As expected, it was cold this morning when we left our hotel – it was only 28 degrees and we could see our breath vapor whenever it hit the cold morning air. We had a long day ahead of us, so we left our hotel at just about 8 a.m.  The day was pretty uneventful.  We decided to take the road less traveled, which would eliminate most of the traffic.  The price we paid for that was having to deal with all the dogs that wanted to chase us.  We got chased about 4 times that I can remember, and the last two times Mark tried to tactic of yelling “Stay!” to the dogs, to get them to stop.  It worked for him and when I tried it, it worked for me also!

We rode a total of 89 miles today.  It eventually warmed up to 52 degrees around 2 p.m. when we had stopped in a town named Thicket.  It was back in the 40’s by the time we made it to Lumberton, just before 5:00 p.m.  The lobby of our LaQuinta was nice and warm, and boy did that feel good!  After showering, we each had a post-ride beer in Beth’s room, went out to a delicious dinner in an Italian restaurant, paid a visit to the town’s Wallmart, and then went back to our rooms.  I plan to finish this blog, take a look at work email, and fall asleep!

Here are the few pictures I took today.

Tim checking directions on his phone not too far out of Conroe. It isn’t even 30 degrees at this point in the ride!

Tim at the McDonald’s Restaurant in Cleveland, TX. It had warmed up to 36 degrees at this point in the ride.

Blooming tree along Farm Road 1293 between Thicket and Honey Island, TX. The roads were flat today, which was great. But the scenery, for the most part, was pretty forgetable.

We have 80 miles to ride tomorrow, in weather similar to what we had today.  And tomorrow, we finally leave Texas, where we have been riding since the end of Leg 2.

Yesterday (2/24/2015) I flew from Philadelphia to Houston on a remarkably pleasant US Airways flight.  It took off at about 11:45 a.m. with the bright sunshine doing its best to warm things up outside.  I had a window seat in the Exit row and paid attention as we flew along the Delaware River, until somewhere between Chester and Wilmington, after which the plane headed in a more westerly direction overland.  The Delaware River was not completely frozen, although sections of it looked walkable.  It had lots of ice chunks in it, as expected, since it has been so cold for so long.  I wonder what the Schuylkill River looks like ….  Anyway, I met up with Beth at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and we drove to Navasota, checked into our hotel, and then went out to dinner at an excellent Mexican Restaurant right on Texas 105.  I only had one magarita (with salt on the rocks, if you care) and after returning to my room, managed to get my bike put together in record time (for me) – only 90 minutes!

I was able to put my bike together in record time (for me) – only 90 minutes!

This morning, Beth and I got up shortly after 6:00 a.m. to drive back to Houston to pick up Tim and Mark at the airport.  Tim had arrived after 10:00 p.m. and Mark’s plane was getting in around 8:20 a.m.  It took us about 2 hours to make the drive back to Houston to pick them up, after which we drove back to Navasota and our hotel so that Tim and Mark could assemble their bikes.

Before we took off, I cut a piece of Jane Parker fruitcake for Tim and me to take with us on today’s ride.  Mark definitely was not interested, which is quite fine – it leaves more of this scrumptious food for Tim and me.  In case you want to see what it looks like, check out this photo.

Photo of Jane Parker fruit cake. Tim and I will be enjoying a piece of this everyday of Leg 5 until there is none left. Don’t you wish you could have a piece of this? 🙂

We finally got going around 12 noon on the day’s ride to Conroe, TX.  It was 39 degrees outside, so it was definitely not warm, but we’ve had at least one colder day (Silver City, NM – 32 degrees).  The ride was 42 miles to Conroe and it was sunny out when we started, so we all figured it would warm up on the ride.  How wrong could we be?  It was pretty cold for most of the ride, especially after the sun hid behind the clouds, which happened about 10 miles into the ride.  It was cold enough that we didn’t actually stop anywhere for more than a few minutes, and the only thing I ate on the ride were 3 fig newtons that Tim gave all of us.

One of my few stops along Texas 105 was near a cattle ranch right on the road, where Texas Longhorn steer were munching in grass.  When I stopped, they all moved away from the fence by the road, and stood alongside one another so that I could get this group photo (I am not kidding!).  Wasn’t that nice of them?

