{"id":22962,"date":"2018-04-27T09:56:19","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T13:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=22962"},"modified":"2018-04-27T09:56:19","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T13:56:19","slug":"day-12-thursday-april-26-galveston-to-winnie-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=22962","title":{"rendered":"Day 12. Thursday April 26 – Galveston to Winnie, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night’s colors from “The Pleasure Pier”!\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What a difference a day makes!\"\"<\/a>Yesterday’s warm sunshine and light cool breeze off the water was replaced with a blistering cold wind out of the north and no sun to warm the morning.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Pedaling hard into the wind \"\"<\/a>could not warm us up in the four mile distance to get to the ferry that would take us to the Bolivar Peninsula.<\/p>\n

Our wait for the ferry \"\"<\/a>was just long enough to snap a few pictures,\"\"<\/a> before heading across the channel \"\"<\/a>that links the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston Bay. \u00a0Inside the warmth of the ferryboat, we met Rick; \"\"<\/a>filled with great info about the area and the affect of both Harvey last year and Hurricane Ike ten years ago. \u00a0He pointed out the “innovative” concrete ship\"\"<\/a> that did not make it far from it’s berth and how the color of the water here was not as blue, as further south (Padre Island) due to the proximity of the Mississippi River.<\/p>\n

Almost an hour after arriving at the ferry dock, we disembarked on The Bolivar Peninsula;<\/a>\u00a0wide at this western end \"\"<\/a>and the only homes perched near the water in the distance. \u00a0Between the ferry and the wind, we had only traveled ten miles in two hours; it was going to be a long day. \u00a0As the island narrowed, we got a true taste of the character \"\"<\/a>of the east part of Galveston County;\"\"<\/a> not as polished as Galveston. \u00a0This is the area that really took the hit from Hurricane Ike ten years ago with a lot of empty property for sale. \u00a0 Vacant slabs still show the destruction\"\"<\/a> (this is where the most dramatic photos of the hurricane came from).<\/p>\n

After a ten mile stretch of homes and interesting,\"\"<\/a> splashy\"\"<\/a> and creative \"\"<\/a>(a drive-up coffee shop) businesses, we had a long straight stretch of flat land, \"\"<\/a>only occasionally sprinkled with homes. Right next to an oil field\"\"<\/a> was this very extravagant new development, \"\"<\/a>selling million dollar homes. \u00a0\"\"<\/a>This little gem rents for about $750. a night!<\/p>\n

We were amazed with how low lying the entire area is; a two foot rise of the sea would flood everything. \u00a0New construction was obvious by the elevation,\"\"<\/a> this is the high school.<\/p>\n

Homes disappeared as the peninsula narrowed,\"\"<\/a> giving full view of the shrimp trollers\"\"<\/a> we hoped were catching our dinner.<\/p>\n

Shortly after noon our road took a turn directly into the wind.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Can’t say we had enjoyed the wind just on our shoulder, but we definitely did not enjoy it directly in our face. \u00a0This was a good time to take a lunch break. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0A half hour later we were back on the road to face the wind and another tall two mile bridge over a shipping channel.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0We much prefer traversing these channels via a ferry, but you cannot beat the view. \u00a0We were fortunate to be on top when a barge pushing quite the load,\"\"<\/a> passed below us. \u00a0After the bridge was a long straight unprotected from the wind<\/em> stretch \"\"<\/a>of low land seagrass, brush and bayous. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0We battled the wind as the wind battered our legs. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0It was three in the afternoon, when we finally saw our first stand of trees, hoping it was a sign that our town was in sight. \u00a0Winnie is small,\"\"<\/a> but our approach was……colorful.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0A quick stop for a cold beer to go \"\"<\/a>and we were checked in by 3:45.<\/p>\n

We had felt so good yesterday after our 52 mile ride, but today’s blow made our 55 miles a struggle; six hours of saddle time was an hour longer than yesterday.<\/p>\n

We were richly rewarded with a full on Country Cajun<\/em> dinner,\"\"<\/a> Chicken Fried Chicken with gravy, fried Okra and a pile of Shrimp of every flavor (maybe not as many as Gump named)……all Good!<\/p>\n\n\t\t