Ride to the Birthplace of Texas 10/19/2010

[Hemibee]

I had planned to get an early start and head north and west for a 4 or 5 hour bike ride.  But as they say, plans don't always work as expected

I had forgot I was back on a once a week allergy shot schedule due to having to have a new serum made for me, I had already used my last batch and each new batch calls for 4 weeks of weekly shots before moving back to the old routine of once every 4 weeks, So my departure was delayed pass the planned 07:30 kick stand up time.  Since the doctor's office doesn't start the shots until 08:30 I would be delayed at least until 09:00.  Since there is usually a pretty good crowd that shows up at 08:30 I decided I would give them an hour or so to get their shots, wait the require 30 minutes following the shot and to get out of the parking lot before I arrived at the office.  When I arrived at the office there was only one person in the waiting room so I was able to get mine without any delay.

Shot and waiting period was completed at 09:57 so off I go, but where to now?  I'm right at 2 ½ hours late heading out, well 2 hours if you consider it was a 30 minute ride to the office but if I head north and west as planned I'm more like 3 hours late.  So I believe I will follow Horace Greely's advice, "Go West, young man." But that brings up another problem... Did Horace Greely actually coin that phrase or was he quoting John Soule in the 1851 editorial in the New York Tribune.  I guess I have enough to worry about without getting into that debate; I'll just let Mr.'s Greely and Soule worry about that, that is if it still matters to them.  Now seeing as how Greely was only 40 years old editor when the phrase was written does that disqualify me from following his advice?  Who cares, I'm going west regardless of whether I qualify under these terms or not.

Since the doctor's office is located in The Woodlands I head south so I can go west at Spring.  Not a whole lot to see in Spring unless you go to Old Town Spring but time was too short so I head for Tomball and make my first stop at one of my least favorite locations since the "Girly" is getting thirsty, a gas station.  But while I'm stopped there I notice a Farm To Market (FM) sign I can get for the Two Wheeled Texans Farm To Market Sign In Sequential Order game.



I grab the photo and head back to FM 2920 where I get a police escort into Tomball.  Well I guess he wasn't really escorting me as he was helping an extremely wide load move down the highway.  As I was leaving Tomball, heading for Waller, I captured another FM sign.



From Waller I take Business US 290 into Hempstead and I pass a farmers market I haven't been too in several years so I turned around and headed back to take a look around.  I figured it was the least I could do since I was out getting photos of the Tiger at different Farm To Market signs.  Too bad I wasn't in the car or truck because the produce sure looked good.  I should have taken a few photos but I had left the camera on the bike and didn't think about it until after I had left.  Oh well, maybe next time.

After leaving the farmers market I head into downtown Hempstead to capture a photo of the Waller County Courthouse.



Hempstead has never been a bustling city, at least it hasn't been in the pass 20 or 30 years but it is really dead around there now.  About the only thriving business closed it's doors a few years ago and it seems to really be hurting the city now.  Who would have thought a car dealership could have meant that much to a city.

Back on the road heading to Brenham to get a photo of the Washington County Courthouse I decided to stop in Chappell Hill to see how bad the economy was hurting the little town.  The last time I was there, about 1o years ago, it wasn't looking too good, just short of becoming another forgotten ghost town.  The restaurant out on the highway had already closed down on my last visit so I was surprised to find it and another building doing a pretty good business, or at least it looked that way by all the cars in the parking lot.  As I head into town I was not expecting to see much going on since it has always been more of a weekend destination but the old town area was doing a pretty good bit of business.




Makes you wonder what they serve there



Chappell Hill held their annual Scarecrow Festival over the previous weekend, October 9-10 and they still had a bunch of scarecrows decorating the buildings.  Even the Baptist Church had scarecrows at the front door.  Seemed a little odd, they looked more like Halloween decorations than decorations for the Scarecrow Festival too me.


So I head out of town the back way toward Brenham and grab another FM sign.



Rolling into Brenham I came across this sign and I must say they have this right... Brenham is the Ice Cream Capital of Texas, if not the World!



So I head on into downtown for the photo of the Washington County Courthouse.



