Back on the saddle again LaGrange Texas

Hello everyone,
We are on the move again after our trip back to Indianapolis for Mom's funeral. It has been a difficult week for us. We are so thankful for all of our friends and family who are praying for us. Also that Mom is with our Lord in paradise. We will miss her so much. It was difficult to come back to ride. When you do something like we are doing you really have to have your "head in the game." When we arrived back in Austin, as we were walking through the airport we both said, "I don't remember walking through this airport". It has been a whirlwind of a week.
John picked us up at the airport. John was one of the Alpha patients who was at the support group meeting that we spoke at in San Marcos. He graciously offered to take us to the airport and keep our bike and gear for us while we were gone. After he dropped us off it was alittle funny to see our tandem in the back of his pick up truck driving away. Afterall we didn't know him or actually where he lived. He picked us up and drove us to his house. We had a good time chatting. We also loved meeting his dog, Dakota. Another dog fix for us! Yeah. The next morning we woke up to a cool, windy day in the 40's. We had planned a short day anyway just to get our pedal legs back up to speed. Our plan was to ride to the Bastrop State Park and stay in a cabin. When we arrived in Bastop I called and was told the rates were $65/night + we had to pay $4 each to get into the park. That seemed alittle steep so we called another hotel and stayed there. The bonus was that there was a Walmart next door. We walked over for some supplies and got a bag salad and salmon for dinner.
This morning we woke up once again to a drizzly, cool day, but this time it was 37 degrees. We headed east on Rt 71 toward the State Park to at least ride through it. But again they wanted $4 to ride through. We changed our mind and rode back to Rt 71 and followed it to LaGrange. There was a huge shoulder on the edge so we didn't have to worry too much about traffic. It was cold though. I kept adding layers. The final tally? Undershirt, T Shirt, lightweight long sleeve shirt, heavy long sleeve shirt, vest, jacket, tights and gortex rainpants. Oh and a hat and earwarmers. I was plenty warm all day. The only problem was the mist on the glasses. But then I did not need to see. I hope Hap can see! We also put flashing lights on the bike and with our bright rain covers on the packs, and our jackets we felt pretty safe. We stopped in Smithville for a quick grilled cheese sandwich. While there we called a hotel in LaGrange to make sure they had a room for us. It is nice to have a target. We rode into LaGrange well before dark, had a much deserved hot shower. Hap walked across the street and got some take out pasta and chicken for dinner. Now this is roughing it!
The picture on the left above is of our friends Bruce and Joanna, OLD college friends of Hap from Purdue. They shared their house with us in San Antonio. On the left above is a picture of John at his house. Thanks to all of them for letting us leave our bike and gear while we had a vacation from our vacation!