Live strong

Wednesday April 12th. Day 38. Austin to Smithville (TX). 63 miles or 101 km. Day 15 in Texas.

At 6.30 am Vicki came to my room to tell me that she wasn't feeling any better than yesterday and wasn't able to ride today. We discussed several options and it was decided that she would stay with Caleb till tomorrow and then he will drive her to the camping where I will be tonight. Update: Vicki will see a dentist tomorrow at 10 am so will not join us. Maybe later??

At 8.30 am Don and his friend Aaron arrived and put my bike on the back of his truck.  Don's was already tied to the side. Aaron drove us quite a ways in the direction of downtown Austin. It was very busy with lots of traffic. It would take some excellent directions to get out of Austin, the capital city of Texas with almost one million people living there. Yet it was cool to see some of the buildings e.g a building when it lits up at night looks like an owl. Austin has a spirit of resistance. 

Soon it was time to get out of the truck and start biking.


Don had good directions and after about 16 km we were in the country once again. The sun was shining, little to no wind and only minor climbing. The route guided us through farm land with once in a while a section beside a highway which was noisy and dusty. 

Today I biked mainly solo. It felt relaxing and it gave me a sense of freedom. My own speed and my own stops. Loved it. However, I am hoping that Vicki will be able to join us tomorrow.

 
Bastrop is a fair sized town of about 7200 people and that's where we saw a Wallmart. Time to once more stock up on food. It's amazing how much I eat. The bike was a little heavier but what is 23 km..... till Don said that we still had to climb over 2200 ft! Soon this became reality.





A roller coaster ride of ups and downs with short climbs of over 15%. We biked through Bastrop State Park to end up at our current  camping in Buescher State Park.

It is very quiet here. Hardly any people. Our site is grassy and surrounded by trees. It is peaceful so hoping for a good night sleep. 





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