flat straight roads of Florida but sadly they soon turned in to straight as an arrow again, but a very enjoyable ride. It did get a bit to hot and humid during mid day and we nearly ran out of petrol again and then all of a sudden there was 7 petrol stations in a row.

The road kill out here is a tad different from the UK and often covered by vultures and it's hard to work out what it once was. Quite a few deer possibly raccoon as well but it's hard to tell.
We found a very reasonably priced motel for the night a few miles past Beaumont Texas in a small town called Kountze I think the best we have stayed in so far and breakfast was included in the price.

Tuesday 17th March
We are getting in to a good routine of packing, loading the bike and we both check the room thoroughly but still a few minutes down the road one or both of us are thinking did I pack my passport, phone or something and the padding of the pockets begin.
Sometimes we have to stop and check, so far we have not lost anything of value and hope it stays that way. My favourite trick is to take the sat nav and go pro off the bike when we stop and then leave the keys in the bike or to leave one of the boxes unlocked.
While loading the bike I had the company of the gardeners dog just laying beside me wagging its tail patiently waiting for some attention.
I had managed to contact a BMW dealers who were happy to fit my bike in for its service and we had booked a couple of nights in a motel at San Antonio so with the bike all loaded we were ready for our ride, the weather did not look very promising as it was cloudy and misty but within an hour it had brightened up. Although in southern Texas it was still very similar to Louisiana but the rivers were fewer and where as in Florida the water was clear the water now looked just like mud, throughout the ride the scenery slowly changed and was now a lot greener than it has been and than I expected Texas to be. The speed limits have improved as well, 75mph on a single carriage way and slower vehicles would pull over to let you pass.
You didn't even need to sit on there bumper if you were travelling faster as you got closer they would pull over on to the shoulder and let you pass. With about a 100 miles or so to go we rode through a stretch of small villages that were setting up for an antique fair or festival of some description and the roadside was lined with stalls and marquees in different states of build some already stocked, it seemed to go on for miles the whole area was antique crazy. Some houses were pact from front to back with assorted junk that must of taken years to collect.
Then we started to enter what is known as the Texas hill country where we found the best roads we have encountered in America so far, twisty hilly roads, a bit bumpy but not to bad especially with the soft suspension of the BMW. We arrive at Alamo BMW at about 5 and arranged for them to do my bike at about 10:30 while we wait. I will need to start thinking about tyres soon but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. Then rode to the motel. Shortly after checking in we discovered that the microwave was faulty, they sent over a maintenance guy to replace it we ended up with a room full of microwaves before he got one to work, it was the 3rd one he brought over that he finally got to work the other 2 were probably fine he just did not know how to set them.
He was trying them in different sockets even though each one would power up he had this idea that it must be the socket that was causing it
to malfunction not that it was not set.

Wednesday 18th March
Sitting at Alamo BMW waiting for the bike to be serviced I have also decided to have new tyres fitted as we have covered nearly 7000 miles on them, I could probably squeeze a thousand or 2 more from them but the roads are not of the best quality plus there is the heat to consider and it's affect on the tyres, the roads are scattered with tyre debris. Also as we will be heading to Arizona there are not many places I will be able to get tyres sorted. After the service was finally finished there was Not much time left so we just went for a ride back out to the twisty section in the hills, the bike feels much better on new boots.

Thursday 19th March
Paid a visit to the natural bridge caverns today. Pretty impressive took loads of photos but none of them can do justice to the size of the stalactites and stalagmites .

The ride there and back was pretty scary as we have found a road at least 10 times worse than the M25. The San Antonio loop roads are just crazy and trying to navigate them is a nightmare. The main interstate loop is between 5 and 3 lanes wide per side with another 2 to 3 lane highway running along either side, they change the numbers of lanes without warning from 5 to 3, the slip roads on and off enter and exit at the same point on to the adjacent highway that has under passes and flyovers and u turns or as they call them turn arounds. Traffic leaving the main interstate has right of way as it pulls out across the adjacent highway and if your on the highway your expected to stop. As you join the main interstate via the slip road traffic is trying to join that lane from the left to get off the interstate. And then there's all the intersecting highways and interstate roads. The sides are festooned with so many signs that you can't read them all plus there are all the bill boards and flashing advertising signs. Then there is the electronic notice board stating 457 deaths on Texas roads so far this year. The sat nav can't tell wether you are on the interstate or the highway so it's guidance is misleading at best.

Friday 20th March
We left San Antonio and it was overcast but warm, the forecast is for heavy rain and flash floods. After about 80 miles it started to rain so we stopped and put on our water proofs, then it stopped raining, we stopped about 30 miles on after riding through some fantastic mountain roads on the way to rock springs took a few pics and as we got back on the bike someone turned the heating off and opened the freezer door. Then the sky fell down. We stopped for food and petrol in Rocksprings and checked out a motel but were told there was a good chance of getting stuck where we were if the rain continued so we decided to press on for a bit longer. After anther 50 miles we checked in to a motel in Sonora and it's stopped raining.
My new waterproof boots are not waterproof :(