Texas Longhorn steer in ranch along Texas 105.  Those are some big horns!

We made it to our hotel in Conroe just before 3 p.m., so we averaged better than 15 mph in today’s ride.  But we are all really cold by the time we arrived and I couldn’t even feel my feet.  After we took our showers (although Mark took a hot bath to help get feeling back in his legs and feet), we retired to Beth’s room for snacks and beers.  Here’s a photo of Mark enjoying a post-ride Dos Equis!

Mark enjoying a post-ride Dos Equis!

Since we didn’t really have lunch, after Tim and Beth worked out the route for tomorrow’s ride to Lumberton, TX, we walked across the parking lot to a Texas Roadhouse Restaurant for dinner.  We actually got there around 4:40 p.m. and were given a pager and told we’d have about a 10 minute wait for a table!  Before 5 p.m. – can you believe it!  So we took a booth in the bar and all had a real nice dinner, arriving back at our hotel by around 6 p.m.

Texas Roadhouse Restaurant, Conroe, TX. I don’t think we’re going to see too many more Texas state flags, so I wanted to get this one in a photo for the blog.

Tomorrow’s ride to Lumberton, TX will be between 85 and 90 miles, and it is only supposed to be 29 degrees at 8 a.m. when we begin our ride.  So we’re all planning on dressing more warmly for tomorrow’s ride!

I think today’s ride was one of our best.  We all seemed not to want to rush through it, but instead take advantage of the great riding conditions and the fantastic photo ops.  At one point we joked that if we didn’t stop taking pictures, we’d never make it to Navasota.  Well, we took a lot of photos and still made it to our hotel (a Best Western, tonight) in Navasota.  So without further ado, here are today’s pictures and the one video I took.

What could possibly go better than pumpkins and prickly pear cactus? Everyone’s front lawn should be so adorned this time of year, don’t you think?

We didn’t even merit a single chase by dogs today – this lone doggy was the only one we saw and he just wasn’t interested.

The scenery today was awesome, and this wasn’t even the prettiest view.

We always make sure to check our tires for burrs and other prickly stuff after pulling off the road for a rest stop.

This is a better example of how beautiful and bucolic today’s scenery was.

Riding down TX 390 on the way to Independence, TX – nary a car to contend with.  See the prickly pear near the driveway entrance – thought so! 🙂

Matt, Mike, Mary and Pat – believe it or not, Tim did not read every single historical marker we came by today. Really!

These pillars are all that remains of Baylor Female College, near Independence, TX. They are pretty impressive, so the campus building must have been also.

This is a photo of the main building of Baylor Female College near Independence – it shows the four pillars to the far right of the photo (see my previous photo).

On Legs 2 and 3, we saw groves of pecan trees along our route. On Leg 4, there were still lots of pecan trees, but I don’t think they were harvested – they just grew wild in lots and lots of places.

Beth and Ginger join us on one of our last rest stops of Leg 4.

Tim talking to Ernie Bazan, who stopped to talk to us along TX 105 East on the way into Navasota. Ernie runs a motel/campsite that caters to bikers doing the Southern Tier route.

Today’s ride was a mere 52 miles, which was easy by the standards of Leg 4.  We arrived at our hotel, went for a swim in the hotel pool to cool off from the ride, disassembled and packed our bikes, and then went out for some Texas Barbeque (which wasn’t that good, unfortunately).

Our impression of Texas remains good!  The drivers continued to be very courteous to us.  Back home I 0ften run along roads that have divots in the asphalt along the center yellow dividing lines so that drivers have an audible warning if they cross over the dividing line.  So rather than cross over the lines for walkers, runners or bikers and subject their tires to “potential” damage from the divots, many of the drivers back home will not move over at all, which I think is foolish, not to mention inconsiderate and dangerous.  Here in Texas, none of the drivers acted that way – they all crossed the lines and drove over the divots to give us plenty of room, even if it meant slowing down to our speed before they could pass us.

