I asked my barber where I could get some good barbecue and he recommended Buppy's.
I was a little skeptical with a name like that. "Bubba's" or "Buddy's" sure, that sounds manly enough.... but Buppy's??? That's a turtle's name. Or a chihuahua's.
When I saw the picture on the side of the catering van, I was even less reassured. There's a picture of a guy with a bad wig and a goofy smile.
However, the food was good, and it's all you can eat and drink for $6.95.
Still, don't take my word for it. Just look at these satisfied customers.
I was also able to visit with my family some. It was really nice to see them.
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Starting now, the party's over. Tomorrow, Act 2 begins.
Until now, I've had a vague idea about finishing, and about how many miles I needed to ride each day. Today, however, I sat down and calculated exactly how many more miles I have to go and when I'll be arriving in Jacksonville.
When I get to the end of my trip in Florida, I'll buy a one-way ticket back to San Diego. From there, I'll fly back to Iowa on 11/23 using the second half of my round-trip ticket. Heather has a conference in San Diego which begins on 11/18, so I'm going to try to make it while she's there.
If I follow the ACA route, I'll have 1227 miles left. That's just under 70 miles a day, if I only take every sixth day off instead of every fifth. If I get off the ACA route at Wellborn and head straight to Jacksonville, it'll cut off about 100 miles, and I can cut off another 42 miles going from Washington, LA, through Melville instead of Simmesport. That's 1085 miles, making it 60 miles a day. I'll arrive in Jacksonville on the 17th, get my bike boxed up and shipped on the 18th, and fly out early on the 19th.
I slept about nine and a half hours, then got up and started my day. It's a rest day, but I have a long list of things I have to get done while I'm here. My first day of work is 9 December, for the federal government, and there are a number of forms to fill out before I can start. I don't know what the actual number is because I can't count that high, but I know it IS a finite number. So, I spent a lot of my day working on that.
But not before going to Shipley's Donuts. By far, they're my favorite donut, and they're only available in this area.
And please don't leave your toenail clippings on the toilet seat.
I've been waiting for two months for my new computer. I was told the shipping date would be 10/8, and I believed them. Then I was told 10/20, and I believed them. Now the shipping date is 10/27, and I KNOW it'll get shipped. I believe them.
Really. I do.
So I went to Office Depot and bought an Acer Aspire One.
This morning I'm traveling without my pannier bags. Since I'll be staying at Wanda's again tonight, there's no reason for me to carry all of that stuff. I'm only bringing my left pannier bag, and I emptied it out and loaded it with a spare tire, an extra tube, a patch kit, my small tire pump, and tools. I'm also carrying my handlebar bag, which has all of the things I need to be accessible - credit cards, money, maps, camera, energy bars, PDA (for blogging).... things like that.
I calculate I'm traveling about thirty pounds lighter without the other gear. Really, it doesn't seem like that much. My own weight is still the same, the bike still weighs 29 pounds, and I'm estimating I still have at least nine of the thirty nine pounds of my gear. So, instead of 257 pounds I'm carrying 227 pounds. I kind of wonder if it'll make any difference.
From Gay Hill I head east. In places there are huge cracks in the road. You can't really tell from the picture, but some of the cracks were 8-9 inches deep, and plenty wide enough to accept an unsuspecting bicyclist's tire.
They started their trip in Virginia and traveled along the Eastern coast before turning West. They're both from Venice, California, and grew up quite close to each other. Somehow they both ended up in New England, ready to return to the West. They talked about perhaps doing some hiking, then Erin suggested taking a bike trip since Ari has taken some shorter ones before. And that was that - a thousand plus miles later, here they are.
It's been an interesting trip for them, especially traveling through the Deep South. Erin is a vegetarian, and there isn't a single cafe anywhere along their route where you can't buy a chicken fried steak. A cafe in the South can't survive if it doesn't sell chicken fried steak. It's hard enough just finding FOOD sometimes; If I'm lucky I can find something that's not deep fried. I can't imagine being a vegetarian on a trip like this!
We talked in the shade of an oak tree for about twenty minutes before heading off in opposite directions.
This part of Texas is not only scenic but very historic. I passed through Independence, almost a ghost town now, which is the original site of Baylor University.
