There and Back Again

We have arrived!!!

Hello Austin, Texas 😊

Hello Ryan’s good friends 😊

Hello a couple weeks of vacation! 😊

It was hard to get out of the sleeping bag this morning, but once I saw these cuties again it suddenly became a fun task! I loved getting visited by kittens and enjoying their curiosity.

Our ride was swift and on a busy road with a nice wide shoulder, we made good time and our moods were elevated by the anticipation of the next couple weeks when we knew we’d be staying with friends in the city.

My mind was swimming with ideas of how to use this time off! Some of them: making pickled okra, working on illustrations, and checking out the thrift shops for a temporary fashion fix.

We made a pit stop at the Texas burger joint, Whataburger, and while it was tasty we agreed our oats would have been a more satisfying choice after all. Ahhh. How I love oatmeal. Like my dad says:

It’s my dog food.

Trace McCune

I could eat it for almost every meal and be very happy with life.

We saw some other neat animals today too besides the kittens!

It’s funny how the task at hand changes the way you see the world around you. When you need a place to sleep, every sight is judged based on that need.

A patch of trees? Maybe good cover for our tent!

A wide green pasture? Eh. Let’s keep moving and look elsewhere.

A beautiful sunset? Oh no!!! It’s getting dark!!

This evening however, Ryan’s friend Larry offered to give us a lift for the final 20 miles. We pedaled until the sun disappeared and I enjoyed a different set of eyes. Not feeling the usual pressure to find a camping spot, we were free to appreciate the golden hour lighting and look around without such serious intentions. I felt a lot more playful!

Finally we pulled off the road and hopped into Larry’s truck. So the break begins!

Route info for interested readers:

Continuing on the 159 for the morning, we made our way to the 71 which we took all the way to Bastrop, over 30 miles. From there it turned to the 21 and then we went right on 110. All good roads aside from a couple narrow spots in Bastrop.

Houston to Austin. 150 miles. Two days. Can we do it??? Let’s find out!

After a delicious breakfast of Panera bagels, granola, oats, and cereal (carboload 😉), we did some stretching and said goodbye to Bruce, Jennifer, Lexi, Blake, and their sweet dog Emma.

It was such a pleasure staying with them! After all our good eating, especially the “Garbage Nachos,” we were well fueled for the day ahead.

The first forty miles went by like a breeze and we had a blast after leaving the city on the beautiful quiet country roads. We talked a lot about the kind of lifestyle we want to build and how we are loving the freedom of this trip. There is a lot we are learning about what we enjoy and what we can go without while still feeling very satisfied.

As the sunset approached, we had rode about 55 miles and began searching for a place to stop. It was looking like we might need three days for our trip between cities.

We couldn’t camp without permission in this part of Texas. It was GORGEOUS countryside, and all of it was owned fenced land full of rolling grass and cows.

It was a real struggle to find a willing host, people were not answering their doors! Finally we got a yes from a sweet old lady but after the sun had set and our tent was almost up, her neighbor came over to tell us we had to leave. She had just gotten a call from our host that she was uncomfortable with us staying the night on her land but didn’t know how to tell us!

What a bummer. Back onto the road with almost no light left. What were we going to do?

We decided to ride to the next town and I was very surprised by how magical it was biking at night!

The road was so quiet and with a wide shoulder so we felt very safe. There were shooting stars and rolling hills. I felt fresh and in awe ❤️

We decided after reaching a town 11 miles into the night, that we wanted to keep going. Let’s see how far we could get! Maybe even all night into Austin!

TO THE ADVENTURE!!!!

Okay. So suddenly.. the wide shoulder was gone. This meant riding into traffic so we could see who was coming and get off the road for each car. Alright not ideal but it was okay.

Next, dogs. ANGRY dogs. Scary dogs. Dogs chasing us SO fast and pursuing us. Dogs in the dark when you can’t see them and holy cow I had more adrenaline than I wanted in my system. I was nauseous but exhilarated and decided to stop riding for a bit to get my bearings after being chased two separate times. I couldn’t calmly keep riding with the feeling that something was just about to run at me ready to attack and I couldn’t see them coming!

