chicken ranch, happy water, little churches

October 24, 2008

Day Thirty Three

"Prostitution in towns is like the cesspool in the palace; take away the cesspool and the palace will become a dirty and stinking place."
- St. Thomas Aquinas -

"I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy."
- Steve Martin -

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I always enjoy falling asleep in my tent. The next morning, however, isn't always so pleasant.

It was in the low 40s last night, and I really didn't want to leave the cozy warmth of my sleeping bag.

….so I didn't. I'm on vacation.

Eventually, when the sun hit my tent, it became warm enough to climb out.

a picture of my campsite, taken the evening before

I emptied the tent and spread it, the rainfly, and my sleeping bag on the ground to dry in the sun, then plugged in my phone to the solar panel.

By the time everything was dry, packed into bags, and loaded onto my bike it was 11:00. On the way out of the park, a guy asked me a couple of the Frequently Asked Questions and we started chatting.

His name is Vern, and he's getting ready for his company's festival held at the park each year. Apparently, it's quite a blow-out in which a large volume of alcohol is consumed. I don't know when the drinking starts, but it's sometime before 11:00 in the morning.

Bruce, a friend of his, walked up while we were talking. Vern is an IT Manager and Bruce is a Geophysicist.

not your typical-looking IT and geophysicist nerds - their cool factor is several tiers higher

I would like to have stayed longer to visit but I was already getting a really late start.

There was no warming up before starting the hills. They began as soon as I left the campground and would continue for the few miles I had remaining in Buescher Park.

I paid on the way out, and pedaled the rolling hills toward LaGrange.

Along the way…

I don't know what the name of the town is (and maybe they don't either), but I’ll bet they've got some GREAT drinking water.

a very small church on the side of the road.

I see a lot of metal cutouts like this along the way

LaGrange is famous in its own right, at least regionally. There was even a movie made about it, starring Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, and Dom DeLouise.

It's the home of "The Chicken Ranch," a brothel that was closed in 1973 after a Houston television reporter, Marvin Zindler, let the world know of its presence. I remember seeing Marvin on television when I was growing up, with his unconvincing white wig and black-framed, blue-tinted glasses. He was famous for his “Rat and Roach Report” about the restaurants in the Houston area, and developed his own catchphrase. I can still hear his voice, emphatic after a dramatic pause,

“And there was sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime in the ice machine!”

ZZ Top even wrote a song about the town.

I ate lunch outside on the back patio at Bistro 108, then continued my afternoon riding over the rolling hills of Warrenton, Round Top, and Burton. That thirty-mile section of road apparently has a huge antique show. For miles and miles along the road there were places where people set up shop to sell antiques.

Here's another tiny church. This one, St. Martin Catholic Church, claims to be the world's smallest actively worshiping Catholic church.

The "actively worshiping" part is in very fine print.

Also from along the way....

I stopped for the day in Gay Hill (pop 145), where there are some monument-sized houses overlooking Somerville Lake.

My sister, Wanda, was kind enough to volunteer to come pick me up this evening. She didn't volunteer until after I asked her, but she would have anyway.... siblings, you know.

She lives in Bryan, which is just under an hour away. She'll bring me back here tomorrow morning, and I'll start from the same place I'm stopping this evening. That's an extra day in a house with a soft bed, plus we’ll get to have a nice visit.

I'm about ready for a rest day. Those little aches and pains compound after several days. Still, I'd like to ride one more day before stopping.

I got a message from Klaus.... He finally had some time to update his web page and it has some beautiful pictures on it. His pictures look like the ones I want to be able to take with my camera. You should check out his pictures from this tour.

Go to his website, www.rad-fernweh.de and scroll down on the left and click on "Around the World 08." Then, at the top, you'll see the different parts of the US he's traveled through. Just click on each one: USA, Ca, Az, Nm+Mx.

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distance: 65 miles
average speed: 13.2 mph
maximum speed: 30.3 mph
time on bike: 4:53:04
cumulative: 1605 miles

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 1,606 miles (2,585 km)

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