Tomorrow we all fly home and will be dreaming and planning Leg 5, which will finally take us out of Texas. 🙁

Today we rode 60 miles in sunny and cloud-free skies.  We definitely had some hills, especially in Bastrop State Park at the start of the ride.  And we really didn’t have much traffic, until the very last road we were on, which was TX 159, which lead us into Round Top.  I didn’t see anything worthy of a video, but I did take lots of photos today.  Here they are:

3 years ago there was a forest fire that burned all of the pine tress in Bastrop State Park – it will probably take decades for it to return to what it was before the fire.

Planning the route for today’s ride to Round Top – Tim is always willing the share what he has figured out for us for the day.

These riders from the Tour de Tejas, all preachers or ministers headquartered in the Houston area, prayed for our safety on our ride in a short but moving prayer and we all appreciated it.  Sorry for my thumb getting in the way of the shutter. 🙁

What do you think, Nancy? Should I bring back a mailbox like this for our house in Media?

La Grange, TX has a Sonic – it was a real godsend to us today since it was so hot and we were low on fluids – we all had a large Coke and a burger and they were both really really good!

Who’d a thunk old gasoline signs and antiques would mix so well? 🙂

Now we know where old gas station signs go once their stations die out – along TX 159 near Round Top. Learn something every day! 🙂

Tim and Mark at the Round Top Inn B&B – I was expecting Tim to stand on the top step so he’d look taller….

Today’s ride was 60 miles and tomorrow is our last ride of Leg 4, and is about 50 miles or so to Navasota, TX.

Toilet seat in Men’s room – that’s right the MEN’S ROOM – in Los Patrones Restaurant, Round Top, TX

We all ordered something different at this Mexican Restaurant in Round Top – I had beef enchiladas and they were excellent!

We were able to see the last of the sunset walking back to our B&B after dinner.

The Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Round Top – this may be the one area of Texas where another protestant denomination, namely the Lutherans, give the Baptists a run for their money….

Today was actually the first day on Leg 4 that we left the hotel and it was sunny – in fact, there were no clouds in the sky at all today, which was a nice change from the routine we’ve been used to.  The two most remarkable things about the ride were riding along TX 21 East for just a few miles (it was way too dangerous to continue riding along this route! so we got off and added at least 10 more miles to the ride today) and being chased by dogs about 5 separate times today.  We’d approach a property and we’d hear dogs barking, and sometimes they were fenced in, and sometimes they were not.  And when they were not, we were “fair game,” so to speak.  So we always had to sprint to get away from them, which is fine if its flat and/or the wind is at your back, and not so nice if you biking up hill and/or into the wind.

Here are some pictures and the one video that I took on today’s ride.

You just don’t expect to see buffalo grazing in a grassy field, at least if you’re from PA.

Mark dared me to sit down in the middle of the road to take this photo. I could have double dared him, but it was just easier to take the picture.

Since the video didn’t show the oil derricks very clearly, here is a photo I took after I took that video.

The derricks are much clearer in this photo.

At one point along today’s ride, the scent of crude oil was really strong.  Tim’s post has where we smelled oil today.

No Native Americans or immigrant settlers were harmed in the making of this historical marker.

When we made it to our hotel in Bastrop, Beth was there with turkey sandwiches and beer, which we enjoyed in the hotel’s hot tub – it was really nice and thoughtful of Beth to do that, and we all appreciated it very much!  We enjoyed an awesome dinner in downtown Bastrop at Baxters on Main – if you are ever in Bastrop, you should definitely eat here!

I have to explain Beth’s out take video, which hopefully gave you a good laugh.  It was simply a matter of expedience and trying to save time.  Really!

And I think we all enjoyed the LBJ Museum and Library, particularly the exhibit they had on 60 for the Sixties, where they named the 60 most prominent and important people from that turbulent decade.  Exhibits like that are bound to promote discussion around why a particular person was included, and why weren’t others on their list.  The Beach Boys were not included, although Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin were there.  Curt Flood and Bill Russell were excellent picks, but I don’t think Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mocking Bird) should have been there – that was the only book she ever wrote and yes, it was excellent (and so was the movie), but was it enough to warrant her inclusion in the most prominent people of the 1960’s? Anyway, we were still talking about the museum and this exhibit at rest stops along the ride today, so it accomplished its objective – to make people think.