Stuck in the dark, now feeling defeated instead of excited by our whimsy, we proceeded back into the night with caution after a short break.

THANKFULLY we met a very kind Texan rancher who had a sweet family and let us camp on his lawn without hesitation.

I was so thankful and relieved.

We slept just feet away from gentle cows and playful kittens that came into our tent for some love ❤️

So by now we had added some mileage and found a great camping spot. Not too shabby 😉

Route info for interested readers:

We left Houston on Spring Cypress Road and took a left on Tegle then quick right back onto Spring Cypress Road. From there we went right onto Highway 290. Left onto Betka road took us onto a long stretch next to the highway that was AWESOME. It started as Old Washington Road and ran on stair-stepping occasionally next to 290.

We went through Hempstead to get onto 159 headed south west and took that the rest of the day. It was also a great road! So beautiful!

Yesterday, after a tasty breakfast in a local Liberty, Texas diner, we rode with new fully inflated tubes in our tires all the way into the Houston Metropolitan Area. WOWZA! Talk about some traffic.

Ryan and I found ourselves on a literal 8 lane road amongst thousands of cars and no shoulder. We stuck out like sore thumbs!

We found that riding inside the car’s lane was safest. They saw you more as a vehicle and would go around rather than try to squeeze by, but I can’t help wondering how many Texas drivers we made very angry at the inconvenience.

After that madness you can imagine our relief to end up on a LONG bike path through the city completely secluded and free of any motorized vehicles. It was paradise. We also met many cool people who stopped to talk along the way!

Our destination was to stay with old family friends of mine in Spring, Texas just outside of Houston, Bruce, Jennifer, Alexia, and Blake Chidester.

We had a really nice time catching up and hearing about their insanely busy and inspiring lives. Lexi and Blake are both very talented smart and fun to talk to. I admire their confidence and gusto! Jennifer and Bruce gracefully run their family and work lives and were wonderful hosts making us comfortable and feeding us well 👍🏼

They treated us to the biggest plate of nachos I have ever seen at Tacos To Go. These “garbage nachos” arrive in a huge metal can that they shake out on your plate all gooey and smothered 😍 wow we were full but it was worth it.

Thank you so much to the Chidesters for feeding us, giving us a comfortable place to sleep, a glorious warm shower and clean clothes ❤️ Thank you also for the insightful conversations and letting us turn your house into a bike maintenance shop!

We are 150 miles from our long anticipated destination, Austin, Texas where we plan to take a couple of weeks off to live with Ryan’s close friends. Let’s ride!

Route info for interested readers:

We left Liberty, Texas on Highway 90 and then got onto 1960. This long stretched went from rural to crazy urban and busy. It took us all the way through Humble (pronounces “Umble”) and the we turned right onto Deerbrook Park Blvd, a very welcome quiet road up into Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center where we took an amazing bike path about 8 miles north. We got off the path at Pundt Park and turned left onto Spring Creek Drive. We turned right onto Cypresswood Dr. then right on Lexington Road and left on Louetta.

It’s pretty crazy how biking is a full time job. You don’t realize how much time it takes until there literally isn’t enough time left in the day to finish your goal.

Today Ryan and I woke up focused to make at least 55 miles by 5pm. Piece of cake we thought! We have plenty of time!

7am
Our morning was fantastic.
We rose with the sun and gently broke camp which generally takes an hour. We have to change into biking cloths, brush our teeth, pack all of our sleeping gear into eight strategically organized panniers, tear down the tent, then situate our bikes.

8am
We went inside the Get N’ Go mart that we camped had behind for the night and they surprised us with a complementary breakfast to rival any Days Inn! We ate biscuits and gravy with sausage and bacon, drank coffee and tea, and then topped the meal off with our own oatmeal, chocolate, protein powder, and the DELICIOUS cane syrup that was gifted to us in Thibadeax Louisiana by our breakfast pals.
After saying our goodbyes and thanking Pam one last time for her generosity, we went back to get our things and stretch.

8:45am
Time for some quiet slow stretching and a five minute Kimchi squat (Ryan is working towards 20 minutes!). I took this time as an opportunity to focus on my breath. Ahhhhh.

9:30am
We hit the road fresh and full of fuel. 55
Miles, piece of cake!

