Day 50: Novasota to Mound Hill

February 23, 2014

The day started out already reasonably warm, meaning that we could begin in shorts and with just a light windbreaker. It was strangely misty, though, and we worried about the effect of that on the camera. We crossed the Brazos River after only a short time. The Brazos is referenced in that song by Doug McArthur, whose lyrics we included here a couple of days ago.

Our route follows this in Texas. The Bahia trail seems well known to local people

We found this mast from a BoB trailer just west of the Brazos. The little flags are clearly good luck tokens from friends of the cyclist(s), and are in French.

One of the small flags from the BoB mast.

The Brazos also figures in the name of the town of Washington on the Brazos. This is revered as one of Texas' most significant historic places, since it was here that they made the formal declaration of independence from Mexico, around 1836. The old ACA route went through Washington, while the new one goes around it. We went through, just to have a peek at the state historic park there. We knew the visitor centre would only open at 9:30, so we would be too early. But as it happened we met some day cyclists out of Houston there and started chatting. Before we knew it,they were opening the centre. This was not our queue to go learn about Texas history, though. This was instead our wakeup call to get a move on. We did get to buy some postcards, though!

We continued through rolling hills in what can only be described as drop dead gorgeous country. It is open range land, but with a goodly distribution of hardwood trees - live oak and pecan, plus some cedar. The pines are now completely absent. The ranch houses are set well back from the road, and many are huge affairs, clearly owned by rich people and used as second homes or for tax breaks.

The roads we travelled on often had no or little shoulder, but were very quiet. So quiet that I coulď often ride right down the centre.

so many interesting types of cattle here

A really big guy - he had six similar friends in the field

While Washington was a bit of a non event, there was no missing the town of Independence. Sort of. The fact is that Independence is a ghost town, marked mainly by plaques. That applies to the town, or town square itself. However, a historical society has preserved and manages a number of surrounding buildings. Independence is not just a general ghost town though. It is famous, as the home of Sam Houston's mother in law and a place where he himself liveď and was baptised later in life. What's more it is the first site of Baylor University, which was associated with one of the oldest (or the oldest) Baptist churches in the state.

The whole site of Indpendence is made more interesting, again, by the lovely surroundings. The hills, the trees, the cattle and grass. We know that people here realĺy love the place, and it is easy to see why. And though we do not like cycling hills, we have to admit that this is one of the most attractive cycling spots we have seen on this continent!

This poem by Mrs Houston illustrates the feeling of people for this nice place

The hills, naturally were tiring us out, and by late afternoon we had done only about 50 km (didn't help that we fooled around at the state park for so long). We phoned ahead to the only place listed by ACA in the next town, Burton, and found that it was out of business. Wild camp looked dicey, because almost every place is fenced and/or posted. To make our phone call we had pulled off to the shade of an oak tree, near a building where a man was working on some renovations. The building featured a large covered area with tables.

We asked if there was a patch of grass here where we could pitch our tent. The man immediately said sure. Thinking for a moment, he showed us a more secluded spot behind the building, There was a covered area there too, and we asked if we could dispense with the tent and just put the groundsheet under the cover. Sure. Thinking for a moment, the man said "There is a restroom here on the side, I can leave it open, just lock it in the morning". The man was Danney. Now his wife, Connie, pointed out that there was a shower inside that we could try. Great! Now Dodie took the initiative, and asked if we could sleep on the floor inside. Sure, was the immediate repľy.

The inside is huge, and is being done up as a party hall. Now Connie said "Say, this old sofa has a pull out bed, why not sleep on that?" We opened it, and Connie found a clean sheet for it..

Connie's brother came by with some free range eggs, and we got shown where the pots and pans were in the hall's kitchen.

Best of all we learned about the neighbourhood and the region from Danney and Connie and Danney made us a list of what to see in the next six towns. Significantly, he identified the good bakery in LaGrange, and what they make the best!

Danney comes from a German background and is the first person we have met from the community here. He only speaķs a little German and otherwise has a Texas accent. However, he knows what we mean by good bakery, and his town list is really giving us something to look forward too. (It's not just bakery. We also learned that nearby Brenhan is the home of the super Blue Bell ice cream we have learned to love here.)

So here we are, left on our own to enjoy a place with unlimited lights and plugs, tables, shower, kitchen, bed, even tv. To boot we have met two super nice and interesting people, just like happened with Dave and Marianne. We will now sleep so easy, not just because everything we could need is here, but because we have another demonstration of just how wonderful people can be.

Danney and Connie, gave us a place to stay and trusted us with their stuff. Good people.

Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 2,970 km (1,844 miles)

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