There is a BIG difference in downtown Brenham and downtown Hempstead.  Brenham is a busy little city. People are out and about and the stores appear to be doing a fair amount of business.  The area is cleaner and you don't see the same run down look.

Well so much for downtown, I decided to go grab a quick hamburger and then ease down to Independence to visit the Old Baylor ruins before heading over to The Birthplace of Texas, Washington On The Brazos State Park in Washington, Texas.

The route I'm taking from the burger joint takes me back thru downtown and pass Fireman's Park so the umpire in me takes over and I have to stop for some photos here.



Brenham is not only the Ice Cream Capital of Texas but also the Baseball Capital of Texas.  You will not find many areas that can claim the success the Brenham High School Baseball team has enjoyed.  The Brenham Cubs pretty much rule 4A Baseball and I think this pretty well backs up the city's claim as the Baseball Capital of Texas.

As I'm headed out of town I spy another FM sign I can capture so after a short detour I grab the FM 2935 sign.



Right after I grab the photo a Blue Bell Ice Cream delivery truck comes down the road and I realize I didn't run over to the creamery as I had planned so I make another detour to capture some more photos.  I was running a little short on time so a tour of the creamery and a few fresh samples will have to wait until the next trip.





Heading out to Old Baylor I stopped for a photo at FM 2621



Continued in next post...

[Hemibee]

Arriving at Old Baylor

































[











The time was slipping away so I head out for a quick stop at Washington
and the FM 1935 sign.



For a different view if you have more time available than I had, you can head down this road to the Live Oak Family Nudist Resort



but I think I will pass on that because I don't want to see a bunch of folks runningaround with sunburns in areas that shouldn't be available for public view.  Plus I ride ATGATT and I don't think they would look to kindly on that and I refuse to ride au natural.

A quick look at the time confirms I'm running REAL short on time and won't have very much time to spend at Washington On The Brazos State Park.







George Campbell Childress (1804-1841) the principal author of the Texas Declaration of Independence.



After spending only a few minutes at the park I head out on the highway knowing I will be about 15 minutes late arriving home but I hope to make up a few of those minutes when I hit the highway.  Well I couldn't pass this again without getting a picture...



I didn't see the owner on this trip but I did hear something that sounded like trees snapping to form firewood.  I guess Chuck was out getting ready for the winter months, kicking the trees and having them automatically stacking up in neat cords.  I guess there is advantages to being Chuck Norris.

With it being a Tuesday afternoon I didn't have to worry too much about the LEO presence on FM 149 so I kicked the speed up a little to make up sometime and enjoy the curves and rolling hills between Richards and Montgomery.

Between the highway and the run down FM 149 I did get some of the time back plus I probably estimated the drive time a little long since I forgot about a little short cut that knocked about 7 miles off the distance from Washington to the house.  I arrived back at the house 5 minutes past my desired arrival time.  The bike was taken care of and in her spot in the garage with the Battery Tender in service.  Sure I would have liked to have spent a little more time in several locations but there was an additional 187.5 miles on the clock and a smile on my face.  All in all, it was a good ride and I'm looking forward to my next chance to ride...

Courthouse count, 12 of 254, only 242 more to photograph.

[Bixxer Bob]

Good report H, and I like the courthouse theme; it's nice when a ride has a purpose..... however tenuous. :lol:

[Hemibee]

I'm looking forward to getting some more of the older courthouse.  Those from the 1930's, 40's and newer aren't very appealing but I guess if I'm going to get each of them I have to suffer thru these.

[BigMark]

I think you owe it to us all to get your butt back down to that farmers market and show us what the local produce stalls have to offer  :D

Thanks for sharing this with us. I look forward to seeing the remaining 242 by the end of next week  :lol:

[Hemibee]

I think you owe it to us all to get your butt back down to that farmers market and show us what the local produce stalls have to offer  :D

Thanks for sharing this with us. I look forward to seeing the remaining 242 by the end of next week  :lol:

Well I was able to knock it down to 240 more to go...

Madison County


Leon County


And I believe this might be the old Leon County jail.  There was a couple inmates mowing the grass and weedeating around the building.  Didn't think it was a good idea to go ask them what the building was.  Didn't see a guard so couldn't ask him either.