Back down to Rt66/I40 from Dead Warrior Lake through the red dirt. I remembered thinking, on the previous day, that the PORT was exquisite to ride but would surely become tacky in the wet. I was expecting some rain in the afternoon, just had to stay ahead of it. After an hour or two of nice riding and landscape views, the rain started and quickly began to soak into the the dirt. Progress varied, depending on how the road was worn by tires and how much (if any) gravel was mixed in. There were several 1-2mi long stretches when walking was more efficient. Forgive the statement of the obvious but farmland is much more spread out than what urbanites are used to and this effect increases exponentially into the west. Farm roads are usually a schlep as they fall into a grid around property lines. Following farm roads typically means riding in square-wave or sawtooth pattern, miles out of the way from what would typically be the more direct route. Headwinds often accumulate across the fields and the roads are worn by heavy equipment. Notably in the midwest, the gravel is pretty chunky and loose and the surface is wavy. Once things become more spread out, distances as they appear on a map easily double (to city-trained eye) and one must keep in mind that those distances should be multiplied again by following a rural grid. I knew all this going into my day but still got caught in the rain/mud. With the rain, came wind. For basically the whole trip, temperatures rose above 50 during the day. Pennsylvania was a pretty cold week because a lot of it was rainy. The rest of the trip was mostly pretty temperate but temperatures started dropping below freezing at night starting in WV (early October). Id typically sleep in all my layers, peel them throughout the day, maybe start adding them again as the sun began setting in the late afternoon. I got caught in a downpour between Tulsa and OKC, my (only) shoes got soaked and the temperatures dipped into the low 20s that night but I didn't experience cold or wet the next day as the sun thawed and dried my shoes etc as I rode. I switched out wool socks of course. I digress: the schlep through the mud with increasing winds and no direct sunlight was probably the coldest and wettest I got over the whole coarse of the trip. It was a relief to get back to the highway, just a few miles from the TX border but that's where the wind really started to pick up. Being soaked in freezing red mud, this fast wind stung my skin and quickly began numbing my extremities. I remember being in pain when I took the photo of the Entering Texas sign. I ducked under next overpass I saw and changed socks again, wringing the old ones out with numb fingers and trying to use friction to thaw out my numb feet. The next town/destination (Shamrock, TX), 10 very cold and windy miles down the highway, in still frozen wet conditions but with some nice oranges emerging from the cold highway sunset, winds blasting. I tapped into my last energy reserves with an Industrial Strength mix from Lenny Dee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ikxUzFVxs&t=3010s&ab_channel=ProtectorofBass), plowing against the cold 25mph wind with all the dripping orange glittery semis. Pulled into Shamrock just after dark and stayed at first Route 66 motel (aside from Springfield Best Western), took a hot shower, began sink laundry and headed out toward a promising looking mexican restaurant that was closed. Got some gas station fried chicken.