We had no issues with our flight and actually got into Baltimore early. I don't think I have ever been as excited when the pilot came over the PA and said, "looks like we will be arriving a little early this evening and the temperature in Baltimore is 75 degrees." I will probably remember those words for the rest of my life. It was actually 30 degrees cooler then when we left. Not one day on the whole trip was it 75 or less. Once we got to Baltimore, our boy Charlie Crews was there to pick us up and take us back to B-more for the night. As we got off the plane, that was probably the dirtest I have looked in quite a while. A week plus beard going, day or two without a shower, good stuff.
When we got to Charlie's, I took a much need shower and we were off to Viva Cuba bar or something like that. It was real nice right on the harbor. We sat outside and drank quite a few beers with Charlie and his friends. Outlandish statements about past athletic achievements were made, and bold challenges were offered and accepted. (I still plan on coming to Baltimore on Aug 22 to see Mike run a 5:20 mile)
The next day it was back to Rockbridge County. Before we left, both of us were getting pretty down on Lexington. But after seeing the country at 20 miles an hour and seeing some particularly terrible parts of the country (Mississippi, I'm talking about you) we came to really appriciate how awesome this place is. That night our friends Andrew and AJ were getting married and we joined the after party at Southern Inn. While it was their weeding, I am going to assume everyone was there for our welcome home party.
How do I finally sum up this whole trip?
Are we glad we did it?
Absolutely, without a doubt
Would we do it again?
Probably not
I have always want to live my life by the motto, its about the journey and not the destination. Well this trip was all about the journey and I couldn't have done it without my best friend and riding partner. J-Bro we did it man, 1500 miles, 36 days and triple digits.
Times were had.
Signing off,
Steve
Monday, July 27, 2009
Remember the Alamo
So its been a few weeks, but i'm bored and I reckon I ought to get this done even if nobody is reading it anymore. So we rolled out of New Braunfels with another short day to our final destination. I can't tell you how excited I was to get to the end. We knocked out about 35 miles into the wind and yet again 105 degree temperatures. It is probably getting a little repeatative hearing about the weather, but imagine riding your bike in it. It is kind of the overarching theme of the trip. So we get to the hostel in San Anotonio about 11:45am which was cruical. Apparently, the main office is closed from 12-4 every afternoon. If we had to wait until 4pm to check in I might have done some serious damage to a door trying to get to the air conditioning and a shower. Let me start by saying this hostel paled in comparision to Austin and New Orleans. It is best summed up by a coversation we had with a cab driver on the ride home the next day.
Cabbie- Where yall heading?
Me- The hostel on Pierce St.
Cabbie- Is that the place that looks a little creepy?
Me- Yes, yes it is.
This place looked like a creepy old haunted house with some old army barracks attached. We were in the barracks, it was a little nicer on the inside, but not much. Also, the folks staying there were not as social as the others. We decided to get the bikes taken care of and shipped back to ole VA. We rode about 3 miles to Bike World. They had an impressive store and we got to watch the end of the Tour that day. We had them box up the bikes and FedEx them for us. It was a tad expensive, but the piece of mind knowing it would be done right was worth it. Especially after watching the Greyhound people toss the boxes around after we got off the bus in Houston.
After getting the bikes situated we ended up at a suprisingly classy Mexican restuarant. Since we hadn't showered yet and were still in bike jerseys we opted to sit outside to spare their other clientelle our distinctive aroma. We then headed back to the hostel and got a quick shower and a nap before heading down to the famous River Walk. Over the next few days we spent a fair bit of time down there. Personally, I felt it had a very Gatlinburg, TN feel. Very hokie, very family oriented and confusing as hell. But we ended up, grabbing a few beers and head back for the night.
