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Published: December 15th 2010
Thurs-Dec 02,2010
So we left the deep south and are headed toward Texas. Really when we are in parts of Texas we are going to be more south than we have been for a while, so to say we are leaving the south is actually false. We are leaving what is considered the deep south and going to the Southwest. Interesting. We left Breaux Bridge Louisiana about 10:00 am. The sun was shinning and the weather looked promising. We rode the interstate for a couple of hours and crossed into Texas about noon. We were in Texas literally about 4 minutes and saw a cattle ranch. About 3 minutes later we came across a bunch of old pump horses. Yup , we were in Texas. We were in our way to Naasau Bay, a suburb of Houston to stay at the home of Kevin and Ann. We found Kevin and Ann on the Motorcycle Travel Network and made arrangements to spend the night in thier home. We rode along the very banks of the Gulf coast for a whle and then jumped on a little feerry that took us to Galveston Island. Again the homes were built on huge stilts.
Hurricane. Ike damaged most of this area in 2008. Most of the homes are rebuilt now and there are all these unique stilt home communities along the way. Went through Galvston, and I serenaded Rene with Glen Campell's version of the Galveston song. We arrived at Kevin and Ann's about 5:00. Ann was just on her way out to work for a couple of hours. We visited with Kevin and when Ann returned we all went out to dinner to one of thier favorite resturants.. Rene and I forgot already that "everthing" is big in Texas, and we each ordered our own meal instead of sharing. We each had a ton of food, but finished it all, yes we did. Another note to self, while in Texas we should maybe share a meal or we might also be "BIG" in Texas. Went back to Kevin and Ann's home and visited until bedtime.
Fri- Dec 03,2010
Ann had to work this morning, so after she made sure we were well fed off she went. We continued to visit with Kevin and left thier home bout 10:00am and headed to Corpus Christi. We had an email a while back from
Erich and Meggie, friends from Westlock Alberta. They emailed to say they were going to the Gulf Coast area for a vacation and wondered if we were going to be anywhere close. Well we were going to be in the exact same area, so made plans to attempt to meet up with them. We arrived in Corpus Christi about 3:00 pm and met up with Erich and Meggie at the Best Western Motel on Padre Island. We were all hungry so we found this great burger place and sat and ate and visited. After dinner we went back to the room and visited some more until we were all nodding off in our seats. So great to catch up with friends and even greater is to catch up with them thousands of miles from home!
Sat-Dec-04,2010
Woke up to a sunny bright blue day. The temp was forecasted to be in the 80's. Hooray!!!! We decided we were going to stay in The Corpus Christie area for another day because the weather was so wonderful. Erich and Meggie were moving on to see other parts of the island. We had breaky together and off they went on thier way
and we went to find a beach. Since this was the last beach we will see in a long time, Rene talked me into putting up the tent and sleeping on the beach. So... yet one more time, up went old faithful. We then spent the next few hours laying on the beach in the hot sun and powdered sand. At about 3:30 we decided to go into town. We had heard there was going to be a Christmas boat parade and we certainly wanted to check that out. We had a yummy grilled salmon salad for dinner and then walked around town checking out the festivites, waiting for the boat show to begin. The boat parade consisted of about a dozen boats that were all decked out in Christmas lights and Christmas music. It was quite fascinating, but felt so out of place. We have sled and tobaggan parades on snow!!! Not boat, in the lake in 70 degree weather parades. Very fun!!! So after the parade and checking out some more of the festivities we headed back to our tent to spend the night on the beach. At some point in the night the wind picked up and started
to blow the sand everywhere. We woke up several times feeling the sand falling on our faces and swirling around the inside of the tent. It was not a real great night, but we certainly had a good laugh.