Today’s ride was another 48 miler, and tomorrow we head to Round Top, TX, which will be about 60 miles.

It was raining this morning when we came down to start our ride, so we delayed it by about a half hour or so, but finally got on the road by about 8:30 a.m.  It stayed cloudy and drizzly for about the next 60-90 minutes, but it did eventually clear up, as my photos and one video from the ride today will show:

The sun is peaking out of the clouds on this, our fourth day of riding!

The sun is on Tim’s back as he pours over the map of today’s ride.

Our second break of today’s ride was just outside an over-55 adult community called Wimberly Springs.  We sat of these rocks to get out of a stiff wind which, for the most part, really helped us today.

Mark and Tim at a rest stop at Wimberly Springs TX.

I only took this one video today, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless!

We rode about 48 miles today and after getting to our hotel, we showered, changed, had a quick beer in Beth’s room while we planned out the rest of the day, and then had a pizza lunch at a shopping mall in Kyle before driving into Austin.  There we visited the LBJ Presidential Museum and Library on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin.  Here are some pictures I took in the museum.

Beth standing near LBJ mural at LBJ Presidential Museum and Library at UT Austin.  Sorry, Beth, that you’re not completely in focus here.

LBJ portraits on the 10th floor, just outside the reproduction of the oval office.

LBJ had a physical side to him which was a big part of his negotiation style. Mark got to experience it close up while in the book store of his museum.

After the library, we walked about a half mile to The Salty Sow restaurant in Austin.  Our meals were excellent, and they even had a cactus garden which we walked past on our way back to the car to drive home.

Beth standing next to Prickly Pear cactus at the Salty Sow restaurant in Austin.

Ocotillo cactus, barrel cactus, and prickly pear cactus in Salty Sow restaurant garden.

Tomorrow we ride to Bastrop, TX, which I am guessing is about 50-60 miles from where we’re staying tonight.

Today we rode 77 miles, some of it in the rain, all of it without any headwinds (or crosswinds either, for that matter), but much of it in some very hilly terrain.  The hills of Texas Hill Country definitely made the ride very challenging.  I took two videos and half a dozen photos, which I provide below for your entertainment.  Ok, it won’t be as entertaining as Beth’s blog will be, but hopefully you’ll enjoy my post nonetheless. 🙂

It’s a good thing Tim likes figuring out maps or we’d ever get anywhere on this trip! 🙂

Halloween is really big here in the Texas Hill Country, but I can’t imagine kids walking from ranch to ranch to go trick or treating…..

We made it to Waring, TX just in time for lunch, which we ate across the street from the Waring General Store. If you looks closely just to the right of the front door, you can see the Fallout Shelter sign. I can’t imagine how the General Store would have been any better in a nuclear attack than your own house in Waring, but who knows?

“Objects in the camera lens are much closer than they appear.” But don’t worry, there was a fence between me and the bull, which was just outside of Waring, TX.

It’s always great meeting up with Beth and Ginger. They met up with us along TX Ranch Road 473, about 14 miles or so from our hotel in Blanco.

Once we made it to our Best Western Hotel in Blanco, we did a wash and then went into town for a nice dinner.  Tomorrow we bike to Kyle and then we’re going to drive into Austin and visit the LBJ Presidential Museum and Library on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.  Looking forward to that!

We met for breakfast at 7 a.m. and then had the car packed and were ready to go by 8 a.m.  We decided to use TX Farm Road 1023 to start out, instead of riding along US 90, which was four lanes and a bit “trafficy.” TX Farm Road 1023 was quite desolate, which was exactly why we used it.  Along the way we passed several cattle ranches, and at one of them the cattle were very active, which I was able to catch in this video.

After about 20 miles, we made it to Sabinal, TX and TX Ranch Road 187, where we stopped for a short break.  Here is a picture of Tim and Mark at that first rest stop.

Mark and Tim at first rest stop of the day in Sabinal, TX.

