Day Seventeen Statistics:
Route: US 79/80, LA 169, LA 172, TX 2517, US 59
Cities Traveled Through: Greenwood, Spring Ridge, Tenaha, TX; Timpson, Garrison, Appleby, Nacogdoches
Motel: La Quinta Inn ($72.32)
Comments: During the night, I thought I heard some rain and I was right. There was a little precipitation. However, as I listened to weather radio in the morning, there was no report of precipitation in the area on the radar. Also, the forecast did not call for rain until the afternoon. So, I left as I figured I would mostly be done with the day before noon. It took me almost 15 miles just to get out of Shreveport. Once my distance read about 20 miles, I felt a few sprinkles. Then I saw lightning and dark clouds. It was totally creepy looking outside. It was darker than it is sometimes during the night. However, the rain wasn't too heavy at first. Once I made it to 35 miles, the rain was heavy enough to mess up my speedometer. Therefore, it didn't register any distance past 35 for a while. I just kept going since the rain was getting worse. Finally I made it to the intersection of LA 169 and LA 172. I was looking for LA 764. According to the map, it looked like I had to go slightly east on 172 before I could get on 764. However, as I went east I didn't see the road, or at least it wasn't labeled. I did see what looked like a county road. Also, there was another road that continued right south where I was at on 169, but it wasn't labeled and looked like a minimum maintenance road. The rain was really starting to come down and there was intense lightning and thunder. I finally found a house and stood under their protected front porch. The house looked in really tough shape, so I thought it might have been abandoned at first. The paint was all rubbed off and I didn't see any vehicles around at all. Eventually, I heard some voices, so I knew someone lived there. I knocked on their door and no one answered. I was content to just sit outside the door, but I wanted them to know why I was there. As I waited, I listened to the radio and the announcers were saying that they've never seen anything like this. There was all kinds of flooding on roads in Shreveport that rarely flood. One road had water 3 ft. high. All of the AM radio stations were knocked out except for one. There were reports of winds up to 60 MPH. I was so relieved to at least be in a place where I was protected somewhat, although I was actually getting COLD! I never thought I would say that judging from the recent conditions. It still was 69 outside, but it can still be cool when you're wet. It wasn't anything life threatening, but was uncomfortable. Finally, I knocked on the door once more and no one answered. Eventually a light came on on the inside so I thought they might be near the door. I knocked once more and there was no answer. I am pretty sure they knew I was there. Maybe they were just afraid I was some serial killer. I'm just glad they didn't kick me off their front steps. I stayed there for an hour and a half when the rain let up. I headed west on 172 since I knew I was too far east to find any hopes of getting on 764. As I went west, I saw a sign that Carthage, TX was only a few miles away. I wasn't planning that route, but I knew this would take me near to where I wanted to go. The sun actually started to shine through the haze and it was one of the best feelings I've ever had. After going through a thunderstorm, nothing is more rewarding than seeing the sun again. I would have done anything if the storm could have quit during any of that experience. I ended up on a "farm road" route which didn't directly lead to Carthage, but I did get connected to 59 and headed southwest. My speedometer started registering again and read about 93.0 miles as I made it to Nacogdoches. I knew I had about 17 more miles, so I just used an approximation of 110 miles for today's total. US 59 had a great shoulder for the most part which was a big plus. Right now, it's storming again, but at least I'm in my hotel.
Photos
Texas border