10am
The first flat happened. A quick patch and we were back on the road smashing pavement and enjoying podcasts until……

Noon-3:30pm
ANOTHER flat. Then another and another until we had one patch left and tubes full of holes and were literally stranded on the side of the road. On top of that, our pump began leaking air making each pump a fraction of what it normally was. Cars were racing past us at 80 mph reminding us of their presence by occasionally honking. Why? We still don’t know but let’s just say it didn’t feel friendly.

4pm
Out of desperation and only 30 miles in for the day, we stuck out our thumbs and hitched a ride with Buck, a very friendly and kind local who was on his way to butcher one of his own cows. I loved his philosophy, knowing where his food comes from was very important to him and so was fair treatment of the animals he was eating. No meat was ever bought from the store for him! He brought us to a gas station, out his way, where knew we could hitch a ride from there into Liberty where there was a Walmart that could sell us new bike tubes.

4:45pm
Ryan managed to patch two holes with one patch at we got back on the road to put in a few more miles for the day.

4:55pm
FLAT.

5:15pm
We hitched a ride with another kind local who looked strangely like Buck. Turns out he was his cousin! Ethan drove us also out of his way all the way up to the Walmart in Liberty. We loved talking with him on the way and enjoyed his hunting stories. I was amazed at how intentional he was to listen carefully when we were speaking. These were some amazing people we met today.

5:30
Walmart at last. Ryan and I split duties. I tackled the food shopping list while he set out for new tubes.

10pm
FINALLY we are in bed, stealthily camping in the darkest patch of grass we could find behind Walmart. Oh man. Allow me to fill you in on the last 4.5 hours.

Turns out this Walmart was three days away from having the patches we needed in stock. Ryan had to deal with burnt out associates for a couple of hours before on his own he miraculously found the exact tube we needed unboxed hidden at the end of the aisle and thankfully still without holes. HALLELUJAH!!!

He tore my tire apart for what felt like the 100th time that day and again, HALLELUJAH!!!! I had a working bike.

We made a hearty dinner on a bench outside the store braving the eyes of passerby’s. It was a lot of fun but Ryan was so tired from his insane day of working on my bike and dealing with Walmart employees who were clearly not trying to be named employee of the month.

We even got to share our meal with a soul in need and that brought a little lightness into the night.

Anyways. Here we are, ultimately with a job well done but just goes to show:

When the day is going right, it’s time to get to work. You can’t count on being able to finish the job if misfortune strikes! Amazing the distance lost when your time is stolen on maintenance.

Thank you to the kind cousins who helped us reach our goal today and to Walmart. While you somehow feel evil, you also are keeping us on the road and fed for cheap. Tonight you are even providing us (not consensually) with a bed.

Today turned out to be one of my favorite days. Im not exactly sure why, but I think the complete loss of control over our bikes reminded me that I could control my mood and my responses to our situation. There were some truly rich and beautiful moments today. I am feeling thankful for Ryan, for this trip, and for being alive.

Route info for interested readers:
We left Evadale on Highway 96 W and turned onto 327. That turned into the 287 which we took north then turned onto 770. We hitched a ride from the 770 into Liberty.

I’m in Texas baby!

We have crossed another state line. Four down, four to go and this one is a biggun!

Today we felt fresh as can be in the morning and knocked out 30 miles before noon. The slump hit as we found ourselves on a very beautiful but very rough going dirt road an hour later. Google maps, you have done us well so far, but not today.

Thankfully after wading through a flooded section of road, walking our bikes across, we were rescued by a cool Texan dude named Ronny. He put our bikes in the back of his jacked up truck and drove us FOUR more miles over dirt roads and huge puddles. THANK YOU FOR SAVING US!!!

The rest of our day consisted of two flat tires, being honked off the road by an 18 wheeler, yelled at by a passerby, and riding on no shoulder next to Texas speed drivers. the silver lining? It was a seriously beautiful day and all said and done, the biking was great 👍🏼

We are camped out behind a very kind gas station mart called Get N’ Go listening to a chorus of frogs and traffic, the moon and stars sparkling for us 😊 ✨ The owner, Ali, even gave us a free pizza for dinner!! SCORE!! Thank you Pam for making it so delicious!