The next day, our last full day of the adventure we had to make it to the Alamo. If for no other reason then to try and find PeeWee's bike in the basement. Well there was no basement and the Alamo was not as impressive as you might expect. Here is something I have been wondering about, is this the only place were we make a tourist attraction out of a place were Americans were slaugthered by Mexicans. Not our typical M.O. Well we got a few pics and wondered around a bit, before we headed back for a quick nap. That night we were going to have a celebratory steak dinner to finish the trip. We checked the GPS and decided to head for Steers and Beer. Most definitely a place we would enjoy. Unfortunely it was being renovated or just closed for good. We had steak on our mind so we tried a few other places. They were either closed or a tad out of our class range. We ended up at Hooters. Thank god for Hooters, you can always count on them for a good time. We ran up an 80 dollar tab, had a great time and said screw you to the steak houses. Really, not being able to find a steak house in Texas, I thought this was America.
Our flight the next day didn't leave until 5pm so we watched the Tour in the morning headed back downtown for a couple hours and caught a cab to the airport. Both of us were pumped to be headed back east and out of San Antonio. The heat and the fact it was the last stop on our trip and the overall feel of San Antonio did not leave a particular good taste in our mouths. But we were headed home and it was about damn time.
One last thing, when we got to our room we noticed one of the beds in our bunk was occupied. The person had incredibly small shoes so we figured we had a girl roomate. Unfortunely, it was not a girl. It was the smallest man I have ever seen. This little Frenchman was not a midget, but stood probably 4'8" and was 80 lbs soaking wet. I am not even exagerating on his stature.
Cabbie- Where yall heading?
Me- The hostel on Pierce St.
Cabbie- Is that the place that looks a little creepy?
Me- Yes, yes it is.
This place looked like a creepy old haunted house with some old army barracks attached. We were in the barracks, it was a little nicer on the inside, but not much. Also, the folks staying there were not as social as the others. We decided to get the bikes taken care of and shipped back to ole VA. We rode about 3 miles to Bike World. They had an impressive store and we got to watch the end of the Tour that day. We had them box up the bikes and FedEx them for us. It was a tad expensive, but the piece of mind knowing it would be done right was worth it. Especially after watching the Greyhound people toss the boxes around after we got off the bus in Houston.
After getting the bikes situated we ended up at a suprisingly classy Mexican restuarant. Since we hadn't showered yet and were still in bike jerseys we opted to sit outside to spare their other clientelle our distinctive aroma. We then headed back to the hostel and got a quick shower and a nap before heading down to the famous River Walk. Over the next few days we spent a fair bit of time down there. Personally, I felt it had a very Gatlinburg, TN feel. Very hokie, very family oriented and confusing as hell. But we ended up, grabbing a few beers and head back for the night.
The next day, our last full day of the adventure we had to make it to the Alamo. If for no other reason then to try and find PeeWee's bike in the basement. Well there was no basement and the Alamo was not as impressive as you might expect. Here is something I have been wondering about, is this the only place were we make a tourist attraction out of a place were Americans were slaugthered by Mexicans. Not our typical M.O. Well we got a few pics and wondered around a bit, before we headed back for a quick nap. That night we were going to have a celebratory steak dinner to finish the trip. We checked the GPS and decided to head for Steers and Beer. Most definitely a place we would enjoy. Unfortunely it was being renovated or just closed for good. We had steak on our mind so we tried a few other places. They were either closed or a tad out of our class range. We ended up at Hooters. Thank god for Hooters, you can always count on them for a good time. We ran up an 80 dollar tab, had a great time and said screw you to the steak houses. Really, not being able to find a steak house in Texas, I thought this was America.
Our flight the next day didn't leave until 5pm so we watched the Tour in the morning headed back downtown for a couple hours and caught a cab to the airport. Both of us were pumped to be headed back east and out of San Antonio. The heat and the fact it was the last stop on our trip and the overall feel of San Antonio did not leave a particular good taste in our mouths. But we were headed home and it was about damn time.
One last thing, when we got to our room we noticed one of the beds in our bunk was occupied. The person had incredibly small shoes so we figured we had a girl roomate. Unfortunely, it was not a girl. It was the smallest man I have ever seen. This little Frenchman was not a midget, but stood probably 4'8" and was 80 lbs soaking wet. I am not even exagerating on his stature.