While in Sabinal we met a man named Billy Riggs, a cattle rancher who was very friendly and talkative.  Here’s a picture of Tim with Bobby Riggs.

Tim and Mr. Billy Riggs in Sabinal. TX.

Billy Riggs is a cattle rancher who recently sold his cattle ranch to a company that is planning to frack for natural gas on his land.  Billy received five times what he paid for the ranch 20 years ago.  He used to money to buy another cattle ranch in Truth or Consequences, NM.  Billy is in his mid-seventies and commutes every week back and forth from his ranch in New Mexico to Sabinal. We told him he looked fit enough to join us on the ride and he told us he knew he could do the ride, but he didn’t want to – he’d prefer to ride along with us on his horse, and I’m pretty sure he could easily have kept up with us today doing that.

We rode 80 miles today, more than half of it with a stiff headwind, and when we finally turned away from the wind, we had to deal with the hills of Texas Hill Country, so it took us slightly more than 8 hours to complete the ride today.  Here are a few pictures I took along the ride. You’ll have to excuse me for not taking too many photos today – I concentrated on just finishing it!

Prickly pear cactus on Farm Road 470 at one of our last rest stops of the day. You didn’t really think I wasn’t going to post some pictures of cactus plants, did you? 🙂

Tim and Mark at one of our last rest stops on TX Famr Road 470.

Just after 4 p.m. we finally made it to the Diamond H Bed and Breakfast outside of Bandera, TX.  Here are a few pictures I took of our lodging place for the evening.

Cactus garden at Diamond H B&B near Bandera, TX.

My very western style bed room at Diamond H B&B. Hope the bed is comfy!

We have another long day tomorrow – it’s at least 70 miles or so to Blanco, TX.

Yesterday was a travel day for all of us.  Tim, Mark and I flew from Philadelphia to San Antonio, TX and Beth flew in from Newark. NJ.  Once we had all arrived, we drove about 150 miles from the San Antonio airport to Brackettville, TX, sopping to eat dinner at an Applebey’s Restaurant, for an unremarkable and forgettable meal.  Once in Brackettville we assembled our bikes and went to bed.  As usual, my bike assembly was challenging, but with help from Tim and Mark, I eventually got it together.

Not too far out of Brackettville, while riding along US 90, a herd of buffaloes came out of the brush and trotted along just in front and to the right of us.  We were all very surprised to see them, but I managed to get this video of them racing along just ahead.  Hope you enjoy it! This experience, together with a little light rain during our ride today, were “firsts” for us on our cross country bike trip.

Like last year, riding along US 90 is Texas is tough on your butt! It’s a US highway paved with Texas chip seal, fairly large stones joined together with just a bit of asphalt and sealed with tar. There is not much to look at but it’s still definitely memorable – straight with some rolling hills and lots of ranches facing the highway on both sides.  Here is a photo of one of several dozens of ranches we passed today.

Gun Hill Ranch along US90 near Brackettville, TX

We biked against a 10-14 mph headwind for most of the ride so we were only able to average about 10 mph, including our rest stops.  Our ride today was 42 miles so by leaving at 8 a.m. we were able to make it to our hotel in Uvalde, TX just around noon.  Here are .a few pictures I took during the ride today.

Mark at a rest stop along US 90.

Bridge along US 90. It was a tight fit crossing this bridge, but all the truckers gave us a wide berth.

A not so good photo of a horse in a field along US 90. This is fairly typical of the scenery we saw today.

After checking into the Holiday Inn Express, we went for a swim in the hotel pool and Beth brought us some beers to drink while relaxing in the nice cool water.  Then we went to lunch at a Wattaburger, which was quite tasty!

Next we visited the John Nance Garner museum in Uvalde, which was really nice and very informative. For those history buffs out there, John Nance Garner was FDR’s Vice President for his first two two terms, from 1933 to 1941.  FDR and Garner had a falling out in 1940, when FDR vacillated over whether to run for a 3rd term.  When FDR was non-committal about seeking a third term, Garner began campaigning for president, despite the fact that he was 72 years old at this point.  When FDR finally did decide to run, Garner decided to return to Texas and “never cross the Potomac River again,” a promise he lived up to.  He passed away in November 1967, a few days shy of his 99th birthday.  Here are some of the photos I took at the Garner museum in Uvalde, which is located in the home Garner and his wife had built in the early 1920’s, while he was a Texas Congressman.  He eventually rose to the position of Speaker of the House, so that when FDR made him his VP, Garner referred to this office as “the only demotion I ever had.”