Washington, "The Birthplace of Texas," is just up the road from Independence. Also called Washington-on-the-Brazos, it's where Texas became an independent nation in 1836 when it signed its own Declaration of Independence from Mexico. In some ways, Texas is STILL a different country.
I stopped briefly at the museum in Washington, then continued on to Navasota.
For lunch, I decided on The Filling Station. The waitress' T-shirt boasts, "The Filling Station: where burpin' and fartin' is still a competitive sport."
I decided that bicycling is sport enough for me - at least, for now. (buuuuuuuuurp - er, excuse me)
After lunch I pedaled through Anderson, then Richards. I took a fifteen-minute break and watched all of the traffic come in and out of the only place in town to buy something, a small convenience store, while I cooled off and had something to drink.
After Richards, almost instantly, I was surrounded by a forest of tall pine trees. This is East Texas, also known as The Piney Woods. With trees towering above me on both sides, there was less light and it felt later in the day.
I think it's safe to assume it gets warm here during the summer. This lug nut has sunk down about halfway into the shoulder on this road.
I saw this sign and wondered about it. Are the pool and the cemetery on the same lot? The cluster of houses surrounding wasn't a town named "Pool." I strained to see if it was just the name of the cemetery or if there was actually a swimming pool there, but I just couldn't see anything.
It was starting to get dark fast. The trees really make a difference, cutting off the light. After seeing the first car with its headlights on, I continued to ride; however, I soon began feeling invisible, and therefore very uncomfortable. There was no shoulder on this section of road, and I began worrying about being felt by drivers rather than being seen by them.
I pulled over at the Ranger Station and waited for Wanda, who showed up shortly afterwards.
Looking at my average speed, I guess cycling without the weight really DOES make a difference!
73.78 distance 14.4 average 29.0 maximum 5:06:53 time 1685.0 total
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 was 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 11AM.
I also met Bruce. Vern is an IT Manager and Bruce is a Geophysicist.
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 whorehouse that was closed in 1973 after a Houston television reporter with a bad wig and blue glasses, Marvin Zindler, let the world know of its presence.
I ate lunch outside on the back patio at Bistro 108, then continued my afternoon riding through the rolling hills of Warrenton, Round Top, and Burton. That thirty-mile section of road apparently has a huge antique show, because for miles and miles there were places where people can set up shop to sell antiques.
Here's another tiny church. This one, St. Martins Catholic Church, claims to be the world's smallest actively worshipping church.
I stopped for the day in Gay Hill, where there are some monumental-sized houses overlooking Somerville Lake.
My sister, Wanda, was kind enough to volunteer to come pick me up this evening. She lives in Bryan, which is just under an hour away. She'll drop me off 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.
And all I had to do was ask her.
I'm about ready for a rest day. Those little aches and pains compound after several days. Still, I'd like to ride one day more 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 WANTED to be able to take with my camera. Please 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.
64.62 miles 13.2 average 30.3 maximum speed 4:53:04 time 1611.2 total
On the way out of Lockhart I stopped at the Kountry Kitchen for breakfast. It was advertised as being "Just Like Mom's."
It's odd, though.... I just don't remember a cigarette hanging from my mom's lower lip. And I don't remember her having a gravelly voice. Nor do I remember her letting two thirds of the people in the room smoke.
Probably just my faulty memory.
For several hundred miles, even in New Mexico, there have been oil wells spotting the landscape. Most of them are really old and tired sounding. They squeak as they run, and sound kind of lonely.
There are a few newer ones, but in general, they scar the scenery.
After seventeen miles I arrived in Bateman, which, as far as I can tell, has a church. Bateman Baptist Church, and that's it.
That's all I needed though - just SOMEthing to block the wind for a few minutes, so I pulled over and sat on the ground on the leeward side of the church.
After a few minutes a woman came out of the building behind the church and asked me if I'd like to come inside where it's warmer. My plan was to make this a VERY brief stop since I'd only pedaled seventeen miles, so I said no thanks, I'm alright just sitting here out of the wind.
Sometimes on a trip, I forget why I'm riding. I start thinking about how many miles I've done, and how many I have to do, and my average speed, and the wind direction.... and I forget to look around.
