Well, today’s weather is PERFECT for walking. My body feels very ready to continue on from Beaumont and keep counting down the 30 miles left to the Louisiana border. However, my sleeping mat must have somehow fallen out of the usual place where I have it tucked behind the cart, underneath my external daypacks. Yikes! The sleeping mat, a six-foot long, yellow on top, gray below mat which collapses like an accordion, is a critically important piece of camping gear. Not only does it separate me from bare concrete many times, it’s insulated– making all the difference in the world between a relatively “warm & cozy” night’s sleep outdoors, and freezing my butt off on a solid piece of concrete slab. I’m going to have to retrace some miles today– hoping to locate it– hoping it didn’t wash away in yesterday’s torrential rains…