March 2012
10 posts
11 tags
Lake Charles
A few miles outside of downtown Lake Charles we saw the most intimidating and dangerous road either of us has considered riding during this trip. The I-10 bridge is more than a hundred feet tall with no shoulder and has construction limiting two lanes. We shrugged and decided to get a closer look. After seeing it up close, we decided neither of us wants to die a miserable death on the...
8 tags
Farewell Texas
That’s right, we’ve left Texas. We are no longer in the largest of the contiguous states.
Before we crossed the border, we shared loving good-bye hugs with Valerie, easily our most mom-like host so far. After just two days, we were like family, but just like the families we said good-bye to when we left on this trip we said our thanks and hugged her before we got on our bikes.
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Houston...
8 tags
100 Miles of Shoulder
We made it to Houston after one short day and one very long day. It went like this:
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Day 1,
Leave Austin after three weeks of not riding bikes with gear and feel good about ourselves for not hurting too much. Stop in Bastrop, a town thirty miles outside of Austin. Talk, briefly with a train kid (freight train hopping young person) in a walmart parking lot. Stop in at walmart. Meet a...
8 tags
Until Next Time, Austin
Toy Golfer
Jude swings his plastic golf club poorly like a two year old. Maybe by his third birthday he’ll have his dad’s technique in mind. When he draws back, he’ll plant his feet and hold his knees in position. Twisting at the waist could come after he’s eaten his cake. After he fills up with sugar and runs like a fat kid; his new legs that don’t coordinate perfectly. He might, by chance,...
11 tags
South X
We had already been smitten with Austin by the time South By South West rolled around, so the week and a half long festival was icing.
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The first five days of SXSW is the interactive conference which is mellow for business hours and free parties afterwards. There were hundreds of well-dressed European computer-nerds meandering through town during the day and schmoozing at the open-bar...
14 tags
Austinitis
If the kite festival isn’t a wholesome and welcoming enough event to win people over then there happens to be more in Austin that could reel them in.
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Our host, Kadi, told us about an organization called Food is Free, which a good friend of hers is one of the leading members. They were having a volunteer day where they were placing and filling garden beds in the front yards of an...
“Thank you so much for everything Austin Texas.. Until next time, keep it weird.”
– http://bit.ly/wNMBEh
9 tags
Let's Go Fly a Kite!
A question we both always ask people when we get into their town is “what do I have to do while I’m here?” The least predictable answer we received in Austin was “the kite festival”. A festival for a city of over a million people, where you show up at a park and fly a kite.
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Early March, seventy five degrees, blue skies, thousands of smiling people, music, and a slight breeze out...
7 tags
Time to Get Weird
Hello again.
Back in San Antonio, we spent a long morning scrambling from hardware store to bike store and then repeating the whole process again because there was something else that we had to get. The constant drizzle wasn’t the biggest help, but, honestly, rain does feel relieving to ride in when we’ve been riding through the desert for a month.
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We found the most useful parts for the...
5 tags
God's Country
Friday, Feb 24th
Spent forty miles fighting headwinds that ranged between fifteen to twenty miles per hour while riding on a surface that was at least bumpy and at most safe. When we got into Hondo, we decided Margaritas first, then a place to stay.
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We landed at el restaurante azteca. We got a little surprise with dinner, one free margarita each. Thanks Rebecca, sorry we never...