Sun- Dec 05, 2010
At 6:00 am we poked our heads out of the tent to watch the sun rise over the ocean. But to our surprise, the sky was cloudy and absolutely no sign of the sun. We couldn't believe it!!!! That was one of the main reasons to sleep on the beach!!! Oh well, another part of the adventure. We were both wide awake, and we knew there was not a chance of falling back to sleep, so up we got, shook the sand out of the sleeping bags and were on the road out of Corpus Christi by 7:15. Way to early, but couldn't stand the sand storm any longer. We rode north again on our way to Austin Texas. We arrived in Austin around 3:00. We unloaded our gear, checked into the Austin hostel and to our surprise, there was our new friend Karey and her litle dog Brandi again. We were all thrilled to
see each other again and after we settled into our rooms, Karey and I went for a walk to the grocery store. After our walk we had our dinner and just vegged for the rest of the evening and went to bed early. No sand happening tonight in our beds.
Mon - Dec 06, 2010
Rene and I decided we needed a day away from each other, so he went out to check out the city of Austin and Karey and I decided we would go to the city of San Antonio and check out the Alamo and the San Antonio Riverwalk. San Antonio was about 1.5 hours away. Karey, Brandi and I left about noon and had a wonderful day exploring San Antonio. We first checked out the downtown square where we had a coffee and sat in the warm sun. After our coffee we found what's left of the Alamo. More than 2.5 million people a year visit the 4.2 acre complex known worldwide as "The Alamo." Most come to see the old mission where a small band of Texans held out for thirteen days against the Centralist army of General Antonio López de Santa
Great Friends
Erich and Meggie in Corpus ChristiAnna. Although the Alamo fell in the early morning hours of March 6, 1836, the death of the Alamo Defenders has come to symbolize courage and sacrifice for the cause of Liberty. Fasinating story. We ended our day with the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk was so incredibly quaint. It is a system of canals in the downtown area of San Antonio, with resturants, shops and hotels on the shores. We went on a 40 minute boat tour that gave us all the pertinent information of San Antonia. The Riverwalk makes San Antonio look very similar to a authentic Mexican town. Carol Burnette was born in a hospital on the Riverwalk, Alex Hailey (author of "Roots") lived on the Riverwalk, part of Miss Congeniality, the movie was filmed on the centre stage and lots of other interesting stuff. We left San Antonio about 5:30 and yakked just like two school girls all the way back. So nice for me to to have some girlfriend time. We got back to the hostel about 7:00 pm and Rene was back from his exciting day in Austin. He walked around town and saw the sights. Since it was mine and Rene's last night in Austin,
the three of us went to check out the Austin night life. 6th Street was our destination. Our first stop was a little coffee shop where we listened to poetry readings. Wierd, but interesting. Our next stops, about 8 of them, were in the pubs along the street. We only stayed to listen to a song or two and then we would leave and move on to the next one. It was Monday night and not to much excitement in the streets. Austin claims to be the live music capital of the World. Sure were lots live bands for a Monday night. They also claim to be the wierdest??. After listening to the poetry, I can vouch for that one!!!! Anyway we didn't stay out long and were back at the hostel about 10:30pm. Read and went to bed.
Tues- Dec 07, 2010
It's getting cool in the evenings, nights and mornings, so for the last few days we haven't left in the mornings until about 10:00-10:30. We decided we were going to head on, so about 10:30 we headed out. It was chilly riding. We rode to Rocksprings Texas. The ride was awesome. All through the
Texas hill country. Beautiful scenery. Again very different. Rolling hills, with cacti and other desertish flowers and plants. And then Ranch after Ranch after Ranch. Ranches with names like Lone Star Ranch, Double JJ Ranch and Texas Pride Ranch. Sounds so western and cowboy. We could almost see the Indians in the hills and the covered wagons on the dirt paths. We rode past Comfort Texas, and that is where our Scott's Lauren went to school for a year. Neat to see where she was!!!! Now I know Lauren why you love your cowboy boots so much!!!!We rode all day and stopped at about 5:30 for the night in a little town called Rocksprings. We needed to eat some authentic Texan food. Now when we think Texas food, we think Steak!!!! Big juicy yummy steak. We also found out that Texas is about Chicken fried Steak. That simply sounds wrong doesn't it?? How does one chicken fry a steak?? Isn't steak supposed to be steak fried or BBQed?? Anyway we knew we needed to try it. We went to one resturant that was closed so ended up going to the only other one in town and ordered the Chicken
Fried Steak, smoothered in white gravy. We remembered this time to share. Sure enough the meal came and sure enough, it was HUGE!!! Secondly, we found out that Chicken Fried Steak is round steak, coated with a flour batter, then deep fried and smothered in a white flour gravy. Mmmm. Half of the meal was even a large amount of food.
