Still Crossing Texas

Our waitress showing us how to suck out the heads of crawfish

Cowboy holding up the "little critter"

Celebration ending the finish of Texas

(22 days crossing, including rest days)

I didn't realize that crossing Texas would equal about 1/3 of our bike trip. Parts are very beautiful, ranches are huge and the wildflowers are in bloom but now we are all anxious to be done with Texas and see new sights. The past few days have been more of the same.

April 4 - Bastrop to Burton - 77 miles. The highlight of the day was biking through Round Top and Warenton where they are known for their antique markets. We just missed the action by a day but there were still many vendors in town. Had we known, we would have planned to arrive a day earlier and see all the sights. Twice a year the towns turn into a "tent city" with thousands of sellers. What little we saw was impressive. We stopped the ride in Burton and had to drive a good hour or so to the state park to camp. The park was on a lake and the bugs were unbelievable. In the morning when you went into the restrooms everything was covered with bugs. (I mean that you could not even see the white sinks and toilets) I felt sorry for the parks crew who had to clean each day. Toilets, sinks, floors; it was unreal.

April 5 - Burton to Navasota - 38 miles. We got a late start biking because we had to drive back to Burton where we ended the day before. Once on the road we managed to stay on backroads with little traffic. The highlight was biking through Independence, Texas and seeing all the historic sites there. Sam Huston was big here along with the original site of Baylor University.

We camped at a city park and Sue and I rode into town to see the sights. Many beautiful old homes. I rode all day and Dawn drove.

April 6 - My turn to drive from Navasota to Pumpkin where we stayed at a nice quiet private RV park. The guys rode 58 miles. Got into camp early and it was a nice day to just catch up on laundry and reading. Sue and Bob left us to drive to Houston to fly home after 10 days of biking. It was nice having them along.

April 7 - Pumpkin to Silsbee - 84 miles. Dawn and I changed half way. Today we rode through what is called the Big Thicket. Trees and brush so thick that it used to be a handy hiding place for outlaws and smugglers. During the Civil War, this area became a refuge for service dodging Texans. The Confederate Army regularly sent in squads to look for these men, who became known as "bushwhackers", a term that survives today. At one time, the Big Thicket boasted nearly every variety of hardwood and pine native to southern Texas, but lumbering has greatly depleted the timber. Today, much of the area is protected as a National Preserve. Long stretches with little traffic and no towns.

April 8 - Silsbee to DeRidder - 78 miles. We finally crossed into Louisiana. Sprits are better now and the guys passed the 2000 mile mark around Bleakwood, Texas. The highlight of the day was going out to eat crawfish, a Cajun delight. We learned that crawfish are harvested only in the spring (everyone here eats crawfish on Good Friday, guess you put your order in early) and they are boiled in Cajun spices. They came on a big tray with a tin can bucket to put the heads and shells in. We learned how to twist the tails off which is the part you eat (they taste like lobster but way smaller) Most of the locals also suck the stuff from the heads. It was really fun and messy and your lips burned from the spices that they boil the crawfish in. You would not believe all the beautiful azaleas in bloom this time of year. They are huge, mostly reddish and are seen everywhere. Again, Dawn and I shared ride time which works out really good for us.