Saturday, December 12, 2009

Good Ole Southern Hospitality







We experienced the Texan Southern Hospitality that you always hear about. Marty and Gary Summerall hosted us one night in Corsicana. They have a beautiful B&B and have had Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman stay there in the past. Marty was originally from Mississippi and put on the southern charm.

We spent 2 nights in Houston with Malte and Courtney Bruegmann. Malte was an exchange student from Germany that stayed with Ward in 1991. They put on the ritz and Malte even took us on our first helicopter ride around Houston. All I can say is...it was incredible.

Paul and Monica Lucas from Bedford were very gracious to put us up for 3 nights and store our bikes and bags as we took a trip to the midwest to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our families. Paul is also a biker that has cyled across the U.S. in the past and has ridden RAGBRAI (7 day bicycle ride across Iowa) 5 times. He is the Rotary District Governor Elect in that area.

Mark and Eileen Morton from Muleshoe put us up one night and fed us jumbalya and chili that was literally worth $400 a pound. Their passion is to go to other countries and to hunt exotic animals. They bring the meat home to eat, display the hides around the house and mount the heads in their grand room. I felt like I was in a zoo.

Not shown but also wonderful hosts have been Steve and Sandra Burda, and Darrel and Betty Branhagen. We found Steve and Sandra through warm showers (a biker hospitality org). Steve is also an avid cyclist and they were kind enough to watch the Packer/Dallas game that Sunday afternoon. Sorry Steve, the Packers won!

We knew Darrel and Betty from the RAGBRAI. They had gone with us (Decorah Bicycles) many years and Darrel is originally from Decorah. They invited their bicycle club over to their house that tonight and we had a fun talk with all of them.

Thanks Texas for showing us what you are made of.

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