Two more days to Houston and then a few more to Austin where we will break for a couple of weeks with friends.

Route info for interested readers:

We left Lake Charles on 379 and then got on our favorite section of the day, Navajo Rd. That took us to Big Woods Rd through Starks where we turned left onto 12. after Deweyville we went right on Old TX 87 then right onto Co Rd 87. This was where we went wrong. Cutting through to the 62 this was took us on dirt backroads that were not passable by bike after the rain (thank you again Ronny!). The rest of the day was spent on 2246 which was one of the worst roads we’ve taken this entire trip. No shoulder and very fast drivers. We are learning!

Rainy day break. Amazing to feel so refreshed! I didn’t know I needed it but a day off in the middle of our trek, with a lot of alone time provided me with many moments of peace. Also some of restlessness but I’m glad to have had the time to chew on those moments.

Today we stayed camped out at the Baptist church, they opened their restrooms for us to take a shower and we did laundry a block away at the laundromat.

There was also a lot of stretching, podcast listening, and general introspection.

ALSO there were moments of fancy and lightness that I cherished. My favorite was a spontaneous run to the Dollar General for some delicious potato chips with Ryan.

It poured and sprinkled on and off today and we enjoyed watching some Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and reading a little bit of Mark in the Bible together.

Tomorrow we resume pedaling as we head to Houston to stay a night with family friends I have known since I can remember, Jennifer and Bruce Chidester and their kids Alexia and Blake.

Tomorrow we enter the biggest leg of our trip. TEXAS.

The sun has riz, the sun has set,(many times); and I am still bikin’ in Texas yet!!

Clyde Christensen

Hello 2020! 😃 We are pleased to meet you! Today was a good day.

Ryan and I rose from our under the bridge sleeping spot nice and early to escape detection. A quick pedal over the bridge and we stopped for breakfast where we ate well and met some very kind locals!

My favorite moment on our long ride today was seeing one of the many enormous flocks of birds here passing over Ryan as we rode through the country side.

Near the end of the day we found ourselves in busy traffic with narrow shoulders and raced to get through the urban Lake Charles area. We are now camped out under a Baptist church’s awning (with permission) to sit out tonight and tomorrow’s heavy rain.

Cozy in our tent, we watched Hot Rod, ate thin mints, and are ready to rest. Ahhh.

Route info for interested readers:

We left Lake Arthur going straight through town on Co Rd 26 the took a left on 1126 and stair stepped our way along. This formula took us a ways: at every “T” in the road with only a left or right option, we took a right the the first left and repeated.

We hopped onto Highway 90 after a right turn on Boys Village Rd and took that into Lake Charles until turning right on 171. We then turned left on 378.

We would NOT recommend this route through Lake Charles. We would recommend avoiding this very un-bike-friendly town completely. It worked out fine going through in the end but it wasn’t a comfortable or very safe journey.

A little introspective reflection:

It’s interesting to be on such a simple mission, planning just to get a little further each day on a bike. While it’s not a complicated goal, there can be many hard decisions to make. I’m learning that a plan can be helpful, but it’s important to know how to go with the flow. It’s also very important to be kind to your travel buddy. I am working to notice when things go right and keep an open mind when things seem to be going wrong.

Will and Kathy sent us on our way this morning full of expertly crafted pancakes and omelettes. I was in heaven and went through a brief grieving period when I was too full to eat any more.

Thank you again to our kind and generous hosts! We slept great and the fuel you gave us kept us moving today. Thank you also for the tip about Legnon’s Butcherie where we picked up some more Boudin sausages for lunch.

The Café at Jefferson Island was kind enough to let us eat the boudin there so we could enjoy the view at our mid morning stop.

This was the also the place where it finally happened. WE FOUND AN ALLIGATOR! We’d been looking vigilantly the whole trip and finally encountered one of these living dinosaurs. Woohoooo!!!

The rest of the day was spent pedaling hard to our destination spot at Lake Arthur where we pitched our tent under a big bridge for the night. Sounds depressing, but it’s actually one of my favorite spots yet.

Time to eat some pork jowl and blackeye peas as recommended by the southern folk we’ve met as a New Year’s tradition!