Monday, July 20, 2009
San Marcos & New Braunfels
It was still 105 degrees, but we only had 45 miles to ride down to the college town of San Marcos, home to Texas State (formally Southwest Texas State). We checked into the Days Inn and cooled off for a bit. We had been in contact with Jean and Gene, Brandt Wymond's folks. They are both art teachers at TSU and a trip. They came and picked us up at the hotel and took us back to the house. It was a very cool pad and we chatted it up for a while before heading downtown for dinner. We went to a nice little Italian place were you bring your own wine. Judah and I had to finish the whole bottle ourselves since Gene was driving. After the bottle our stories flowed a little easier than before dinner. After dinner they dropped us off and we caught the lastest episode of True Blood. With a short ride ahead of us, life was good.
We got up at our leisure and packed up to put in a long day in the saddle, a whole 20 miles. We rolled through Gruene, home to the oldest dancehall in Texas and on to New Braunfels. We were planning on spending a couple days here as we had some serious tubing to do on the Gaudalupe River, but we will get back to that in a second. New Braunfels is an old German settlement which still has a lot of German influence. We ended up at the Smokehouse and feasted on a fine selection of meats. Later that night we took a quick walk across the street to the Lone Star Saloon. As we arrived, lets just say not to much going on Monday night. But our luck was about to change. Two young ladies arrived and ordered a couple beers and burgers. However, the cook refused to make them their food. They had been on the river most of the day and may have been slightly overserved, needless to say they were a tad displeased Well, this little back and forth went on for a good 20 minutes and was our entertainment. We joined them for some beers. They were obiviously not 21, but it did seem to matter to the staff at the Lone Star. For us it was $1 High Life. The only thing was we had to get it oursevles from the fridge behind the bar and leave a dollar on the counter. Got to love the self-serve bar. The same cook also joined us for some beers out on the deck. The 5 of us chatted it up for a while. Obviously they were totally impressed by our feat. The cooks Dad ran the paper in town and he was going to try and get them to write an article about us. Judah gave him his number, but we never heard from him again.
The next day we were headed for the river. However, the tubing company was 2 miles away and we didn't want to have to leave the bikes out in a high traffic area. So we set out on a foot expedition, and expedition it was. As the crow flies, we could cut off about a half a mile. So we set out to ford the river and be there in now time. Before we got to the river crossing we were headed down the road to what looked like a school. As we got there we realized it was not a school, but a mental hospital, and the nutballs were all hanging out outside. We quickly made our way past. We got into a neighborhood and could see the river and the park on the other side. Only problem was we had to make a quick trespass through a backyard and decend at 15 foot slope/cliff into the river. We crossed the river which was about 1.5 feet deep and made our way to Rafter J's Toobs. Yes, that is really how they spell it.
One of my favorite songs has a line, "I like to spend my days, floatin' down the Gaudalupe River. With a cool case of Lone Star Beer, while my body shivers." I figured this would be similar to our experience. However, due to the serious drought in Texas meant the Gaudalupe was to low to float, which meant we had to settle for the Comal which runs through town. The river float right beside the "Greatest waterpark in the world" Schlitterbahn. The tubing run should have just been part of the water park. It was just like an amusement park ride, with shoots, screaming kids, a distinct sunblock aroma, and classy Texans. But it wasn't all bad, we had a few brews, took in the sights, and stayed cool. Really a day on the river is better than a day doing pretty much anything else.
We got back to the hotel and then went back to Lone Star's for the "2nd best hamburger in Texas" it was pretty damn good and fuel enough to get us to San Anotonio the next day.
