Day 9 – I Heart Family

Tuesday, June 16th

Dallas, TX to Plano, TX

We slept late again (the beds were too comfortable not to) and awoke to another amazing breakfast by Charlotte which trumped the one from yesterday.  She made tasty tea, really good oatmeal (topped with honey and cinnamon – yum), delicious breakfast sausage and a pan cake.  She got the recipe from Donna – a relative of ours – who calls it Pan Cake, and modified it to fit our dietary needs.  I’m not sure how to explain it, but it was a glass pie dish filled with custard-like pie.  It was indescribably good on it’s own, but she also provided a bowl of sliced, mixed, macerated fruit (including pluots, bananas, strawberries, blueberries and more) to top our slices of pan cake, plus powered sugar to top the fruit.  Oh wow, it was good.  (We have eaten so much good food here, we’ll really need to get on the bikes to work it off.)

While we marveled at the meal, she told us about another breakfast – an invention of hers – she stumbled upon at Donna’s house while working with limited supplies.  She calls it Texas Toast or Texas French Toast, I think and it involves unsweetened, herbal French Toast, salsa and Parmesan cheese.  There might be more to it, but I can’t remember.  Sounds really good though.

After breakfast, we packed up, said goodbye and reluctantly got on the road.  We headed to a Lowe’s to get some chain lube, but they didn’t have it in stock, so we continued on to our next destination.

My mom’s uncle, Tom, and his wife, Carlene, lived about ten miles away, so naturally we had to stop by to say hi.  They had prepared a great lunch of croissant sandwiches and salad and we never turn down a meal!  I had only met them once in my adult life so we had a lot to talk about, but eventually Tom had to leave to pick up his young grandson, Aidn, from summer camp.  Dad had to make so phone calls, so Carlene and I visited while she gave me a tour of their beautiful house.  She showed me their amazing old upright grand piano they had bought for $10 (!) when her children were young.  We were touring their grandkids’ play/arts and crafts room when Tom arrived with Aiden.  We were introduced and Aiden joined us all in the living room, reading his book (about Captain Underwear and his efforts against Professor Poopypants – apparently a great book which is part of a riveting series) while we continued to catch up.  We stayed until around 3:30 then decided we should get going soon to avoid Dallas’ rush hour.  We prepped to leave but had to let Aiden try out the bikes first.  He sat on mine, and though he couldn’t reach the pedals, we may have an early convert for recumbents.

Our next stop was Charlotte’s daughter’s house in Plano.  (Judy and her husband, Sergio, had been at Charlotte’s Sunday night and invited us to stay with them.)  We rode to their house, but on the way passed through something that upset my throat and lungs.  The best I can guess is that it’s city air.  We’ve been riding the rural roads for so long, I don’t know how to breathe pollution any more!

When we showed up at her house, Judy had chilled, honeyed milk waiting for us and was in the process of making us a batch of rice crispy treats.  Did I mention how much I love my relatives?  She had to go pick up her kids, so she left us reign of the house, its bathrooms and its laundry room – both of which I quickly put to work cleaning me and my clothes.  She returned with the kids just as we had started to eat the cooled rice crispy treats.  For some reason, when the kids walked in to find me halfway through a bite of one of those treats, I felt a little like someone caught with her hand in the cookie jar.  There were plenty to go around though.

Dad took a nap while I finished up the laundry, Judy finished preparing dinner and her girls set the table.  We ate a bit after Sergio got home from work and since their oldest kid had a friend over, it was a full table (nine total, I think) and a huge spread: chicken, pork, beans, salad (with homegrown lettuce and tomatoes), and baked potatoes.  I don’t know what I’d do if all these huge meals kept coming.

Today’s Quick Stats:

Bike              Distance (mi)    Average Speed (mph)     Trip Odometer

MiniWini             20.89                  15.2                         651.62

Sti(ck/g)            20.81                  15.6                         654.20

Stampedes: 6

Roadside Pees: 1