Route info for interested readers:

14 all the way all day! We are camped at Lake Arthur under the bridge

What a day! Ryan and I woke up to our usual camp site take down then coffee before hitting the road around 9am.

We met another group of friendly retired men who had many questions about our journey as they enjoyed their own cup of joe. Hmmm… Seems to be a theme 😉 Retired men, at least all over the south, congregate each morning to wake up and catch up.

Our mission today was a 34 mile trip to Avery Island, the birth place of Ryan’s very favorite sauce… Tabasco! We braved windy roads and one impromptu maintenance call on our way and arrived at the Tabasco factory’s on-site Cajun restaurant, 1868, with sore legs and hungry bellies.

The meal was less about our Gumbo and Crawfish Etouffee, and much more about the SAUCE! Literally any kind of Tabasco you could ask for and we tried them all. My favorites were the Roasted Tabasco and Raspberry Chipotle. Ryan’s favorites were the Scorpion, Habanero, and Family Reserve, a special sauce that made from peppers grown on Avery Island and aged for 8 years in oak barrels! Wowza!

We took a great tour of their facility and learned a lot about the history of Tabasco. I must admit I am now much more interested in adding the sauce to my meals. It’s a pretty amazing story they have to tell and a visit is highly recommended.

We topped off our stay with Tabasco ice cream and soda (seriously delicious). After much deliberation, we left with armed with a bottle of their hottest sauce, Scorpion.

This hot sauce is a blend of Tabasco, scorpion peppers, guava, and pineapple. It’s hot but dang it’s good.

Here are some photos of our journey with Tabasco 😊

Our spirits were high as we left to meet our “24k Cajun” warmshowers hosts, Will and Kathy Guidry, who had Jambalia and yes, warm showers, waiting for us in New Iberia, Louisiana.

We had a lovely evening hearing their stories and enjoying their lively energy. Oh and the food. So good. Homemade Jambalia, green beans, sweet potatoes, and dessert. Thank you Will and Kathy SO much for taking great care of us and sharing your cute little cabin for the night. We have really enjoyed meeting and staying with you and meeting your sweet dog Jolie 😊

We were also clued in on some Cajun history. Turns out their ancestors had a pretty crazy past!

First settling in Canada and mingling peacefully with the indigenous people, their French ancestors thought they had it made. However, over a decade after their settlement overseas, England beat France in war and claimed Canada as their own. They sent the settlers back to a France on the brink of revolution. Thankfully the Catholic Church took these displaced people in for around 20 years before the Spanish and French governments got to talking about the new world.

Spain owned a lot of land in the New World but due to inhospitable climate (AKA Louisiana in the summertime) they were having trouble with getting people to settle there. They gave France multiple ships to send the original Canadian settlers into the Spanish, Catholic Bayous in Louisiana.

This is the Cajun Jerusalem. We’re never leaving.

Will Guidry

The culture here is so diverse and has a rich background that makes it what it is today. I was amazed to hear that Kathy, who’s first language was French, had an American father who could only spoke French until first grade!

They said the thick growth and swampy lands made Southern Louisiana a difficult spot to penetrate and thus left a relatively untouched pocket where culture could grow separate from the rest of the USA.

What a cool piece of history to learn and make us appreciate this beautiful area even more.

Route info for interested readers:

We used the 182 and 90 service roads to make our way over to Avery Island. You can go through New Iberia or bypass it on the 90 service roads, and either way turn left onto 329 straight into the factory.

Tires. Popped tires, new tires, old tires, patched tires, FLAT tires. Three plus hours of dealing with stinking tires today. The silver lining? At least it wasn’t cold or too wet 👍🏼

Due to technical difficulties, Ryan and I rode only 24 miles today but are enjoying a nice quiet road for the next day or so and that’s been positive!

We also managed to see some fun things along the way:

Tomorrow we will arrive in Avery Island, Louisiana to tour the Tabasco factory! Here we come hot sauce!

Route info for interested readers:

90 outta Morgan City and after the bridge (a little over 10 miles) onto County Rd 182. This is a great road for riding on! Quiet and scenic. No shoulder but the lack of traffic makes it alright.