Day 25: Weatherford-Fortworth-Arlington-Grande Prairie-Dallas-Mesquite 79 mi

Today's topography was to be forgetable. I say that, as I had done the identical route 3 years ago and did not seem to find any familiar landmarks to speak of with a few exceptions. It was a long haul through a suburban-urban stretch. After an initial few miles of commuter traffic we were diverted to a marginal road paralleling I-20 and that was nice, almost as if it was our own private road as the traffic was so light. But it was a bit of a roller compared to the highway, so though one thinks of the area as relatively flat we still climbed over 2,000 ft. today. At mile 20 we encountered the urban traffic of the outer edges of Fortworth and we skirted the edge of downtown around mile 35 and were thrust under the highway spaghetti and out along east Lancaster that took us past homeless shelters and through deteriorated neighborhoods but the traffic level was light. To the right were the rail lines with different trains going past. Eventually we came to Arlington passing near the Dallas Cowboy's soon to be compleated stadium with retractible dome. Nextdoor is the Texas Ranger's stadium. Eventually we entered Grand Prairie and did not encounter anything of note until the Dallas downtown loomed just across the Trinity River. Soon I was going past the "Grassy Knoll" where JFK's cenotaph is, a stark white open cube of a structure. The rest of the trip was through thinning urban streets until directed to the exploding sprawl of the Dallas suburbs of Town East Bullevard and Mesquite. My cousin Don, an Anglican priest of a growing reformed congregation in Rockwall met me at the end of the ride and I have already enjoyed a shower and am looking foreward to laundering my clothes once his wife Glenna advises us which colors are safe to go with what. After supper out, a good night's sleep in Uncle Rogers' old bed. Then back with wheels in the morning and on to Mineola.