We arrived in Navasota without any difficulty, more on that later, and stopped at the Rattlers Pit BBQ and Soul Food Cafe. It looked off the wall enough for us to want to try it, even though the locals we talked to never mentioned it when asked for recommendations.
I had the chicken speghetti with sides of yams and corn on the cob. Sweet tea to drink. it was ok, tasty enough especially the tea, but the portions were on the small side. I finished with some banana pudding, that was really good.
In Richards the larger store/cafe was closed so we went to the smaller, open store and got sandwiches and a Mrs. Bairds fruit pie (similar to Hostess fruit pies), unfortunately I neglected to get anything else. Now I'm hungry.
We left Brenham on a small county road this morning. The plan was to take Texas Route 105 out of Brenham all of the way to Navasota, but the iPhone suggested a different route. We decided to go with the smaller road suggested by the phone and it was very nice, no cars at all and we even stopped to speak with a man walking his cow. Eventually we rejoined 105.
Just before arriving in Navasota we passed through Washington and crossed the Brazos River.
Washington on the Brazos is the site of the creation of the Republic of Texas. On March 2, 1836 the Texas Declaration if Independence was signed here. Of course, Houston's victory over Santa Anna at San Jacinto sealed the deal.
I think the Brazos must be some sort of unofficial dividing line between the South and the rest of the country to the west. Things are different now, it just feels like the South. The food's different (chicken spaghetti, sweet tea, banana pudding), the weather's different (hot, humid), the vegetation's different (very green, very dense), heck, we even crossed a bayou (according to the sign).
The road to Richards was even nicer, rolling hills, a couple pretty steep, not much traffic, lots of trees. Perfect riding road. Along the way we passed the Lone Wolf Ranch, the name caught my eye and I later found out that this is Chuck Norris' ranch, though the locals say he doesn't stay there much.
We stayed at the Mexican Hill Ranch just west of Richards. Ernie and Doris were fantastic hosts, Doris is German and they met while Ernie was serving in Germany while in the Army. Ernie told me that his main house didn't have enough room to host friends and family so he built a small guest house away from the main house, eventually he added more rooms motel style, a kitchen, a shower building, restrooms, patio, swimming pool and a stage for live music when he has parties.
One day a cyclist showed up looking for a place to stay and that's when he found out he was located on the ACA southern tier route. One thing led to another, he bought a hoteliers license and he now gets dozens (more than 100?) cyclists a year. $16/person to pitch a tent, $30 for a room.
He really seems to have gone out of his way to make cyclists feel welcome.
According to the sign he erected, we have 1830 Miles done and 1220 miles to go.
FYI, maybe too much "I", I have a huge bluster in my right pinky toe. I have weird feet, there I admitted it, I think if I am going to continue with this long distance cycling nonsense, Randonneuring, touring and what not, I'm going to have to have some custom shoes made. Shoes with room for all of my toes, no matter which direction they want to point.
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