Navasota, TX - Fri 3/23

I just did the math.  We've traveled 1818 miles and have 1240 miles to go, according to the maps.  The rest of our ride is supposed to be much flatter according to a rider we met today going the other way, so we're looking forward to that.

This morning we stayed in bed awhile, debating how long we should pamper our aching muscles.  By the time we got packed up and had breakfast at Subway and a donut shop it was 9:45.  We set off through the beautiful green Texas hill country.  The countryside was peppered with large ranches or estates with fancy houses.  Some even had livestock.  Flowers everywhere.

In Warrenton there was a miles long antique fair.  Then we came across the world 's smallest active Catholic church.  Next, we toured Round Top, an amazingly cute little town with a population of the 90.

We met three cyclists riding much faster than we are to raise money for the needy in Burundi.  Their website is www.bikeforburundi.com .  They ride over 100 miles per day but they have a motorhome carrying their gear.  Really nice guys riding for a good cause.

We also met the Belgian couple and a New Jersey man riding across the country the other direction at the diner where we stopped for lunch.  We finished our ride about 6PM tired and sore and got terrific hamburgers at the local hamburger stand.

Miles: 72.5  Average: 11.1

Photos:
World 's smallest Catholic church.
Plaza in Round Top.
Jeff with Jeff, John (the driver), Simon and Craig - bikers for Burundi.

The truth from Ruth:  It's so much fun to be with my best friend every day.  Today he had me laughing so hard I could hardly pedal.  We stopped to read a historical marker.  It was about a college where the students were "very loyal to their neighbors, and sometimes missed days of school pursuing Indians."  We joked about this for miles, trying to figure out why loyalty to neighbors would cause these students to chase Indians.  Jeff made up some new words to "Bein' Neighborly" from Company B - "Just bein' neighborly, that's what a neighbor's for,
Out pursuin' Indians for the man next door,
Shootin' and a-fightin' till everybody's dead,
At least that's what I told the department head."
If it's not funny, maybe you had to be there, but I couldn't stop laughing.
Most of the time today we were in a German area of Texas.  The towns and streets had German names, and the cafe we had lunch in was German.  I knew there were lots of German immigrants, and it was fun to see the proof.