We got up at our leisure and packed up to put in a long day in the saddle, a whole 20 miles. We rolled through Gruene, home to the oldest dancehall in Texas and on to New Braunfels. We were planning on spending a couple days here as we had some serious tubing to do on the Gaudalupe River, but we will get back to that in a second. New Braunfels is an old German settlement which still has a lot of German influence. We ended up at the Smokehouse and feasted on a fine selection of meats. Later that night we took a quick walk across the street to the Lone Star Saloon. As we arrived, lets just say not to much going on Monday night. But our luck was about to change. Two young ladies arrived and ordered a couple beers and burgers. However, the cook refused to make them their food. They had been on the river most of the day and may have been slightly overserved, needless to say they were a tad displeased Well, this little back and forth went on for a good 20 minutes and was our entertainment. We joined them for some beers. They were obiviously not 21, but it did seem to matter to the staff at the Lone Star. For us it was $1 High Life. The only thing was we had to get it oursevles from the fridge behind the bar and leave a dollar on the counter. Got to love the self-serve bar. The same cook also joined us for some beers out on the deck. The 5 of us chatted it up for a while. Obviously they were totally impressed by our feat. The cooks Dad ran the paper in town and he was going to try and get them to write an article about us. Judah gave him his number, but we never heard from him again.
The next day we were headed for the river. However, the tubing company was 2 miles away and we didn't want to have to leave the bikes out in a high traffic area. So we set out on a foot expedition, and expedition it was. As the crow flies, we could cut off about a half a mile. So we set out to ford the river and be there in now time. Before we got to the river crossing we were headed down the road to what looked like a school. As we got there we realized it was not a school, but a mental hospital, and the nutballs were all hanging out outside. We quickly made our way past. We got into a neighborhood and could see the river and the park on the other side. Only problem was we had to make a quick trespass through a backyard and decend at 15 foot slope/cliff into the river. We crossed the river which was about 1.5 feet deep and made our way to Rafter J's Toobs. Yes, that is really how they spell it.
One of my favorite songs has a line, "I like to spend my days, floatin' down the Gaudalupe River. With a cool case of Lone Star Beer, while my body shivers." I figured this would be similar to our experience. However, due to the serious drought in Texas meant the Gaudalupe was to low to float, which meant we had to settle for the Comal which runs through town. The river float right beside the "Greatest waterpark in the world" Schlitterbahn. The tubing run should have just been part of the water park. It was just like an amusement park ride, with shoots, screaming kids, a distinct sunblock aroma, and classy Texans. But it wasn't all bad, we had a few brews, took in the sights, and stayed cool. Really a day on the river is better than a day doing pretty much anything else.
We got back to the hotel and then went back to Lone Star's for the "2nd best hamburger in Texas" it was pretty damn good and fuel enough to get us to San Anotonio the next day.
Austin Continued
So I know its about a couple weeks late and we are back in Lexington, but I know none of you would be satisfied if I didn't finish this up, so I hope to knock out a few blog entries here. So we did go and see the bats. We took the bus downtown got to the bridge nice and early to get a prime viewing spot. However, we were famished and had to grab a snack before the bats took off. We headed over to the taco truck nearby and got some street tacos. However, it took a little longer than expected and we missed the start. We did get to see plenty off bats. I think the bats are a 1 time deal. Cool to see once, but that should probably suffice for lets say the next couple decades. One more thing of note about the bats, if you walk across the Congress St. bridge, you can definitely smell them, and its terrible.
We then headed for 6th Street again. We caught some live music on the roof of Maggie May's. We headed over to the Drunken Monkey and caught a little jazz. Then over to the pool hall and threw some darts. Over the course of the trip I don't think I own a single darts game, and Judah didn't win a single game of pool. At least we were consistant. We ended the night taking in some dueling pianos (unfortunely they did not play Piano Man) and then going to our favorite 6th Street establishment, The Dizzy Rooster. We saw some folks we had met the night before and $2 anything spelled trouble for Steve and Judah.
We got up late the next day and were set on taking in Barton Springs Pool. It is a natural spring that puts out 68 degree water. Just the thing we needed to beat the incesent 105 degrees. Well after meeting up with our friend Brian from the hostel we set out. It was Austin so we of course had to deal with a couple of dozen bums and weirdos along the way, but we did make it out. Saturday was a free entry day so the place was packed. I would say the population density of Barton Springs was 2.5 people per square meter. However the water was cool, there was plenty of scenery (pretty young ladies), and it was one of those places you just have to see. That night it was off to find some good barbacue, so we headed for the world famous Stubb's. Me, Judah, and Brian had a great meal inside (even though it was not a good as the Barbacue joint in Giddings) while the band Spoon played outside. Apparently, they are a huge deal in Austin. After dinner we headed over to the communist bar as there was a punk show Brian was attending. We played some 16 year old punks and beat them by 4 or 5 balls in 8 ball. They were not good. Brian then headed into the show and Judah and I left after that. Brian was not a punk at all, so we are still wondering how his night ended up. My guess is he wound up sitting on a stool in the back with an ice pack on his face after getting punched in the mouth during the mosh pit.
