Day 49: Richards wild camp to Anderson (8:00 a.m.) to Novasota

February 22, 2014

Getting up at 3:30 a.m. is ok, if you turned in at 7:30, though there is a bit of a jetlag type effect. We turned on all our lights and flashers, including the amusing but not so effective UFO flasher. This lights red LEDs in a circular pattern that is good for hypnotising Steve, behind, but may not repel too many cars!

What we look like on the road to any hung over driver

Though the road had no shoulder, we could easily spot the few cars on the road, and pull over. We reached Richards, but in the dark it did not look like much. We suspect it would be the same in the day.

The cold and dark of course eventually gave way to dawn, marked by birdsong, and of course, the rising sun.

Daylight revealed that we were truly in a different region now. Logging was behind us, and ranches predominated in an open landscape. We even ran into one vineyard, and some hills that are a preview of the coming Hill Country,

Dodie is calling these hills, I am calling them slopes. we understand whatever they are, they will get steeper real soon

By getting on the road really early, we ensured no slipups in being at the post office in Anderson on time. And yes, we were there fifteen minutes before they opened. It was great to then hold the precious envelope, since we had worked fairly hard to arrange for and then reach it.

The town of Anderson is small, though it has a large and impressive court house. Two cafes seemed to be closed or abandoned, but the Shell station had a grill! The lady made us eggs, toast, and bacon. This was really great, since all we had was those weird white donuts. On the other hand, Dodie had to feed her toast to me, since it had been coated with something that was not butter or margarine and tasted yucchy to her. She later realized that the toast had been toasted on the greasy griddle. (I liked it...)

The Shell also had a restroom, helpful, for obvious reasons.

So now we set out from Anderson, with daylight, warmth, breakfast, restroom, and map all in place. This was fun! We continued through ranch country, which jived with all the pickup trucks towing stock trailers on the road. As we neared Novasota we could see where they were all headed: a large auction barn. The auction was today!

Naturally we pulled in to see the action. The barn was huge, with the people on catwalks above the hundreds of stalls, looking down on the cattle, horses, sheep, and goats below.

So really looked like "Texas", and naturally had people with cowboy hats and jeans everywhere. Many seemed to be of Mexican origin as well.

We had questions for them, and of course they had UQs for us. For example, we learned that the price of feeder calves has been very high lately. Normally the bidding is started at 25 cents per pound, and now has been ending at around $1.25.

Lots of abandoned houses. Not sure how this comes about here

New and used saddles for sale by the roadside

Logging trucks replaced by livestock trailers

This guy was really good with the whip - could give Dodie lessons?

After hanging around for quite a good while, we continued on in to Navasota. We bypassed the motels near the big highway 6, since they were quite costly, and proceeded into town. Now this was a really real town. On the outskirts were fine old houses. Then there was a downtown, with actual brick buildings, and no McDonalds. One of these was Noto's, a home and auto store. Dodie's headset has been loose, and of course normally requires a thin wrench to tighten. we didn't bring it, due to weight, and of course there are few or no bike shops in this region (except for Austin).

Thinking to maybe find a needle nosed pliers or something that could be pressed into service, I wheeled right into Noto's. The proprietors were a little surprised to find a bike in front of the register, but listened to the problem. They shook their heads sadly on the wrench request, but asked a fellow (friend?) to go in the back and see if any ideas popped up. He came back with some tools that we managed to use to tighten the headset!

Meanwhile we learned something about Noto's and the town. The proprietors, Marcus Noto and his wife (Janie?) are third generation owners of the business. Marcus pointed proudly to a photo on the wall of his grandad in front of the original store. Marcus, though, being almost our age, will retire and be the last in the line. Competition from Walmart is expected to intensify, and perform its usual trick of destroying the old downtown businesses. Marcus pointed out that there is another hardware in town, which works cooperatively with him. Walmart, though, is death. Marcus also named about ten businesses that used to be on the street but which are now gone.

While Dodie and Janie exchanged grand-kid stories, Marcus responded to our being from near Vancouver by describing his dad's wartime experience installing radar on the West coast. His Dad really liked Vancouver, and this was a link between us and Marcus. I described what there is about Vancouver that people like.

We found our slightly cheaper motel, and headed off to the grocery store. There Dodie spotted some cap guns! Even though the dog problem seems to be over now, the one called "the Enforcer" got her attention.It was kind of big, so she she settled for the "Hot Shot" plus a package of ammo.

Back at the motel, we found the Hot Shot to be too unreliable for dog military use. It went back to the store. So now the remaining dogs of Texas can rest easy as least as far as loud noises go!

The background of a statue in the middle of the road downtown

The photo of Marcus' grandad in front of the original store

Dodie at the gun store. No worries DODIE RETURNED HER HOTSHOT, she remains only armed with bug spray (and a whip)

Boudain, at the grocery store. Looks really good!

Today's ride: 53 km (33 miles)
Total: 2,919 km (1,813 miles)

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