Monday, October 14, 2013

Day 56 - Carmine, TX to Bastrop, TX

I had the pleasure this morning of making myself eggs on a cast iron skillet over a stove that I had to light with a match. That was a unique experience. My eggs did not taste very good.

After I hit the road, I  ran into these guys - they wanted to say good morning!


As I mentioned before, there was a huge antique fair in the area I was in - specifically, Round Top. It is the third largest antique fair in America. There was a lot of cool stuff and a lot of junk. Mostly junk. As you can see in this picture below, there were some really nice pieces of stained glass.


I saw this one place with a bunch of signs that the person who owns it probably stole.



Shortly after passing through the antique fair, I found my way into La Grange, TX. I was certain that I was going to stop there for the night - but I was restless. I wanted to keep going. So, after eating a BBQ sandwich that Carol made for me, I set out again on my bike for Bastrop, which was a good 40 miles away.



I really enjoyed my ride there. It was passing very quickly. I entered Buescher State Park and took a scenic road through the entire park that lead into Bastrop State Park. The views were amazing.



The road was windy, hilly and fun. I wish I had a road bike so I could zip through and above the park road.



These roads took you deep into the woods.



I found a little Ithaca in the woods.



It was amazing how varying the scenery was over the 10 miles that I was riding through the park.



Doesn't this look fun?



It seems like they had a massive fire in the park.



The color contrast was absolutely beautiful.



This ride was taking a lot longer than I had expected it too. Especially this part. These long winding roads were taking forever!



Here was a cool little spot..for something. I'm not sure what. The view wasn't that great and there wasn't really a place to picnic.



I enjoyed the long descents the most.



There were a few really pretty lakes in the area. I din't get a shot of the first one, but here are some from the second one I came across.



Boom. Water.



Splash.



I finally made my way into downtown Bastrop. I had no idea where I was going to stay the night.



All I knew was that this town was very cool, and that I was hungry.



I managed to find a neat little Tex-Mex restaurant next to this old Studebaker. The guy behind the bar hooked me up with free coke refills and a very tasty burrito. He was such a friendly person, recently moved to the area from outside Chicago. I was happy to have met him because he gave me a recommendation for a place to stay that wasn't very expensive.



I wandered over to Tropicana Motel after consuming 5 too many sodas. The attendant behind the counter gave me $5 off because I was so cool - also because I begged her to give me a "crazy cyclist discount." The room was not much - what you would expect from a cheap motel. I did find Arizona ice tea "on tap" from a gas station next to the motel. I watched plenty of Bones and listened to a lot of Christmas music. I was having a very good time.

I woke up in the dark hours of the morning to the sound of thunder clapping and rain pouring down all around the motel. I stepped outside to see a wicked storm - flooding everywhere and thunder that was shaking the pavement below my feet. I was very glad to have stayed inside for the night.

Total mileage: 75

No comments:

Post a Comment