I didn't realize just how long it had been since I had written anything until Sheila sent me an e-mail asking if all was well - thanks Sheila!! And thanks for the picture of Dave Kelly and the theatre group.
I am sorry to have missed that...
So I have now looked at my notes, my hotel accommodation list, my mileage sheet and read a couple of the other blogs so that I can remember what I have done.....
April 2nd: Camp Wood to Vanderpool (Fox Fire Cabins) - only 39 miles, but they were hilly!! We have now officially entered Texas Hill Country - and you know Texas - everything is bigger out here!!
Some pretty challenging hills, but I actually relish the challenge but hate the downhills. I don't like going too fast on hills that I am not familiar with - especially if you can't see around the next corner.
It was foggy, misty, overcast - very dramatic really but the view may have been better if you could have seen it!! It was beautiful and green, and at the end of the cycling day, we were at Fox Fire Cabins - located on a lovely little river - charming, rustic cabins - peaceful... a nice treat.
April 3rd: Vanderpool to Fredricksburg : 80 miles. That sounds like a lot and there were a lot of hills (still in Texas... you know) but it was so lovely. We would swoop down a hill to cross the Guadalupe River - over and over again. Up again, of course, but the road was lined with homes, vacation homes, resorts and camps - very prosperous, especially compared to some of the areas we have seen.
Then we turned off the highway and up a crazy steep hill and took some back road that was so much fun - There was virtually no traffic and this road wound through pastures and ranch land - once it seemed that it cut right through the middle of a farm! Hills but not too bad and just plain fun to bike and bike and bike without having to worry about anything in front of or behind you!!
Our journey ended in Fredricksburg - a german town in Texas?? Full of small shops and restaurants;
very touristy. We had a rest day here at the Super 8 hotel .... had some great pie, some not so great steak, took my bike in for a new chain.... just wandered and ate and rested...
We are now at the half-way point!!!
April 5th: Fredricksburg to Austin : 78 miles. No lunch - that makes Janine a grouchy girl... the route took us through back roads right into Austin.
Have I mentioned the wildflowers yet??? They are so amazing - blue bonnets plus flowers of yellow, fuchsia, purple, red... just scattered alongside the road and in the fields; I have never seen wildflowers like that!
We had thought that it was the end of Texas Hill Country, but no such luck - it was 78 miles of hill after hill after hill....
Supper tonight was fajitas served family style at a local restaurant in a strip mall - no one had had lunch so we devoured the food - so, so good!! It is amazing how much food you need after cycling almost 80 miles!! And for all those that asked if we were going to check out the music scene in Austin - I think that we were back from dinner at 7:30 and most of us were asleep by 9:00....
April 6th: Austin to Bastrop : 59 miles. Okay, this was our first rainy day and it was a miserable one!!!
It was cold and it was either sprinkling rain or pouring rain for most of the day. We were leaving Austin and our route called for turn after turn - trying to keep us off the busy roads - so we had to pay very close attention to our cue sheet. Difficult for me to navigate because my new trip computer that I bought a couple of weeks ago has never worked properly so when it calls for a right turn in 6.5 miles, I have to either guess, hope to spot the road sign or follow someone else. Thanks to Karen & Tanya, and later Sue, for being good leaders!!
And when I was with Sue, she got a flat tire, and just before arriving at the hotel, I got a flat tire... in the rain!! My fourth flat and the first that I basically changed all on my own!! Lunch was some chicken tenders from a gas station....
But we are staying at a Hampton Inn - what luxury : nice pillows, and the toilet is neither chipped nor stained.... and there is a Starbucks close by...
Oh and we have a fabulous new cook - hurray!!
April 7th : Today!! Bastrop to La Grange : 41 miles. A great day that made up for the miserable day
yesterday. We drove through the Bastrop State Park and then Buescher Park. No traffic as we raced our way up and down hills and through the forest... well, there had been a horrific forest fire here 3 years ago, so the landscape was a little bleak... Overcast but NO RAIN!! and the wildflowers continue to amaze us!
Take care everyone!!
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