Judah and I were riding the next day, and a pretty much exhausted our stay on 6th Street, so we headed back to the hostel relatively early. Got up 8ish for a 45 mile ride down to San Marcos.
We then headed for 6th Street again. We caught some live music on the roof of Maggie May's. We headed over to the Drunken Monkey and caught a little jazz. Then over to the pool hall and threw some darts. Over the course of the trip I don't think I own a single darts game, and Judah didn't win a single game of pool. At least we were consistant. We ended the night taking in some dueling pianos (unfortunely they did not play Piano Man) and then going to our favorite 6th Street establishment, The Dizzy Rooster. We saw some folks we had met the night before and $2 anything spelled trouble for Steve and Judah.
We got up late the next day and were set on taking in Barton Springs Pool. It is a natural spring that puts out 68 degree water. Just the thing we needed to beat the incesent 105 degrees. Well after meeting up with our friend Brian from the hostel we set out. It was Austin so we of course had to deal with a couple of dozen bums and weirdos along the way, but we did make it out. Saturday was a free entry day so the place was packed. I would say the population density of Barton Springs was 2.5 people per square meter. However the water was cool, there was plenty of scenery (pretty young ladies), and it was one of those places you just have to see. That night it was off to find some good barbacue, so we headed for the world famous Stubb's. Me, Judah, and Brian had a great meal inside (even though it was not a good as the Barbacue joint in Giddings) while the band Spoon played outside. Apparently, they are a huge deal in Austin. After dinner we headed over to the communist bar as there was a punk show Brian was attending. We played some 16 year old punks and beat them by 4 or 5 balls in 8 ball. They were not good. Brian then headed into the show and Judah and I left after that. Brian was not a punk at all, so we are still wondering how his night ended up. My guess is he wound up sitting on a stool in the back with an ice pack on his face after getting punched in the mouth during the mosh pit.
Judah and I were riding the next day, and a pretty much exhausted our stay on 6th Street, so we headed back to the hostel relatively early. Got up 8ish for a 45 mile ride down to San Marcos.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Austin, Texas
So we finally made it to Austin. 28 days and 1400 miles. The ride in from Giddings was tough. We got out early in the morning, but 75 miles in the heat is never easy. If you have an opportunity check the 10 day weather forcast for Austin. 10 straight days of 104 degree high, 76 degree low. Lets get back to the story, we pulled into the hostel around 1pm ready to grab a shower and a nap. Unfortunely, our reservation got screwed up and they had no beds for us. They did recommend this guy Dave who rented out a room in his house. We will get back to this character in a minute, but we couldn't get in over there till 3. So we hit up the Pizza Hut and then Judah needed to sauve up a little for his meetings with the Spanish Dept. here at UT so we head across the street for a haircut. I was skeptical of a haircut and shave for $8, but Fast Freddies cleaned him up nice. Here is my question, are people getting a haircut really interested in speed to warrant being called Fast Freddies?
Okay so back to Dave. This guy was just your typical crazy old dude who did a little too much acid a couple decades ago and never really recovered. He answered the door in just a towel. But the room was cheap and we got a nice cold shower. We got his whole life story, he has been in the bed and breakfast industry (if you can call it an industry) for quite some time. But Austin is getting too big for him, so he is just saving up some scratch until he can ex-pat to, you guessed, Costa Rica.
