159: In my little town

We are staying tonight in a Budget Inn in Marlin Texas. We have paid more for a camp site than we paid for this room!  It's not awful; in fact it's clean and the fact that there are no doo-dads or lamps in the room actually gives us more room for our stuff.  And there is a hard floor - pretend wood - so we have no concerns about wheeling the bike in. Since the room is not stuffed with furniture, we even have more room than is typical once we get the tandem inside.

But if you saw the place, and you had another option - you would probably have driven on by.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!  We might have, too, but were ready to be done for the day.

Free Wifi!  Color TV, and A/C

And then, there's the issue of where to eat.  The manager of the motel said that there was a Pizza Hut just around the corner (yay!) or the convenience store had many things, and there is a microwave in the room. Uh, Pizza Hut, please.  As it turns out, they have a rather nice flatbread veggie contraption with fresh spinach on it and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (really!). It made a nice appetizer, and we split the baked pasta with meat sauce.  Dessert was the little pan of brownies. I guess they can run anything through those ovens.

The other option, next door, seemed unlikely to be able to offer us anything to eat in the near term.

Grass growing through the parking lot at Barney's - not a good sign

And that's about it for Marlin. There are a few other fast food places out on Highway 6, which skirts the town. But old "Business 6" - there's not much business left here.

Scenes from the Texas countryside - a Texas barn comes complete with its own university endorsement. For those who don't know, the Aggies are Texas A and M and "gig 'em" is just what they say about their opponents.

There was a great cycling statue in the tiny town of Calvert, as well as a renowned chocolatier.  Sadly, we did not stop to sample the wares.

Loved this

In Calvert, Texas

And then, there's the issue of the rumble strips. Please, please, please . . . stop putting them smack in the middle of the shoulder.

The day's report:  Bryan to Marlin, 59.4 miles/7551 to date

Our route today:  click here

NOT the right place for rumble strips