With a late departure (12:45PM!) from Alexander Blease’s house, we arrived at Sam Houston National Forest, Cagle Recreation Area on Lake Conroe at about 5pm on Monday Feb 21 which, as the days are happily getting longer, was not yet dusk. It was a balmy 70 degrees and sunny, and the wind in the pines above was just a wonderful serenade as we set up camp in the most idyllic setting we’ve experienced, maybe since we camped at Payne Lake in Alabama (coincidentally also a Recreation Area in a National Forest!) back in February of 2021. We had plenty of time to set up camp and get organized before dusk (no one EVER chooses to arrive and set up in the dark!). Campground was maybe 1/4 full, all quiet and private sites with electricity (essential since more bad weather was imminent…). We chose it for proximity to a gravel race nearby (Prison City Gravel Challenge) and because the nearby Huntsville State Park was full for the weekend.
On Tues, Feb 22 we woke to a cool overcast lazy morning. By noon we were out for an easy gravel ride in the area. We were camped right off a super-busy 2-lane highway, and took every opportunity to explore the side roads, finding lots of gravel, and lakes seemingly everywhere. We found the restrooms boasted great showers, and enjoyed the afternoon, but we were back indoors by around 5pm due to the chill, and could feel the temperatures falling overnight.
Weds, Feb 23 was a colder morning with misty rain that did not want to let up. We (and seemingly everyone else) hunkered down inside! Before cabin fever got too good a hold on us, we drove in to the tiny town of New Waverly for library internet. Before we left, Janine set the slow-cooker to cooking up some chili. We battened down the hatches, left the electric heater on, and hoped for the best! On the way back to camp, we took a quick detour and drove to check out a multi-use (mtb, horse, ATV) trailhead located nearby, just off our crazy no-shoulder highway, optimistically anticipating a rain-free day. The forecast for the race weekend was only worsening – now rain AND thunderstorms. We were starting to feel glad we weren’t able register (early reg had closed). It was too cold out (high in the 40’s) to even want to shower in the freezing restrooms!
Thurs, Feb 24 dawned even colder, temps hovered from low of 38 in am to low 40’s. Another indoor day. Everyone in the campground was still hunkered down. Just for something to do, we made another quick trip to the library to finish a blog post. Noting how the state campground were filling up fast, we also took the opportunity to make campground reservations through the rest of March, which forced some itinerary decisions but took some weight off our minds! Back at the campground, Janine forced herself to take a quick run on the camp trails, enough to get warm enough to brave the cold restroom for a fast hot fabulous shower!
By Fri, Feb 25 we were getting pretty sick of the bleak outlook. It was crazy cold and grey – alternating mist and rain all day. We got through the day on some bickering, some yoga, some quick forays outdoors for various important missions like taking garbage to the dumpster, using toilet etc. UGH! Weather everywhere in the vicinity was about the same or worse… so we knew we just needed to stick it out. We officially abandoned any thought of trying for ‘race day’ entry to the Prison City Gravel Challenge and instead plotted out a ‘tourist day’ for some much-needed fresh air.
We had a pretty hard freeze overnight, and Saturday, Feb 26 was more of the same, weather-wise, wet, grey and 40-45 degrees all day. So we were pretty happy not racing!!! Mid-morning, we drove to Huntsville. We were greeted by a 65 ft tall statue of Sam Houston on the highway into town. Stopped for some history at the Sam Houston Memorial Museum (where we spent several hours exploring restored and re-created buildings, and a museum with battle simulations, Texas history dioramas and memorabilia from Houston’s life). Lots of Texas State history here! There were a mind-boggling array of battles for ownership/freedom of Texas from the late 1700’s well into the 1800s – thus leading to the phrase “Six Flags over Texas”. The Spanish and French first wanted/took various parts of it, Mexico fought for and won independence in1821 (a 10 year war), Texas declared independance from Oct 1835 to Apr 1836, Mexico then wanted it back, and the US finally got it. Additionally, in his later years, Houston spoke out against slavery but was overruled by younger statesmen who come down on the side of the South in the civil war, during which Houston died, somewhat disillusioned, at his home. Really fascinating to be learning of all this while our country currently struggles with our own generation’s questioning of democracy and as Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine began on Thursday!!!
We spent another half-hour driving through Huntsville’s historic district, admiring the many stately older homes. Then we worked our way through more bungalow/craftsman type houses and some victorians to a great ‘hole in the wall’ BBQ joint called “Benny J’s” for late lunch/early dinner. Amazing ribs, jalapeno sausage, and Mike especially enjoyed the homemade CUSTARD PIE!!! The all-day drizzle turned to an absolute downpour while we were eating, so we lingered as long as we could justify and finally splashed out the the truck. On our way out of town, we saw a car with very muddy gravel bike and race number… and felt SO glad it wasn’t us!!! On our return, Janine went for a better run, we both had another hot shower in chilly air, and Janine took her stitches out!
On Sunday Feb 27 the weather finally turned WARMER! It was an overcast morning, but there was enough afternoon sun to finally take the mtbs out – just exploring on trails around CG, but SO GOOD to see a bit of sun and blue skies! In the later afternoon, Mike was able to tune in to watch NASCAR (the CA race) and a after that we enjoyed another GRIT channel western movie!
Mon, Feb 28 was our last day – and it was GORGEOUS! We were up early, drove to town and library for some bike event registrations, another blog post – getting caught up!?! then out to the Multi-use trail head where we met nice guy who was some sort of trail volunteer on a trail (motor)cycle, who gave us some trail great advice! Luckily it was not SUPER muddy, and drainage was good but deep sand in spots, leading to a few exciting moments. Would NOT have wanted to be on gravel bikes! We made a loop on the Fern and Northwest trails, not too technical except for the sand pits, swoopy and fun/exciting! It was pretty exhausting full-focus riding, so after that we took the gravel road for some steady riding. Luckily we saw no horses, and no other ATVs or trail cycles except our friend in the parking lot!!!! We were back to the trailer at 4:30, for a lovely warm night.
On Tues, March 1 (!!!) we were up early and packing! It waas a glorious morning, 36 degrees, but it warmed up pretty quickly, giving us time for some housekeeping, chores and cleaning in meantime. We were looking at a 4 hour drive, targeted 11am departure but not really hurrying… Left around noon. Heading to Goliad State Park!