I bicycled 33 miles through very underpopulated lands and entered Throckmorton, Texas.

It was only 10:30 a.m., and it was already 78 degrees! Ha ha ha ha ha! That is ridiculous and amazing for February from my viewpoint as a Coloradoan. It would warm up even more today, eclipsing the 80's mark.

The county courthouse for Throckmorton County, located in the center of this very small town, caught my eye.

Throughout the Lone Star State, I noticed the signs of state and farm roads included the shape of Texas. I kept an eye out for Texas Farm Road 1971, the year I was born, but to no avail*.

* - A local Texan informed me after the entire trip that FR 1971 is located in Panola County, Texas (far east Texas) and runs north and south over Lake Murval.

For the first time on this journey, I experienced significant humidity. I know I am in the minority when I say this, but the humidity felt great and I embraced it. It was nice to take off my second pants layer and ride freely in shorts and my short sleeve riding shirt.

I also began seeing more trees in the wild, albeit small ones. Trees would be in view intermittently throughout central and eastern Texas, and thick forests took over completely past the Mississippi Delta.

At one point along the highway, I captured these two photos of some trees with prickly pear cacti.

I rode through Newcastle, TX and during the final 13 miles to Graham, lakes began to abound in the scenery ... perhaps signifying I had entered more humid lands.

Lake Graham, according to tourist literature I read, is the largest and most visited lake in the area. Near Graham's entrance sign, I photographed one of the many lakes along the highway.

Before riding into town and settling in, I thought about how just three days ago, I was with Shaun and Glenda in far west Texas, and here I was 231 miles away in north central Texas. It felt like I was far, far away ... which I was from a bicycling standpoint.

Considering I entered the place at the off-time of 2:30 p.m., I sat virtually alone in the entire restaurant, and the owner, a true native Italian man, was my server. We connected over our shared Italian ethnicity (most of my greatgrandparents arrived as Italian immigrants in the 1880's), my bicycle trip and how I intentionally desired to eat large amounts of food to counteract my susceptibility of losing weight from all my riding. I ended up ordering this massive chicken parmegiana dinner and it totally hit the spot! If you are in Graham, Texas, and craving some serious Italian cuisine, I recommend Vetoni's!