On our road trip today to College Station on Friday, which is a few hours to the west in what's considered Central Texas, we did see a lot of big trucks on the road. For sure lots of pickups were travelling the roads in the city itself, some really nice ones that were clean and shiny -- no sign of cow bumps or cat scratches, or drifting odors of cow manure from the tires. And was it hot? It was hot! It reached a high of 102 degrees per our trucks thermometer, unbelievably hot. We blew a tire on the trailer and Mike had to change that tire in the sweltering heat, a very sweaty job.
The high heat for early June is record-breaking, but perhaps most shocking was to see the land grow browner and browner, the grass becoming next to non-existent in what has always been pastures full of cattle and hay fields waving in the breeze on the drive between Huntsville and College Station. It was a sad sight, and made me even more grateful for the small rains we've had that have saved our pastures from this same plight.
I shot some video from the truck window of a lot of dying pastures and hay fields along our route, and while it is rapid footage, it does show pretty well the conditions of the area. When the trailer tire blew we were just a couple miles away from the Lazy D Feed Store and managed to make it there. I did a little window shopping while Mike was dripping in 102 degree heat, so you'll see a short clip in the video of some of the chickens at the feed store.