A hush falls over the gallery at the Masters...

We are stopped for the night at a roadside picnic area in Sterling City, Texas (map), nestled in between the 6-hole municipal golf course and the Dairy Queen. When we pulled in, the high school girls' golf squad was practicing on the links, and the whole lot immediately cruised over to Odyssey to see if anyone famous was aboard. They were so enthusiastic, we were sorry to have to disappoint them. Louise took a photo of them out our open entry door, posted below.

We spent the next half hour or so relaxing in our lawn chairs, sipping wine, and watching them practice. Apparently, they have a district tourney tomorrow. We imagined ourselves with VIP passes to the LPGA... (And yes, in regards to the title, I do know that the Masters is a men's tournament -- I just couldn't resist capitalizing on current events.)

We had a pleasant drive from Austin, a large part of it through the rolling Texas hill country. State route 71 is fast, uncrowded, and scenic. We had a bit of a late start, since we had some email and business to catch up on before we left.

Speaking of business, I do have a schedule update. We have booked ourselves on another trip to Cancun, since we have some friends who are going at a time that was good for us. We fly out of Houston on May 29th, returning there on June 3rd. Other friends have property in Houston, complete with hookups, for Odyssey to spend the week without us. We just need to find a good kennel nearby and we will be all set.

Of course, this means that, after California, we will be heading more or less right back this way sometime in May. We'll have more time in transit, though, so we will take a more circuitous route -- the route we are on now is, essentially, the shortest non-interstate route to Gridley.