Got up yesterday morning, stashed the bikes here at the hostel and took of for campus so Judah could have his first meeting with the department. That went well and we headed back to the hostel to check in and cool off for the day. Unfortunely, right as we walked in we were semi-force to play 4 person chess with another crazy old dude named Rodger. This old coot could talk you ear off and loved this game. He told us the 7 things we had to remember and i'm pretty sure 3 of the 7 were exactly the same. I don't know why we seem to attract the crazys but we do, and there are a ton of them down here in Austin. This guy Rodger moved to Austin to try and become the 5th best 4 way chess player in the city. I know it is a lofty goal, but you have to shoot for the stars. He now claims to be the 2nd best player, probably in the whole town, but Judah took him down no problem. This guy plays in all night coffee houses and games apparently go all night. He invited us to go with him since we were so go, but we graciously declined.
After a dip in the lake out back, a quick shower and shave we were off to the infamous 6th Street last night. If you read my discription of Bourbon St., that tells a pretty accurate tale of our night last night as well. Got up early today to watch the Tour, mountain top finish, you can miss that. We both met with our departments, which went well for both. I head over to Mellow Johnny's, Lance Armstrong's bike shop here in town to check it out. Picked up a couple souviners. Anyway, we are recharging right now and are going to go check out the 10 million bats fly out from under the Congress St. bridge in a couple hours. Probably a little more 6th St. later and off to Barton Springs tomorrow morning. We are then head for San Marcos on Sunday morning.
Keeping Austin Wierd,
Steve
Okay so back to Dave. This guy was just your typical crazy old dude who did a little too much acid a couple decades ago and never really recovered. He answered the door in just a towel. But the room was cheap and we got a nice cold shower. We got his whole life story, he has been in the bed and breakfast industry (if you can call it an industry) for quite some time. But Austin is getting too big for him, so he is just saving up some scratch until he can ex-pat to, you guessed, Costa Rica.
Got up yesterday morning, stashed the bikes here at the hostel and took of for campus so Judah could have his first meeting with the department. That went well and we headed back to the hostel to check in and cool off for the day. Unfortunely, right as we walked in we were semi-force to play 4 person chess with another crazy old dude named Rodger. This old coot could talk you ear off and loved this game. He told us the 7 things we had to remember and i'm pretty sure 3 of the 7 were exactly the same. I don't know why we seem to attract the crazys but we do, and there are a ton of them down here in Austin. This guy Rodger moved to Austin to try and become the 5th best 4 way chess player in the city. I know it is a lofty goal, but you have to shoot for the stars. He now claims to be the 2nd best player, probably in the whole town, but Judah took him down no problem. This guy plays in all night coffee houses and games apparently go all night. He invited us to go with him since we were so go, but we graciously declined.
After a dip in the lake out back, a quick shower and shave we were off to the infamous 6th Street last night. If you read my discription of Bourbon St., that tells a pretty accurate tale of our night last night as well. Got up early today to watch the Tour, mountain top finish, you can miss that. We both met with our departments, which went well for both. I head over to Mellow Johnny's, Lance Armstrong's bike shop here in town to check it out. Picked up a couple souviners. Anyway, we are recharging right now and are going to go check out the 10 million bats fly out from under the Congress St. bridge in a couple hours. Probably a little more 6th St. later and off to Barton Springs tomorrow morning. We are then head for San Marcos on Sunday morning.
Keeping Austin Wierd,
Steve
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
On The Road Again
Seeing things that I may never see again, like Giddings, TX. We had a very nice little hiatus in Houston, but it did feel good to get some more miles on the legs. First off, I'd like to send out a big thank you to the Houston crew. Coleen, thanks for letting us loaf around your house for 4 day. Sarah and Will, we could not be more appreciative of your hospitality. From picking us up from the sketchy bus station at 1am, to opening your houses and pools and barbacues, to giving us a ride out of the Houston metroplex yesterday. If you are ever in Virginia, please let us return the favor.
We started out of Katy, TX yesterday morning headed for Brenham (home of the Bluebell Ice creamery). The roads here in Texas are a welcome change from what we have been riding, low traffic and wide shoulders. It made for a much more enjoyable ride. Judah did have a flat around Bellville. After a little repair work we were headed out again. Only problem was that was our last tube and the nearest bike store is in Austin. Keep your fingers crossed. We crossed the Brazos River, and it confirmed what Robert Earl Keen says in The Front Porch song: "The Brazos still runs muddy, like she's run along." Not the most tempting river to swim in, but its still fun to see the places I hear about in all the songs I listen to.
