Day 22: Evergreen, TX to Washington, TX

Daily Miles: 65.8 Total Miles: 1205.6

Best ranch sign we saw all day

Today was another great day! We had breakfast at the hotel, did some last minute shopping at Walmart, and then drove the ~20 miles back to the route. I started my ride at around 9:45am and from the very beginning I was climbing and climbing. The first part of the ride was through the Sam Houston National Forest, and it was very pretty with lots of trees and cattle ranches. Shortly after heading out we passed a ranch with a HUGE cow sculpture serving as it's sign.

Riding over Lake Conroe

It definitely induced a double take! Today was the first day with virtually no wind, and, even despite the climbs, I was making good time. Mary was waiting for me in New Waverly, about 15 miles into the trip, but I was flying along and didn't see her until after I had already gone by. I assumed she saw me and would just head on up the road 15 more miles until the next turn, but I rode on and on, and no sign of Mary. On the way I crossed Lake Conroe on a long bridge and saw lots of boaters and fishermen enjoying the nice weather.

Great guys who maintain the Texas roads 

I finally made it to the 30 mile point and called Mary. She was afraid that I was just going really, really slow and hadn't made it 15 miles yet! At the turn, there were two Texas state road workers there having lunch in their truck. They offered me a place to sit and some water and I chatted with them while eating my snack and waiting for Mary. They were really nice guys, and very interested in the trip, and I thanked them for keeping the roads in their county in excellent condition. After a bit Mary arrived, all four of us chatted some more, and soon it was time to hit the trail again. I rode on another 19 miles to Anderson where Mary and I met again for lunch at Kott's Cafe. We had really delicious burgers and I highly recommend this place to other cyclists (or anyone else who finds themselves in Anderson, TX).

Beautiful day for a ride!

We had a super-nice waitress whose daughter was getting ready to leave for Uganda to work as a special-ed teacher. We talked about our trip and her daughter and had a really nice time getting to know each other. After lunch it was a short 17 miles to Washington through Navasota to finish up the day. The last half of the day was spent riding through fields upon fields of gorgeous wildflowers, and the combination of the flowers, sun, and green grass was just delightful. After finishing the ride we drove back to Navasota to stay the night and took advantage of our hotel's pool, even though it was freezing cold. We had a great steak dinner and now are back in the hotel getting ready for bed and preparing ourselves for tomorrow's ride.