We started the day Texas style, with a Texas shaped waffle at the hotel. If we’ve learned one thing, Texans love their state, their flag, and their star. One of the three is everywhere! As we left town, we went to check out Brule Field. This is the high school football field that was dug out of a hill and sunken in. It had beautiful stonework. It was fairly flat as we left town. We cruised along for several miles. We crossed the Brazos River and decided to take a detour to Washington-on-the-Brazos. This is the site where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. It is known as the Birthplace of Texas. That was a five mile detour that also marked the beginning of the hills! Once back on the route, we were riding along a beautiful backroad, when suddenly one of Bruce’s water bottle cages just came off! That was the first of several weird events of the day. We went through two significant rainstorms. The first didn’t last too long, and was fairly calm, but the second storm was a different story. We could see it from quite a distance away. The sky was very dark, but if we looked behind us, the sky was clear and sunny. The cloud almost looked like a funnel cloud, without the rotation. This storm was a deluge! It lasted quite a while and thoroughly soaked us and our gear! I guess waterproof only goes so far! When we got to Burton, we stopped at the general store and cooked our lunch- the rehydrated dinner we should have eaten at the campsite the night before. A local sat down and chatted for a bit, and several others who had seen us ride through the rain spoke to us as well. Our destination for the evening was La Grange. Before we left Louisville, we had contacted the First United Methodist Church in La Grange asking permission to camp on their grounds. Marion, from the church was so gracious, and connected us with Brad Cutright, who has hosted bicyclists from time to time. Brad gave us different directions to La Grange than those on the ACA maps. It was a bit longer, but kept us off a busy four lane road with no shoulder. It was a great route and we were grateful to avoid more traffic! We arrived in La Grange right at dark. Brad took us to dinner at the local pizza joint, then we enjoyed a dip in his hot tub. We watched clouds go across the full moon. Brad is an architect who lives in a beautiful home he designed. It was very unique with an outdoor shower- which was a good thing! As luck would have it, city crews hit Brad’s sewer line, so basically his plumbing was out of order.
Total cycling mileage: 74
Total hiking mileage: 4