We rolled into Brenham just in time for lunch at up Purcell's Country Buffett. I didn't have much of an appitite after the ride, but Judah managed to put down about 10 pieces of there famous fried chicken. We scouted out hotels that would have the Versus channel so we could watch the tour, but to no avail. We had to settle for an update from my brother. I can't wait for him to get the 2009 Tour DVD so I can watch the stage, it sounded awesome.
We got a late start this morning and by the time we woke up it was pouring rain, so we waited it out in the hotel room. We got off about 10am, which was unfortune because the mercury quickly climbed into the triple digits. We were way out in "the cut" for most of the ride and there was little shade to be found. The mesquite trees down here don't block the sun like a good southern pine in Georgia. We had a quick lunch at Jackee's Cafe in Burton. This was about the only thing going in a town of 312. And its a good thing we stopped because it was another 26 miles through the oil fields, and cattle ranches where we may not have seen a car or another person until we got into Giddings. We were planning on heading a little farther west, but the next closest hotel was another 25 miles down the road. Not a particularly exciting prospect at 2 in the afternoon. So we decided to bunk down here for the night, get up early and head the 60 or so miles into Austin tomorrow.
Like I said, we are going to hostel it up for the next 3 nights. We will meet with our prospective departments at UT, swim in the lake, watch the bats and check out
6th street to see if this town is to our liking. Touring the University in July is probably like taking a tour of Va Tech in Feburary. It will take a strong will to look past the weather. Anyway, hopefully we will be able to check in frequently down there. Oh yeah, we have set a return date, we are flying out of San Antonio next Friday the 17th. See you then.
Cowboy up,
Steve
Sorry I missed it yesterday, but my phone is dead and no computer to speak of, Happy Birthday Joc.
We started out of Katy, TX yesterday morning headed for Brenham (home of the Bluebell Ice creamery). The roads here in Texas are a welcome change from what we have been riding, low traffic and wide shoulders. It made for a much more enjoyable ride. Judah did have a flat around Bellville. After a little repair work we were headed out again. Only problem was that was our last tube and the nearest bike store is in Austin. Keep your fingers crossed. We crossed the Brazos River, and it confirmed what Robert Earl Keen says in The Front Porch song: "The Brazos still runs muddy, like she's run along." Not the most tempting river to swim in, but its still fun to see the places I hear about in all the songs I listen to.
We rolled into Brenham just in time for lunch at up Purcell's Country Buffett. I didn't have much of an appitite after the ride, but Judah managed to put down about 10 pieces of there famous fried chicken. We scouted out hotels that would have the Versus channel so we could watch the tour, but to no avail. We had to settle for an update from my brother. I can't wait for him to get the 2009 Tour DVD so I can watch the stage, it sounded awesome.
We got a late start this morning and by the time we woke up it was pouring rain, so we waited it out in the hotel room. We got off about 10am, which was unfortune because the mercury quickly climbed into the triple digits. We were way out in "the cut" for most of the ride and there was little shade to be found. The mesquite trees down here don't block the sun like a good southern pine in Georgia. We had a quick lunch at Jackee's Cafe in Burton. This was about the only thing going in a town of 312. And its a good thing we stopped because it was another 26 miles through the oil fields, and cattle ranches where we may not have seen a car or another person until we got into Giddings. We were planning on heading a little farther west, but the next closest hotel was another 25 miles down the road. Not a particularly exciting prospect at 2 in the afternoon. So we decided to bunk down here for the night, get up early and head the 60 or so miles into Austin tomorrow.
Like I said, we are going to hostel it up for the next 3 nights. We will meet with our prospective departments at UT, swim in the lake, watch the bats and check out
6th street to see if this town is to our liking. Touring the University in July is probably like taking a tour of Va Tech in Feburary. It will take a strong will to look past the weather. Anyway, hopefully we will be able to check in frequently down there. Oh yeah, we have set a return date, we are flying out of San Antonio next Friday the 17th. See you then.
