April 11, part 2

Ok, guys. this will be a lower case post again. guess who is also staying at our motel I silsbee? the 3 self-contained guys and thane is with them now. we will probably see them again at dauphine island. so this was how the day went. after ridign through a construction site to get out of town, the road was actually flat for more than 10 miles. there were no shoulders, but truck traffic was light. later the road widened and the surface got worse and thetruck traffic picked up slightly. but the dogs have been bad the last few days. I have a whistle tied to the strapof my helmet that I blow at them, then I just try to outrun them. there are some nasty ones out there. sheila has bought dog biscuits to throw at them. I ddon't know how that's going to work!since i've had my hair cut,now I have to remember to put sunscreen on my ears again. although it was overcast today, when the sun shines through, it'shot! I've also noticed that the ditches next to the roads are full of water. they've obviuosly had more rain than~est texas. and this is an area that hurricane rita hit a few years ago. some of us took a detour to eat a mama jack's today. it was grreat cajun food. I had a crwafish etouffee which was wonderful. there were hushpuppies and bana pudding. but what's so neat is that everyone asks us what we're doing and has all sorts of questions about the trip. and they are so happy to tell us a little about about themselves andthe area they live in. and most stores and restaurants ask us to sigh their guestbooks. it has been so nice enriching to meet such wonderful people.___________________war ein schoener, schneller tag und das LKW verkehr war nicht so schlimm wie erwartet. aber die huende werden immer aggressiver. wir habe gutes cajun essen zum mittag gehabt. klar, dass wir naeher am gulf of mexico kommen. viel mehr luftfeuchtigkeit.

April 11, part 1

Helen and me at Mama Jack's after lunch. The other picture is how the trailer looks when we pile all our luggage in it.

April 10, part 2

beautiful, beautiful East Texas.

April 10' part 1

The F-word (F-L-A-T) is not in our vocabulary! Again another hilly day through lovely Texas farm country. We were headed east and the winds were from the south, so we had some crosswinds, but nothing that was too miserable. The worst thing today was the trucks passing us ever so closely on these farm roads with no shoulders. Sometimes it gets scary. Tomorrow we will be experiencing the same conditions through 10 miles of logging country. AAAAAARGH!!! But today was particularly interesting when we rode through the Sam Houston National Forest. Absolutely gorgeous. We imagined that's what Bastrop State Park would have looked like a few days ago if it hadn't been destroyed by forest fires. We stopped for lunch at the Waverly House Restaurant in New Waverly. We only had a short stop, but a grilled cheese, lemonade and German chocolate pie really hit the spot. Even with a half hour's lunch and 3 10-minute SAG stops, I made the 71.7 miles in about 7 hours. It was a very pretty ride. Only one more day in Texas. Am anxious to get to Louisiana and eat some Cajun food. I've had enough enchiladas con queso to last me awhile. We passed many, many Baptist churches along the way in this area.______________es war eine schoene Tour Heute. 71.7 Meilen mit Huegeln und Seitenwind, aber ueberhaupt nicht so anstrengend. Das schlimmste war wieder die LKWs auf den engen Strassen. Morgen erwarten wir das selbe. Wir haben zum Mittag kurz gegessen und ausserdem habe ich 3 kurze Pausen gemacht. Und trotz allem, habe ich die Strecke in 7 Std. geschafft. Ich war zufrieden. Es gibt viele religioesische Fundamentalisten hier in der Gegend. Morgen sind es 63.5 Meilen. Ich tue gleich Fotos uploaden.

April 9, part 2

I TOLD YOU BEFORE ABOUT THE WAFFLE IRONS IN THE SHAPE OF tEXAS. wELL, Here it is. The other picture is just a beautiful house in Navasota.

April 9

Hi, guys. This was a great rest day. I slept for 10 hours, got up and ate breakfast, then spent 1.5 hours online trying to get the shipping label to send my bike back home at the end of the trip. It finally worked, after which I rode my bike into town to a place called Diva's and had my hair cut. Boy, did that feel good. I spent the whole morning sightseeing. I started at a historic house called Horlock House, then went to city hall,where a very nice lady told me all about the city. Afterwards I went to the cemetery where the French explorer LaSalle (he explored the Mississippi River Valley for France) is buried, rode past several churches, and visited the library. It is a pleasant, quiet , little town. Then I went back and cleaned my bike and took a rest before we had "cocktail" hour. Sheila had invited the two Floridians and the Finn who are traveling across the country self-contained.We run into them every so often. We had a great time talking with them and hearing their stories, then a bunch of us went over to the steakhouse across the street for supper and the guys came with us. It was a very enjoyable day. Tomorrow we will be riding to Cleveland, Texas (75 miles) and I've heard there will be tailwinds. Oh, please, pretty please, yes, yes, yes!!___________________ War ein schoener Tag. Habe vieles in NAvasota entdeckt. Der Friedhof war sehr interessant und Navasota ist "die Blues Hauptstadt" der USA. Am kommenden Wochenende gibt es ein Bluesfest. Habe richtig Zeit gehabt, mich Heute auszuruhen. Morgen geht's wieder mit 75 Meilen los. Habe aber gehoert, dass wir Morgen Rueckenwind erwarten. Oh ja, Oh ja, Oh ja. Ich uploaden gleich einige Fotos von Navasota.

April 8, part 2

A strangely decorated house along the way. The fence was covered with all sorts of signs.