Photograph of Garner making a point to FDR.

Garner came by the name “Cactus Jack” for advocating for the cactus as the state flower of Texas – it was not selected 🙁

Portrait of John Nance Garner hanging in his museum.

Tomorrow we have a 70 mile ride to Bandera, TX.  We are hoping for a tailwind, but tomorrow’s weather forecast doesn’t look too promising.

There are many things I want to remember on L3, so I thought I’d write them down and share them.

Biggest Local News Stories During L3

The U.S. Government shutdown and its local effect on Big Bear National Park and the Fort Davis National Historic Site.  Beth especially has discussed this already, so I don’t need to discuss this any further.

The University of Texas vs The University of Oklahoma football rivalry and the big game that would be happening as we flew home on Saturday.  This was a welcome reprieve from the constant news reports about the children masquerading as elected officials in Washington, DC.  Oops! I said I wasn’t going to discuss this any further, didn’t I?

The Denver Broncos versus the Dallas Cowboys football game on Sunday afternoon and evening, October 6.  Actually, we were really only aware of this because the restaurant bar in Marathon had the game on that day, and it was pretty hard to ignore.

Truly Remarkable Things We Experienced During L3

The night sky everywhere outside of El Paso, but we particularly noticed it in Marathon, TX.  You really can’t appreciate how many bright stars and planets there are up there, until you spend some time in a remote place.

The speed limit on the two-lane (one in each direction) on US 90 is West Texas.  It’s a Texas chip seal surface, but in many places along this route the speed limit is 75 mph!

The importance of the railroad to the local economy of towns along the railroad line, which runs parallel to US 90 for much of this road.  Alpine is thriving, in part because the railroad decided to use this town as a crew shift location.  When they moved the crew shift location out of Sanderson, it really hurt.  Sanderson’s population is less than 900 people, about 5,000 less than Alpine.  Here is a 1947 photo of Oak Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Sanderson.

1947 Photo of Oak Street, Sanderson, TX. Today it is a shadow of what it once was back in the 1940’s. Nevertheless, Sanderson still has an elementary and a high school, not to mention a beautiful and apparently relatively new town library!

I’ve mentioned the prevalence of town libraries in the caption above, but I found this aspect of life in West Texas to be very remarkable.  Libraries are really important there, which I think is great!

The awesomely beautiful desert.  Here is a video I took on Day 5 on our way to 10 miles east of Dryden.  The scenic mountains in the middle of the desert are like nothing you can find on the east coast.

Can you stand yet one more picture of prickly pear cacti – I don’t think I’ve shared this particular one yet – I’ve been saving it! 🙂

Prickly pear cacti along US 90 between Alpine and Marathon, TX. I don’t think we’re going to see these plants too much or even at all on our future legs across the U.S.

The sudden appearance of humidity on the last two days of riding on L3.  We were soaked with sweat on our return to the Hampton Inn in Del Rio, and that was the first time we’ve experienced that on any of our previous rides.  We were east of the Pecos River and, for the most part, out of the desert, which might explain it.

Some of the Great Things We Experienced on L3

The courtesy of Texas drivers.  They were incredibly patient and even in El Paso, I rarely felt in danger of being hit by a car or a truck.

The friendliness of the people.  Some that come to mind are the lady at the Langtry Visitor Center, the many waitresses that served us in Van Horn, Fort Davis, and Marathon, and especially the U.S. Border Patrol Agents.  Once again our conversations with all of them were relaxed and friendly.  I just wish we could have talked to more locals and for longer lengths of time.

Texas Barbeque – it’s the best!  Thank you Rudy’s!

My daughter Beth! For her insightful and entertaining blogs, her reliability, and her warm companionship to all of us!  Thanks Beth!

I’m really looking forward to Leg 4 next March!