After dinner we went back to our motel room and turned in for the night.
Wed- Dec 08, 2010
We waited again to get travelling as the temp was only about 40 F, until about 10:00 am. As soon as the sun comes out though it warms up really quickly. We had checked on the Internet and found another hostel in Marathon Texas. It was about 400 km, so we rode the end of the Texas Hill Country and ended the day in the high plains. Texas is a beautiful state with so many different landscapes. It also has 1500 historical markers on the side of the roads. We checked out only a couple. That would be an interesting Texas road trip. To ride across Texas and stop and read all the historical markers. We arrived at the
hostel about 4:00. I just don't know where to begin to talk about our adventures at this hostel. It was the craziest, wierdest, most unsual place we have been at yet. When we looked at it on the Internet it looked kinda cool and funky, but up close it was a crazy mess. The main lodge had an outdoor kitchen, then a sitting area, one main room for sleeping and then a loft with another couple single beds. The rest of the property was a mish-mash of crazy buildings made with recycled materials. Kinda cool if you could overlook the entire mess around the place!!!!! Then we met some people. Eric was the guy first guy we met. He was looking after the place for the owner who is a pilot and lives on St. Louis. Eric it turned out lives in Mexico, but comes to the hostel for 5 or 6 months to work and then he sends his money home to his wife and daughter. Eric has some serious tatoos all over his face. He looks like he doesn't change his clothes often and is a real rebel. Really nice guy though. He showed us around and took
us to meet 5 others who were staying at the hostel but not as travellers. First we met Mike. Mike was an older man who has been living at the hostel for the last 8 months. He was a street musician in New Orleans with his dog, but he got sick of that, came to Marathon, saw the sun set and said to himself "now this looks like a great place to die" and has been there ever since. He was the guy who cooked meals at the hostel. He was making his famous Pizza that night so invited us to eat at his house. We readily agreed. Then we met 4 Kids who were train hoppers. These kids were from the Maine area and we on their way to Calofornia. They were hopping the train in Texas and got caught and pulled off. They some how ended up at the hostel and the owner was going to let them work for a couple of weeks and buy them each a train ticket to New Mexico. I guess if they were caught again hopping the train on Texas they would be thrown in jail. Anyway these 4 kids were something
else. They had funky hair and funkier clothes. It was the one young man's 18th birthday that night so they were partying with a huge jug of Jim Bean Whiskey and a 3 liter jug of Dr. Pepper. They would take a shot of whiskey and then chase it with a slug of Dr. Pepper. Sounded and looked disgusting to us. The birthday boy had a prostetic leg and as we chatted with him he told us that he had lost his leg train hopping several years ago. He told is about a whole culture of people who devote their lives to seeing the sights from the box of a freight train. He told us he wasn't ever going to quit the train hopping he was just going to be smarter so he wouldn't lose anymore limbs. Good idea I guess???? Pretty out there for Rene and I, but fascinating to hear thier stories. Rene and I ate a couple slices of THE BEST pizza we have ever had. Made in 9 by 13 pans and loaded to the top of the pan with meat and veggies. All Mike wanted was a couple bucks. We gave him a few more
Cactus in Texas
One of many kinds than a couple as he was feeding these 4 vagabonds who of course had little to no money. After eating our pizza and visiting a bit, we noticed the kids getting drunker and drunker. At one point the birthday cake came out but instead of eating it, one of them shoved the birthday boy's head in the cake and a cake fight ensued. What a mess. It was shortly after that Rene and I excused ourselves to go back up to our own place.
We had a little fire in this neat fireplace and turned in for the night. No locks on the doors and no heat. I was a little worried but Rene wasn't at all, so I braved it out.
Thurs- Dec 09, 201
I woke up early!!! Well I'm not sure I really slept all that much. I was a little freaked out by the surroundings and the people and the bed was HORRIBLE!!!
