Denton to Wichita Falls (171 km)



Coaltrain miles long!



Yesterday we got the wind we always dreamt of, strong tailwind. What a pleasure, we just flew through the countryside, still working but it went easy. We see real changements in the landscape and nature. The colorful forests are gone, it becomes dry land here, more bushes and grassland for cattle. All seems very dry, cars on sideroads leave behind huge dust clouds. The land is flat, from time to time we drive over a bridge or a little elevation, then we see to the far horizon nothing but these plains and we are awed, that we drive through them. 

Wichtita Falls is a strange city or we think to European. We drove downtown to see whether we could stay there, see some live music in the evening or something else. But downtown is dead! No shops, empty hotels, broken doors, all for rent or sale. We felt like the last living on earth. Some people who made a photoshooting there we asked and they said, the town activities have kind of moved into a new center west. So we did 4 more miles only to arrive in gigantic shopping area, full of people (in their cars), all the known signs and shops. Just loud and no soul or culture at all! We couldn´t understand, why such a nice, old center with beautiful buildings was given up to this completely anonymous new center. I might be the car addiction, because in the old center it is certainly not as easy to park all the trucks and cars. We went on foot to get something to eat, but soon realized, noboby  walks by foot here and crossing the the street is more than annoying the drivers.  



Downtown Wichtita Falls on the old train station



We had dinner in a buffet restaurant, 11 dollars all you can eat and it was very, very good. They certainly did not make any profit on us two, after 7 hours on the bike we were really hungry. Again, we asked aourselves how they can make money with such cheap prices.

In the night a earthquake shook us, the center had been in Tulsa, but we felt it very well here, a extremly strong shock hitting the hotels. In such moments you dont know what to do, wait or run out. We stayed in bed, but a bit worried.