A third day of headwinds. Still about 10-15mph but fairly consistent, particularly in the afternoon. Good weather is frequently accompanied with high pressure and also winds from the south. Locals would like some more rain, though my headwinds are also an indication of good weather for now. I am now in the official “hill country” region though the road still has roughly the same amount of gradual descents and climbs.

Left Hamilton before sunrise again. Nice shoulders on 281 and calm roads as I headed southbound. I had eaten two yogurts since I wasn’t sure when the next breakfast stop might be. The road wound up and down and through some gentle hills. Still calm as far as winds go. After 16 miles I came to Evart, population 393 and intersection with US 84. I got some breakfast food at the grocery store and left town on a gradual climb up a hill. More gentle hills to climb over and then several miles of more flat along the Lapasas river into Adamsville. There was one store in town and its name was “The Store”. Friendly folks here and also a friendly cat. They told me I was now officially in the Hill Country region.

There were some hills, though nothing out of the ordinary climbing up and over Lapasas. With a population of 7000 people this was big town with major intersection of several roads. Also a good place for an early lunch. Leaving Lapasas, US281 continued to have two lanes each way and not much shoulder. Also unfortunately the first 14 miles was a rough chip seal. The hills didn’t seem very steep but I was going pretty slow. Also seemed like the wind was picking up. Finally at mile 60, the road became smooth again and tended more downhill. It was nice to get into Burnet. While it was only 2pm, I had traveled half the distance to Fredericksburg and decided to leave the rest for tomorrow.

The couple running the motel was from Gujarat state in India, same as the last three nights of motels. They told me they didn’t have wireless internet – so I’m quickly borrowing an unprotected “linksys” connection that seems to be around. 68 miles today.