There were strange sounds in the night and not being able to lock anything kinda scared me. Rene didn't sleep well either. We decided to just pack up and get on the road.
As were we packing and making breakfast one of
the kids came to make coffee. He had this huge black eye. When I remarked about it he said that he and the birthday boy got into a drunken fight. I guess birthday boy passed out and this kid decided to cut off all of the birthday boy's hair. When he came too he was furious and a fight ensued. Black eyes and broken noses resulted. Yeah we needed to get away from this place and fast.
We jumped on the bike and roared away. After about an hour of driving, we rode into the Grand Bend National Park. It is a beautiful Mountian Park.
We spent about 3 hours driving around the park and admiring the majesty of the mountains with the bright blue sky as the mountain frame. WOW!!!! We stopped for a picnic and then carried on out of the park, but continuing to follow the Rio Grande River. The road we took followed along with the river and mountains. Up and down and around we went. It was a great ride. We stopped for the night on a little town called Marfa Texas. We chose a nice looking place as we both needed to have
a good sleep and feel safe again. Marfa is a quaint little town in the middle of no where, but is a well known town in Europe because it is known for it's artisans. Anyway, we were both very tired, so watched some TV and turned in for the night.
Fri-Dec 10, 2010
Woke up feeling very rested and ready for another day. We are not putting in really long days on the bike these days but we are moving every day or two now. We have a place rented in Sedona Arizona from the 17th to the 25th of Dec, so we need to keep going to make our way there. We are not in any hurry as we could make it there in a couple days if we wanted too but of course we don't want to. We do want to see some interesting things in Texas and New Mexico. So we got going about 10:30 and headed towards Carlsbad New Mexico. Along the way we saw these huge greenhouses. They grow tomatoes in these huge structures and employ many people. Mostly Mexicans with special Visas. After the greenhouses we took a very popular motorcycle loop through
New Friends
Karey and I in San Antonio the foothills. Near the end of the loop was the McDonald Astronomical Observatory. We stopped and got to go into the observatory to see the huge Hobby-Ebberly Telescope. This telescope is the 4th largest in the world and sits on the highest highway in Texas. Really interesting to see how it works.
We jumped on the bike again and ended up on the I-10 for a while. The speed limit on this part of the highway is 80 miles an hour. That is about 130 kms. Pretty fast. Rene didn't go that fast and we were only on the interstate for about 20 minutes and then turned north. For the next 2 hours along Northwest Texas and Southwest New Mexico we saw nothing but desert and OIL!!!!! Good thing they have oil, cause there just ain't nothing else. I don't think even the cactus want to grow there cause they are just teeny tiny in that parched oil land. Interesting for the first half hour, but after 2 hours it became incredibly boring. If it wasn't so windy I would have tried to read, but we were riding north into a northwest wind. I don't think either of us
had an ounce of mositure left in our faces after the first hour. So dry. We finsished our day in a little town called Carlsbad New Mexico. We unloaded our gear and Rene went to find the nearest UPS store. He shipped our camping gear to Colorado. Ahh Shucks I said!!! He shipped it there because we met the owner of a hostel there when we were in South Carolina and he said we could ship it to him and he would hold it for us until we picked it up in the spring on our way home. Rene washappy because it is 30 pounds less
on the bike and I'm thrilled because it just means there will not even be any jokes any more about camping until spring
Had a chill out night and to bed early with lots of moisturizer on our skin.
I think it's true. Everything is BIGGER in Texas!!!! It is also incredibly beautiful with all of it's different scenery and landscapes. And the people we met along the way were wonderful, kind and helpful. Time to move on and see what else is in store for us.
As the song from the Beverly Hillbilly's goes.
Riverwalk San Antonio (2)
A part of Miss Congeniality was filmed here Ya'll come back now for another heaping helping of thier hospitality!!!!
And so we remain....
In the Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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Bruce
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Thanks
Hey Folks, great to hear from you. Ha Ha , sounds pretty tough on the road. Little bit gritty. I've been all through that area. The wind is nasty sometimes, but the roads are long and you can find good folks.Wild stories though. Soak up some rays for me up here in the darkness. But it starts getting lighter in 6 days.Around and around it goes.