Date(s): Oct. 27, 1999
Day: Wednesday
From: Round Top, TX
To: Navasota, TX
Lodging: Navasota RV Park
Segment Mileage: 57.7
Cumulative Mileage: 2121.9
Actual Riding Time: 4:33
Average Speed: 12.6
Weather: Warm, partly cloudy
Temp: Low 80's
A while ago I was complaining about having to write this report every day, and someone suggested guest authors. Today Suzanne and Oliver planned to write but Oliver has to cook, so Suzanne will be the sole author of the Guest Report:
At 7.15 am I got - as usual - my personal wake-up call from Jimmy. Since I thought this would be a holiday I didn't bring an alarm. Was I wrong.
During breakfast - always a good time to exchange trivia - Jim asked me which name of the towns we went through the day before, sounded most Dutch to me. My answer 'Oldenburg' led to a firm reaction from Oliver. It was a German name. In one breath he added: 'this is our country,' probably because a lot of Germans settled here in the early days. So much for European integration.
To avoid the problem of having no news today I started doing some research. I began in The Burton Cafe where Bob, Bruno, Janet, Jimmy, Lynne and I had a so called 'second breakfast.' My source was the brochure of the cafe. It mentioned that Larry Hagman who played J.R. in 'Dallas' - one of my favorite childhood tv-series - had visited the place in 1983. I read it out loud. This piece of information made Jimmy ask the waitress on which chair Larry had sat. She didn't know. She did know though that it was carved into the back of the particular chair. We all started looking and found out that Lynne was sitting on Larry's chair. It was an exciting morning.
The weather was warm, the roads were smooth and under these conditions the riding was easy and pleasant. Bruno, Jimmy, Oliver and I had lunch in the shadow of a tree near the - fairly quiet - road. I ate the pumpernickel bread which Lynne had bought for me since I told her that I missed my Dutch 'roggenbrood' so much.
On the road again Oliver warned us for traffic from behind. Instead of the usual 'car back,' he shouted 'house back'. A few seconds later a truck transporting a house passed us.
The last part of the day I rode alone. I arrived around 3:00 pm. The Navasota RV park where we would camp was a bit of a disappointment, especially after the RV park in Round Top. The campground is a field that becomes a soccer-field and further on an airport. There are no fences to separate the different fields which makes it kind of funny after all.
After a break and setting up my tent I went into town to see if I could find some postcards and a radio. I passed the DQ and couldn't resist. I bought a - small - ice cream. Navasota looked like a poor town. Houses without paint and a lot of shops closed. I rode around and ended up in the 'Dollar Store.' A little girl came to me and asked me if I rode a bike. Probably because of my cycling clothes and the fact that I was carrying my helmet under my arm. She asked me how much I had ridden that day. When I told her that I rode 55 miles she suggested that I should join the pro's. My last visit was to Walmart where I met the same girl. She greeted. Outside again - still without cards and radio - her mother came over and told me that her daughter - who's name appeared to be Christa - had told her about the 55 miles. I impressed the whole family.Alone in town I realised what a comfort our little group is. Like a warm blanket. I returned 'home' for a beer, dinner and map-meeting.
Speciaal voor alle Nederlandse lezers heel veel groeten en heel veel liefs:)
Previous Next