Austin to Brenham

Today started off with 17 miles of perfect riding conditions. Nice broad shoulders on the road, with some rolling hills and a perfect 66 degrees for nice cool riding. However, after 17 miles the shoulders disappeared, and I found myself riding on 6 to 8 inches of shoulder along a four-lane road. I am very thankful for the respect that the vast majority of vehicle drivers give me as I ride along these sections of roads. At the 20 mile point the good old wind out of the East began to blow causing the forward progress to get tough. We stopped in Giddings for lunch and then continued on to Brenham. Had there not been a slight directional change of the road so that I was not pedaling directly into the wind, I’m not sure I could have made the total distance today.

The farther we went east the greener it got. The ponds along the road were full of water, and all of the fields looked like we are driving in the Skagit Valley of Washington. Brenham is a community of about 15,000 and is known for all of the antique shops. We are driving Libby’s Honda Civic so there is no risk that we have room to pick up any goodies as we cross the country. All of the storefronts seem to be full so it looks like things are relatively healthy in the area. We have been through many communities that have had more than half of the storefronts boarded up.

Rode past some new oil wells in the Giddings area, more and more cows in the fields, and lovely green fields. Also saw a prefab housing business that built small cabins that could be added on to with the same design two or more times. Looked interesting and a very good idea.

Texans are proud of Texas and it shows in many subtle and obvious ways. Texas flags fly from most businesses and the entrances to the bigger ranches. Libby had the occasion to use a rest room at the McDonalds in Elgin, Texas this morning (home of George Bush, Sr.) that had a Texas shaped washbasin in the bathroom. A few days ago at the breakfast buffet in our motel, we had Texas shaped waffles for breakfast. She also had the car serviced after lunch at Wal-Mart in Giddings, and the paper laid on the floor was Texas shaped. Dairy Queen in really big across the middle of Texas where we have traveled and the outline of the state of Texas is in the middle of the DQ logo.

Miles Traveled Today = 81

Total Miles Traveled = 1,551

Trivia = Six dead racoons. Thousands of singing blackbirds lined the wires overhead for miles on end.