9 Feb Ride to the Painted Churches
Pictures from Gary Lewis, Reynaldo Espinosa, Tom Byrd & Brad Severe
The best of winter in south-central Texas is a day like today and the best riding happened today for Chapter U! Twenty riders and co-riders met at Yamaha of San Antonio to meet, greet and drink coffee...oh and a bit of shopping prior to hitting the road. It was nice that Jack Dowda came by to catch up and wave us good-bye! Kenny and Connie Jordan, fresh from the Road Captain's Course, were the Ride Leaders for the ride to see the Painted Churches near Schulenburg, Texas. I think Kenny's words, when he volunteered to lead this ride were "I know where Schulenburg is!" All he had to do is figure out where the Painted Churches were, and he took care of that by making a pre-ride! No U turns for Kenny and Connie today!
Some of the bikes at YOSA. Ken Jordan giving the pre-ride brief.
After Kenny's safety briefing, we broke up into two groups with Ron and Maria DeLaughter working as Drag of the first group, and Brad and I as Lead, and newly-minted Road Captains Tom and Nancy Bryd as Drag. Charlie Brown, our District Trainer for Road Captains, would have been proud to see his first class of graduates in action today! We set off with many layers on and an eye towards the overcast skies but the weather channels had all said warming temperatures and lots of sun so we set off with high hopes of soon shedding those extra layers. Little did we know how wonderfully warm and sunny the day would turn out to be!
Getting ready to mount up Group one on the road to Luling!
As we headed towards Luling, we anticipated eating barbecue at one of Chapter U's (and Kenny's) favorite joints. Many of our group had not had City Market barbecue and we made their mouths water with tales of greasy but out of this world sausage. We pulled into the parking lot across from City Market just before the lunch crowd and soon found ourselves at a long table eating our way through sausage, brisket and ribs. Everyone said they had the best choice, and there was a lot of friendly sharing and taste-testing going on up and down the table. JD and Millie Kvapil met us there and soon were seated at the long table. Oh...thanks to Nancy Byrd, we even had plastic forks! Hooray! I guess we will have to keep going back for a taste test.
All lined up across from Luling City Market BBQ!!
Outside Of City Market. No Plates and Nancy brought forks!
Everyone enjoyed the food! Angel looks very pleased!
Ride to eat & eat to ride! Group One Staging to leave Luling.
Setting off again full and happy, we wound our way to Schulenburg and the first Painted Church. The roads winding between the churches are quiet, scenic and even include crossing an old one-lane wood planked bridge which Brad dubbed the “Piano Bridge.” (Yes, it is still there Duke!) The first church was in Praha, and the comments from last year's Chapter U ride which I missed (and the website pictures) failed to really capture the unbelievable beauty of this church which inside really resembles a European cathedral with paint used as embellishment and lots of wood carving! The wood pillars in the churches are often painted to look like veined marble, and the ceilings are decorated with painted garlands, plants and flowers. It is amazing to see hundred-year old workmanship in these churches. As we wound to and visited three more Painted Churches at High Hill, Dubina and Ammannsville, we felt so lucky that generations of local people had preserved the original beautify of these churches from the 19th and early 20th century. These churches are little gems in settlements that have long since passed their peak, especially as interstate 10 passed them by. But if you love finding jewels of Texas history, these churches are certainly worth the visit.
Group one on the road. Headed for the first church in Praha!
The church in Praha! Most like it the best of the four.
Inside was absolutely beautiful!
Bikes parked out side of High Hill. High Hill church.
Inside was beautiful as well. Sign for the Piano bridge!!!
Church in Dubina!
Inside the Dubina Church. Tall steeple and blue skys!
As the day progressed, the layers of clothes did come off! Clothes, hats and caps, and bottles of water when into and out of the trunks. Thanks to Guy and Joan Custer who had brought extra water to pass around. (I learned on the trip back to Salado that if you don’t stay hydrated, you have a problem staying on the bike!) These days you have to watch who is in your trunk! Just ask Reynaldo Espinosa whose GoldWing is the same as Brad’s and mine except for different pinstriping. He turned around, and I was in the wrong trunk! Good thing I got all my long underwear and hat back into the right trunk!
Last church of the day, Ammansville!
After visiting all four churches, we headed back to Schulenburg for chances to fill up our gas tanks AND our stomachs at the local DQ. I think the DQ staff thought it was rush hour as the manager pitched in to take and fill our orders. I guess they liked the business once they got over the shock of 21 people showing up for ice cream and sodas on a quiet Saturday afternoon in Schulenburg! I was just glad to get my weekly Pecan Turtle Sundae fix! (Good thing I walked on the treadmill before we headed out this morning.)
We just about took over the DQ!
Required DQ stop! Everyone was still in a great mood!
On the way back! Albert Vasquez and Angel on their first ride with us!
Forming up again, we headed towards Seguin, making one more break, and reconfiguring slightly into 2 groups to support drop offs nearer to home. After a round of hugs and "glad you could make it," we mounted up and headed down the last stretch towards home, with lots of waves, honks and "CB byes." Today was a WONDERFUL day to ride with Chapter U. It was a GORGEOUS winter day. We had GREAT barbecue and even had FORKS! We saw LOTS of SAFE riders and co-riders we don't always see. We had a NEW co-rider thanks to Albert Vasquez ringing along our own “Angel” for the ride, and a NEW rider, Mike Edmonds' fiancee, Cindy, on her Honda VTX. We even had one GoldWing owner riding a HARLEY join us, Archie and Sharon Haley! (Our chapter is getting more interesting isn't it!) Our NEW Lead, Kenny and Connie Jordan, did a SUPER job, as well Ron and Maria DeLaughter and Tom and Nancy Byrd as Drags. We saw some Texas HISTORY most people don't know about or even see! We rode SCENIC roads that were mostly free of traffic and rode over the “Piano Bridge.” We'll just have to do this again some time...and next time make sure you can join us!
Jill Severe
Co-Riding Chapter Director
© Copyright 2008 Chapter U, Texas District, Gold Wing Road Riders Association, Inc.