When she came out five minutes later and asked me again, I said yes. THIS is one of the main reasons for the trip.
I followed her into the Fellowship Hall of the church where she and another woman were preparing for the Fall Festival which will be starting in a couple of days.
For the first ten minutes or so, I sat quietly in a chair while the two women decorated the room. There was a Christian song playing in the background. A song, as in ONE song... over and over and over and over.
Eventually, the one who asked me in, Stacy, asked me a few questions about where I started and where I was going. After that, the conversation flowed more freely.
I learned that the reason the song was playing over and over is that Stacy will be singing it in a couple of days. Someone just asked her last night if she would be willing to perform it, so she's trying to learn it very quickly. Since she has Attention Deficit Disorder, she just plays it in the background and lets it soak in. Not a bad idea, actually.
Stacy made me some hot tea and we continued talking.
Della was also helping. She seemed nice, but was very quiet most of the time.
Stacy is really proud of her three children. Johnwayne Cinch (Johnwayne is his first name, Cinch is his middle name) was in the room with us, and played with stuff while the ladies worked.
TJ is her other son, older, and Cody, the only girl, is older still. Stacy told me about Cody's ability to pitch a softball 95 miles an hour, and she's only a freshman in high school. Perhaps I should call the Houston Astros or the Texas Rangers baseball teams, especially since she can also hit.
She asked me my name so she could put me on the "Traveling Mercies" list. When I heard that I KNEW I was in the South. I appreciate it, and wonder if "traveling mercies" includes a nice strong tailwind.
My body and heart warmed, I started riding again.
In Bastrop (pop 5340) I stopped for more barbecue at Cartwright's BBQ - getting it while I can.
The man in front of me in the ordering line, about in his mid- to late sixties, ordered first. He had a gut which entered a room three minutes before he did.
"I want a sliced beef sandwich. And leave all of that fat on it, willya?"
The young guy cutting the meat paused, looked at me quickly with an incredulous look and a half smile, then started making the sandwich.
The man who hasn't seen his feet in thirty years then added, "Everbody's always on a diet, ya know."
I did my best to get a profile picture, but wasn't able to. This was the best shot I could get.
I'm camping tonight, so I stopped at a convenience store and picked up some bread, milk, and a few other things.
Bastrop State Park and Buescher State Park are almost connected, and the road between them looks just like the park roads. It's a nice place to ride. I only saw two cars the entire time I was pedaling through them this afternoon.
Both parks have some REALLY steep grades.... steeper than anything I've seen in the Rockies. There were some that, if they'd been twenty feet farther, I'd have been walking my bike up. Even in my granny gear, pedaling as hard as I could, I was really struggling.
The downhills were nice though.
As you may have gathered, not much can cause me to brake to a stop when I'm going downhill.... severed arteries (mine or others), a nuclear blast within thirty feet, Elvis hitchhiking ... all these things can wait. However, I did see something on the side of the road that caused me to immediately brake, turn around, and pedal back uphill.
I don't know why he (or she) was so fascinating to watch. Maybe because an armadillo is so.... prehistoric.
At the entrance to the Buescher campground I met a local family of bikers who were out for an evening ride, two parents and four kids. The kids were extremely well behaved. It's not too surprising, though, when you consider that they were out on bikes instead of huddled around a television.
The father is interested in taking a trip someday, and I let him know that it's certainly possible with kids.
I pitched my tent on the grass and took a shower. In the bathroom the lights automatically go off after a certain period of time. Fortunately, when it happened I was standing right next to the door instead of buck naked and dripping wet with soap in my eyes on the other side of the room - all I had to do was open the door and the lights came back on.
Buescher is a nice place to camp. There were only three other campsites being used, and the campers were quiet.
That night, lying comfortably in my sleeping bag, I heard some rustling outside my tent. The movement, the pause, the movement - it sounded exactly like my armadillo friend. I thought about poking my head outside to take a look but was too cozy.
One of the last things I heard before drifting off to sleep was a coyote howling off in the distance.
45.97 miles 11.3 average 31.6 max 4:04:07 time 1546.5 total
This morning I asked myself, "How could we have failed so miserably as a country?"
