It’s amazing how fast our luck turned when we left Angleton. Rather than head down the road immediately, we backtracked to a Wal-Mart, figuring our food money would go a lot farther, and we’d have better choices than in convenience stores. Our decision added about three hours or more to our day, and added at least six long hot miles, but we felt great doing it.
At Wal-Mart we had a pickup truck pull up next to us, with the driver really interested in what we are doing. By the time we finished chatting, we had his phone number and a strong urging to call him if we needed any help at all, if we were within 40 miles of Angleton. How cool is that!
Our trip to Brazoria was notable for the heat, headwinds, and for how many times we had to stop. We took Hwy 35 out to CR 521, but just shy of the turn we stopped for a rest in the only shade available – an abandoned gas station overhang. I was having a pretty serious heat reaction, so I just sat quietly while Chelsea chatted with a man sitting there quietly by himself.
He spoke in a whisper, so we had to listen carefully, but we discovered that he was waiting for his son to get off the school bus. We didn’t learn too much about him, except that his name was Patrick, and he lived locally, but he was really fascinated by our trip, and kept up a steady stream of questions. We loved the feeling we got from him – very peaceful and gentle.
Then his son arrived, and what a sweetheart he was! He stood quietly and listened to us talk, not saying much, but he looked us right in the eyes (always a good sign), and was clearly listening to everything. Before we parted ways, we found out that his name was Isaiah, and we asked if we could get a father-son photo of Patrick and Isaiah. The smiles on their faces were gorgeous, and we thought about the two of them all day. It seemed as though they were each “angels unawares”. Be sure to check the photo gallery for their picture.
Patrick too gave us his phone number and urged us to call if we had any trouble. He was concerned about the heat and us riding in it, so we promised to call him when we reached Brazoria (we did call him).
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, except for the headwinds and heat. We did finally remember to keep our SPF 15 umbrellas on the top of Chelsea’s trailer, and we used them several times. We got a photo of it, as we figured we probably were quite a sight, with our trailers and bikes, sitting on the highway with our brightly colored umbrellas in the hot sun!
We finally made it to just outside Brazoria, where we stopped for a very long rest at a small park just outside town, right before a bridge crossing. We were very tempted to spend the night there, but a small sign said we needed permit, and we hadn’t a clue about where to get it. We’d be in direct sight of traffic on a major road all night, and there were no facilities.
After talking it over, we decided to continue on into Brazoria and take our chances. We waited for a break in the intimidating traffic crossing the bridge, and took off. In Brazoria we stopped at Stewarts, a large grocery store right near downtown.
With some cash to spend for the first time in ages, we decided to splurge on yogurt and cottage cheese, and much to our delight they had a deli area where we could sit and eat in the heavenly air conditioning. Before sitting down, I’d asked around and was told to ask about a place to stay at the courtesy booth in the store. Donna was behind the counter, and when she heard our story she hopped right on the phone.
A few minutes later she had us connected with a Bill James, and said he’d be coming over to meet us; we could wait in the deli. Sure enough, a few minutes later we met Bill. He explained a few things to us, and we told him a bit about us. After tossing over some ideas, he left to check on things for us.
The upshot was that Bill and his wife Sheila invited us to spend the night at their house. We thought we’d died and gone to heaven. We had our own private room and gorgeous bathroom, we got to do laundry, and best of all, we had luxurious air conditioning. They were late for a meeting, so they showed us where the bathroom and bedroom were and took off for their meeting.
Chelsea and I were so tired and hot that we had all we could do to take showers and wash our hair. When Bill popped in between their meeting and their dance lessons, we asked about laundry, and got that going too. Then we wandered outside to check out the fabulous garden/yard.
It’s hard to describe Bill and Sheila’s garden and yard, expect to say that clearly a lot of love and time have gone into creating and maintaining it. It’s one of the most tranquil places we’ve had the good luck to be in for a long time. With a small fishpond, a wide variety of plantings, and a number of antique tubs and yard tools hanging around the edges, there’s no end of things to look at. They’ve also got a wide variety of places to sit around the yard and on the porch, with several choices of types of seating.
When Bill and Sheila arrived home after their meetings, we all sat quietly outside getting to know each other a bit. Since none of us had eaten, Sheila suggested that they’d take us to dinner at Silas’s in downtown Brazoria.
What a meal that was! I had scallops in lemon butter with wilted spinach, accompanied by rice pilaf and an incredibly fresh green salad. Chelsea had the seafood linguine (shrimp, scallops and crawfish) with the green salad. I know we were really hungry, and we been decent-food-deprived for days, but that meal was one of the best meals we have ever had!
At home again, we stayed up much too late talking with Bill and Sheila, but it was far too interesting to want to miss. Bill worked for Dow Chemical for twenty years, till he was laid off. At that point he’d met Sheila, and the two of them bought a hardware store in Brazoria which they ran for twenty years, only recently selling it. Bill now does solar screens for windows, and Sheila bakes and creates gift baskets for special occasions. If I understood correctly, she’s been doing up to forty baskets for one bank alone at Christmas!
Bill is a former mayor of Brazoria, and is currently head of the Heritage Foundation, is active in the Lion’s Club, and is the city judge. Talking with both of them was so refreshing! Here in the South we tend to meet folks who are ultra conservative and strongly opinionated. It was really a different experience to have a chance to talk to a couple that is very common sense and heart-oriented.
Morning came awfully early and we were sure moving slowly. We awakened to a lot of humidity on top of the heat, so we felt a bit off before we even began. Bill was concerned about us getting across a bridge about five miles down the road, so he put our trailers and bikes on his truck trailer while we went with Sheila. They took us about ten miles down the road where we said our final goodbyes.
Event though the rest of the day was pretty tough, we kept thinking about that wonderful conversation, that amazing meal, their wonderful cat and dog (a darling Schnauzer), and that peaceful, tranquil home they’ve created. We’d love to see them again!
Follow-up note: We’ve already received an email from Isaiah’s mom who said he was really inspired about meeting us. She said Isaiah wanted to know when his photo would go up. We’re hoping to get it posted later tonight or tomorrow at the latest. We loved hearing from him, and Isaiah – if you’re reading this, a big hug to you!