We have been fortunate and very thankful for the cool days and low humidity (so far) in Texas and this morning was no exception.

The wind had tapered to 10 mph, though still in our face, it added just that bit of extra effort on our short jaunt out of the quiet town.  Passed one rusty, yet still functioning, refinery and then the obligatory cow fields,horses,large churches, curbside flowers and huge shade trees!  One the way into town, we were treated to a few of the beautifully painted roadside electrical boxes, but too slow on the camera to get more than one.

It was a short ride today; we had a goal to get to Beaumont to reconnect with good friends.

You talk to anyone in Texas or that knows Beaumont and their consistent comment is, “Why would you want to go to Beaumont”…..did we mention they are good friends?!

Arrived in town at high noon to have lunch with Jerry’s college track buddy, Lou.  Caught up in catching up, we neglected pictures.  After lunch, we biked the two miles to Rita’s home.  Little did we know, we had walked into an Architectural Digest home of the year……. indescribably gorgeous.

We were generally welcomed to to her home.After catching up and relaxing for a bit, our wonderful hostess throws us a party, including awesome music.  Everyone was so much fun and the food so amazing,including our first Boudainwe forgot all but a few photos.

There may not be a lot to do in Beaumont, but when you have a houseful of friends, what more could could you need!  We would have named this place Shangri-La, but the actual name is even more appropriate.