It's true. We export a lot of American culture to other countries. You can buy a McDonald's hamburger in Moscow or a pair of Levis in Tokyo. Our cultural presence is seen everywhere in the world now.
Klaus even has a KFC in his hometown in Germany. And yet...
And yet, he's never heard of Willie Nelson. How can that be?? This is an educated man in an industrialized society. Where have we gone wrong??
So, I've decided to ask for your help. I'm going to give Klaus a list of Country and Western songs that he needs to be familiar with. What Country and Western songs should Klaus know about before leaving this country? Of course, "Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas" comes to mind. Please help me correct this cultural void in Klaus' world. I'll pass all of the responses on to him (or, more likely, he'll just read them on the blog).
Today, I've been on the road for one month. ("On the Road Again... I just can't wait to get on the road again") So far, it's been a blast.
Vickie was already at work by the time we got up. Tommy fed us breakfast and we visited a little more before finally leaving at 10:00.
Three miles later, Klaus began yelling for me to stop.... what?!?! a flat? a broken spoke? a two-headed deer? Nope...
He's at 14,000 kilometers.
Instead of beer, he pulled out a special bottle of wine. It was produced in Texas; Klaus met the vintner a couple of days ago, who, after finding out about his global circumnavigation, gave him a bottle of his reserve wine. A regular-sized bottle of wine was too large, so the guy put it into a smaller one and labeled it himself as Klaus watched.
Five miles after our 14,000 kilometer celebration, we parted ways again. Klaus has decided to go to Austin and take a rest day there. He's only taken one rest day since I last saw him, and he's really ready for one.
Although we only traveled together for eight miles, it was nice that the 14,000th kilometer was included in that short stretch.
Again, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. Who knows? Perhaps we'll hook up again. At 15,000?
Riding this morning was nice. I had a rarely-seen tailwind (it was actually more from the side, but it wasn't a headwind so I'll take it).
This is still the Hill Country, with its rolling hills, and very beautiful.
In Wimberley (pop 3797), I stopped at the Visitor's Center to ask about some good places to eat. Among the choices was Marco's, an Italian restaurant.
As I was waiting for my lunch, a couple of local bikers came to chat. One of them has previously done a cross-country trip. Since they knew the area, they recommended taking a certain road out of town on my way to Lockhart. Of course, it was the same one that ACA had routed me through.
On my bike map there's a notation: "There is no or bad shoulder to Kyle." I think that should be corrected to: "Ther is no or no shoulder to Kyle." The traffic was slightly heavy in places (of course, that's RURAL heavy), but the drivers were always nice.
On the other side of Kyle (pop 5314) the land becomes flatter. There's a lot of farmland... I'm leaving The Hill Country.
I lost 750 feet of elevation today, all of it earned on the other side of the continental divide. I'm dropping a little each day, usually only a few hundred feet.
When I arrived in Lockhart (pop 11,615) I stopped at the Visitor's Center just as they were closing at 5:00. There were two employees in the parking lot on their way to their cars, but they stopped and spent about ten minutes telling me about the town.
I checked in to a motel, and two minutes after I closed my door a Norther blew in. The wind began blowing about 20 mph and the temperature dropped by about the same number.
I'd heard about Black's barbecue for miles, and was planning to go there for supper, but I would've had to pedal (or walk) two miles into that 20 mph wind. Instead, I decided to just walk across the street to Chisolm Trail Barbecue.
There, I bought a chopped beef sandwich, a large drink, and chips - for under $4.00. I thought she didn't charge me for one or two of the items, but that's what it cost. I didn't think you could still get a meal for under four bucks, but I guess it's still possible here in Lockhart, USA.
And... it was excellent barbecue.
Back in the room, of course... I blogged.
61.78 distance 13.2 average (a tail wind, even if it's mostly from the side, makes a big difference) 30.9 maximum 4:39:31 time 1500.5 total miles
I'm a pretty normal guy. So normal that I've never had a nickname for more than a week - nothing sticks. I've been called "abnormally normal," which is basically true.
...however, every once in a while I strap a tent and a sleeping bag to my bike and pedal across a few states.
Seems normal to me....