Cowboy up,
Steve
Sorry I missed it yesterday, but my phone is dead and no computer to speak of, Happy Birthday Joc.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Happy Birthday America
Sorry I haven't posted in a couple days, I know how everyone is hanging on my every word, so let me catch you up. I'll start a Bourbon St. in New Orleans; what can I say, its Bourbon St. Drinks were drank, Hooter Shooters were shot, big girls and old ladies were danced with, indecent liberties were taken, times were had. We recovered the next day in New Orleans, toured the French Quarter and waited out what seemed to be a hurricane under a small balcony. We decided that day we would ride maybe 30 miles the next day to get out of town and then head to Baton Rouge the next day. Well, we ended up riding 75 miles to Gonzales, LA. Judah did want to ride the 25 more miles into BR, but cooler heads prevailed and we stopped for the night, definely the right choice. The next day we were going to head up to Opolusa, LA. From my previous post you know what happened when we tried riding out of BR. So we headed to the bus station, boxed up the bikes and booked a trip to Houston for 7pm that night. THis gave us 5-6 hours to "explore" BR. Since we were going to be spending the evening on a Greyhound, we figured beers were in order. We went to the bar, played some shuffle board and pool and got sufficiently lubricated for the bus ride. Now I have never been on a Greyhound before and it was an interesting experience. I sat next to Patrick for LaPlace,LA. He was going to see his mother in Houston. The wierd part about this is, his wife also went to Houston but on an airplane. This guy just preferred the bus, not because he was afraid to fly, just loved the bus. I got his whole life story, pretty nice guy all around. Judah sat next to a guy from Mexico who was taking the bus all the way to southern Mexico, they chatted in spanish the whole way. Then we got to the station in Houston. Now that was an interesting experience, especially since we got in a 1am. I can sum it up as "salt of the earth."
Well Sarah picked us up and brought us back to her place here in Houston. Very nice. We got to sleep in and relax most of the day. At this point I was particularly pleased not to be riding through the swamps in nowhere Louisiana. We went out that night to Armadillo's. I love Texas bars. Got some Shiner Bock's, life was good. The next day we went over to Sarah's friend Will's house and lounged poolside most of the afternoon. This was just a little precursor to the 4th activities. Yesterday we had a pool party at the same location. Beers, slip and slides, real barbacue ribs and chicken, again life was good. Oh yeah, and the Tour de France started yesterday, totally awesome.
We are spending most of today taking it easy a getting ready to get back on the bikes tomorrow. We are getting a ride out of town from Sarah and Will, which we will be uber appreciative for. It will be three days up to Austin where we intend on staying at a hostel on the lake. It has been great to take a few days off, but I think we are both ready to get back on the move. Only 350 miles left to ride.
Everything is bigger in Texas,
Steve
PS. I accidentally jumped in the pool with my cell phone. Needless to say it is dead. So if you call me and it goes straight to voicemail thats why. See you down the road.
Well Sarah picked us up and brought us back to her place here in Houston. Very nice. We got to sleep in and relax most of the day. At this point I was particularly pleased not to be riding through the swamps in nowhere Louisiana. We went out that night to Armadillo's. I love Texas bars. Got some Shiner Bock's, life was good. The next day we went over to Sarah's friend Will's house and lounged poolside most of the afternoon. This was just a little precursor to the 4th activities. Yesterday we had a pool party at the same location. Beers, slip and slides, real barbacue ribs and chicken, again life was good. Oh yeah, and the Tour de France started yesterday, totally awesome.
We are spending most of today taking it easy a getting ready to get back on the bikes tomorrow. We are getting a ride out of town from Sarah and Will, which we will be uber appreciative for. It will be three days up to Austin where we intend on staying at a hostel on the lake. It has been great to take a few days off, but I think we are both ready to get back on the move. Only 350 miles left to ride.
Everything is bigger in Texas,
Steve
PS. I accidentally jumped in the pool with my cell phone. Needless to say it is dead. So if you call me and it goes straight to voicemail thats why. See you down the road.
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