The Colorado river was looking strong and blue. We crossed over the river and into my home state with enthusiasm. The dashboard instrument cluster announced it was 111 degrees at 5:00 in the afternoon. This would have been more dismaying if I didn't know that in California you could instantly be helped by shade. Get in it and the temperature is noticeably cooler. Not so in the great state of Texas where the shade is just a place where it is harder to read small print.
Almost immediately, the road signs announced that the state agriculture station was ahead. Being a native I knew, I was in trouble, being in a vehicle carrying produce from an outside state which could infest the Golden State produce industry with alien insects and crop destroying fungus. I finished my apple and prepared to confess to the officer that I had cherries, carrots, and grape tomatoes in the cooler and fork it all over. We pulled up, the officer asked, "do you have any fruit or vegetables?". Yes, we confessed and Bob started handing over the apple core while I recited our list of plant contraband. "have you encountered any worms," he queried.
"no" all the while holding out our verboten produce. Drive on, he waved, and didn't want any of it. Do not blame us if there is some kind of stone fruit plague in the near future.
We found a hotel in Needles and enjoyed a pleasant evening. At 10:00 it was still 107 but the hotel pool had been our friend.
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