Day #15 - 3/27/2011 - Silsbee, TX to Coldspring, TX - 72 miles

It was 72 miles through rural Texas that took us from Silsbee to Coldspring.  We went this way.

Leaving the Pinewood Inn - thank goodness - I couldn't help but note the announcement for housekeepers, thinking it was a good thing they pluralized "housekeeper".

We had to wear socks in the room because the carpet had a couple of sticky spots.  Yucky.

Leaving Silsbee, we again found ourselves on desolate rural road.  It was cool and overcast which, while a little gloomy, is good when you're biking.  Better than blazing hot.

Past Silsbee, the road was flat, with a decent shoulder.  Things can be far worse.  Actually, it was pretty good...damned good.

The morning fog kept us cool.  When the road connects towns of just 100-200, like Votaw, you do not see much traffic.

Lani's bicycle adds to the local traffic congestions.

 The miles of forest were occasionally punctuated by acres of clear-cutting.

Acres of barren land had obviously been part of the forest.  I kept thinking of a line from the Arnold movie, Predator, when Jesse Ventura's character, Blain, deep in a jungle, says "You lose it here, you're in a world of hurt."

Many of the Texas homes had a classic appearance: large house, set back on acres of neatly groomed property, the U.S. and Texas State Flag flying nearby, horses roaming freely; The Tex-American Dream.

A Tex-American Gothic

There were long stretches of road with pretty much nothing, not even the comforting presence of a gas station/market to take a break.  We'd just look for somewhere to lay our bikes and make our sandwiches.

You've never heard of Rye, Texas?  Founded in the 1850s, it's population in 2000 was 76.

It was always exciting when you'd see another couple biking in the opposite direction.  There was an instant bond because of the unique experience you were sharing.  In this case, however, and I'm not sure why, we just conversed briefly from opposite sides of the road.  In any case, this was Sophie and Aldo, a young couple from Montreal who are biking the Southern Tier route, from San Diego to St. Augustine.  You can read more about them here.

Sophie and Aldo, from Montreal, biking the Southern Tier.

And just a few minutes after leaving Sophie and Aldo, we cross paths with Marti and Dave from Milwaukee.  They were about my age, a lot of fun to talk to...I was sorry when we had to part ways.

Marti and Dave from Milwaukee, also on the Adventure Cycling Association Southern Tier route.  It was a veritable logjam of cyclists on the Southern Tier.

The last ten miles were through heavily forested area and choices for accommodations were slim.  We had called ahead to the Rock'nE RV Park and were pretty excited when we pulled in: another day was done.

Our home for the night.

The office had a little convenience store with the sort of things you might need if you were in an RV or camping.

Even though I knew I was going to have a really terrible night's sleep, both of us were excited to be staying in such  natural surroundings

Lani was pretty adept at pitching the tent.  I helped by staying out of the way unless I was summoned.

The two-person tent had enough room for us and most of our gear, including the panniers. I was probably unnecessarily paranoid about someone lifting our gear during the night.  

Making the evening extra-special was meeting up with Jo Ann and Dave again.  They invited us to join them for dinner.  Dave cook chicken alfredo. 

The park had pretty good WiFi.  While Dave slaved away over the Coleman grill, Jo Ann and Lani blogged and surfed.

Before settling in, I went on-line with the RV park's WiFi and using the built-in webcam, had a video chat with Susan.  Walking around the RV park and holding the netbook, I gave her a tour of the park.  Cool stuff.


It was an all-round nice day but, to be completely honest, while I like the idea of camping, I never sleep well.  The Therma-Rest mattress pads on the ground just don't cut it for me.  I feel like I'm up all night long.  Probably because I am.