La Grange to Navasota, TX (69 miles) Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Today started with a treat...literally.  Our group met a woman, Arza Funk, who is originally from Isreal.  She and her husband enjoy biking, and Amy talked to her about  joining WomanTours for the cross country ride some day.  Arza had such a wonderful time with us, she promised to provide coffee and Kolaches early on our route today!  She set up outside the gate to their ranch, and we all stopped.  She had some beautiful Long Horns, too.

Sabra is also the name of the prickly pear that grows on the cactus plants here.  That is also why they have the Sabra pear on the gate.

We stopped in the town of Independence at the Lueckemeyer-Bentke Store.  Its 1939 facade is built to look like the Alamo.  It is a small grocery store, and in the back is a large room with tables and a very large flat screen TV!  We purchased the pre-packaged sandwiches and took them outside to eat on the benches.  We were joined by two local dogs.  It was hard to tell if they wanted food or just some friendly attention.

 

We were seven miles from Navasota and Mike had a flat!  It took three changes of tubes to get one that worked.  While this was going on, Barbara McNary rode up all by herself!

Before getting to Navasota, we had two long and narrow bridges to cross, the first on the Brazos River, the second the Navasota River. We tried to get across in between traffic breaks, but they always caught up to us. Mike, Alayne and I went across these two-lane bridges (with no shoulder) with our left arms waving, effectively stopping the traffic behind us!  The Texas drivers were patient with us, and we waved with a "thumbs up," thanking them for their consideration.

As we rolled in, we caught up to Sue and Pam, and there in front was Barbara!  She lead the pack into the Navasota Best Western!!  Go Barbara!! 

We will stay two nights in Navasota, TX, for our rest day.