Day 35 - Coldspring to Silsbee, TX

Last night Rhodri made a first-rate dinner of Texas-sized pork chops with a pear sauce. Julie contributed a great salad. Dessert was David's cookies with flavors like cranberry and chocolate chip, baked in Navasota. An awesome meal!
My sister-in-law Kathy from Houston drove up to join us for dinner. She rode part-way with us today. Her arrival was a big hit because she brought wine for the connoisseurs and local beer for the rest of us. The wine was good to the last drop (see photos).
We stayed in three prefab cottages outside the town of Coldspring. Terry, Jerry, Bob G and I slept on the living room floor of one cottage, while Bob Plant and Andre used the two beds. It was strange sleeping with my head a foot from the refrigerator, which turned on periodically. This was heaven for chefs Rhodri and Julie, who had access to multiple kitchens for cooking dinner!
After dinner we drew for the next round of cooking assignments. Mitch and Julianne put the pairing numbers on paper strips inside balloons. We each took a balloon, popped it, and found our number. See photo of Mitch demonstrating his diva pose.
Andre and I were discussing the impact a headwind has on a cyclist's progress. Hence Corollary #2 to Andre's laws (see earlier post for these): A 25 mph headwind for one hour = 10 miles ridden without wind.
Each cabin had a plug-in coffee percolator. So instead of "cowboy coffee" with grounds and uneven strength, everyone sipped well-made coffee from china cups. See photo of Terry doing his mocha, and a view of the cottages.
Julianne likes to wrap her lunch in nori, a form of seaweed (see photo).
We rode 62 miles today. Sights included more cattle ranches, logged areas and a large sawmill, and Spanish moss hanging from trees (see photos). We also crossed another famous Texas river, the Trinity.
My sister-in-law Kathy rode with us for 20 miles to Dolen, then turned back to return home. I had never ridden with her, so it was a pleasure to ride on some good back roads with her. She cruises at 18+ mph, so I was keeping up with her.
We stopped for a bite in the town of Honey Island. One person was cooking + running the cash register, so I bought the Gatorade flavor du jour. Carol noticed watermelon, okra and other seeds in one-foot high glass jars (see photos).
At the store we chatted with two sisters from Nebraska and Las Vegas, riding a variant of the Southern Tier (see photo). They went down to San Antonio, which was expensive due to high motel usage by pipeline workers. They left San Diego several weeks before us, and are riding unsupported, so use Bob trailers for their gear. Their blog can be found as "Tortoises Cross the Continent" in www.crazyguyonabike.com.
We also crossed a pipeline under construction (see photo). The pipe is about two feet in diameter, so Bob G believes it will carry oil rather than natural gas.
An unusual sight in a shallow ditch by the side of the road was about 15 dirt cones that were 5" high. What could they be? Anthills? The owner of the adjoining property saw us puzzling, came over, and said they were crayfish holes. See photo of a hole, and the owner with Ken. These ensure the burrow stays dry. Crawfish are a big deal here - see the sign outside the Silsbee Wal-Mart!
We passed through the town of Thicket today. We are in the Big Thicket country. It once covered over a million acres, and as the name implies, was brushy and a good place to hide. "Bushwhackers" were the Texans who hid here to avoid serving in the Confederate army. The area has dry, rich soil; it's not a swamp or marshy.
This is our last night in Texas. The state is tremendously varied, and most interesting to see up close by bicycle. I could do without West Texas chip seal ... but have good memories of the great Mexican food and rugged mountains of El Paso, the Hill Country, Austin, and best of all the breath-taking swaths of wildflowers in the sun.
Bruce