Day 14. Oh $h*t !!

Sunday January 22, 2023

*The key:

OK to keep this blog PG - or well kinda PG anyway - from here forward the word Cat will be substituted for the word $h*t...

Cat = $h*t

Cat story # 1:

Before settling down last night I had shopped at Walmart for a porta-potty to make things easier when camping 'in the wild".

Like in a parking lot in Galveston.

Arriving here late last night I just hunkered down inside the jeep, parked near a local Kroeger Supermarket.

Judging by the activity around my 'campsite' last night it can be pretty wild too. Just never know who'll be outside your vehicle at 3am.

A street 'couple' decided to have a (really loud) shouting match right outside the jeep while yours truly was trying to get some shuteye.

It's amazing what goes on in the wee hours of the morning! They eventually moved on.

Anyway Walmart did not have what I was looking for...

So upon awakening there is no bathroom to speak of and I'm in a paved lot in downtown Galveston.

Meaning I had no way to take care of the cats.

I shoulda kept shopping last night til I found one.

But I didn't.

Uh oh.

I woke up and having planned on cycling along the panhandle here today I moved the jeep to the beach strip along the roadway. Now I'll get the bike and myself geared up for the ride. It's kinda chilly out, in the low 50's with a steady near 20 mph wind cutting across.

As I'm getting changed and putting the wheel on the bike I felt the urge to - let the cat out - and thought OK I'll hurry up a bit. But you know how when you start thinking about letting the cat out and you know that the cats really wanna go out how it then begins to have a life of its own in your head? Well that's where I was at. I'm looking around for a bathroom and notice a fishing pier in the distance that has a building for bait and stuff at the beginning of it. Great I'll head over that way in a bit.

Back to filling water bottles for the ride, putting on layers of bike clothes etc.

But wow Geez this cat is really annoying me! This cat needs to go out for a walk now! I threw my other cat in the jeep and rode down to the pier. I could see the bathrooms as I approached the dock and realized I cannot access them unless I go through the building first. Really? I walk in and now I realize I can't go through the building unless I pay! Lemme tell you this cat really had my attention at this point OK? I asked the lady do I really need to pay just to leave a cat behind!? Well not exactly but kinda like that. She said - Yup. Dang! $5 bucks to have pier access for an hour and $15 for the whole day. Quick thinking on my part here...I may need to use this place after the ride too...$15 is perfect!

Wow! Never before have I ever been so glad to see that restroom sign and I darted in. Good thing too cuz this cat already had one foot out the door!

I feel amazing!!!

The whole world is better now thank you!!!

Jumped onto the bike with vigor and with no other cat to attend to I headed off!

It was a chilly, windy but totally fun first 14 miles... Just a lone rider on a two lane road with nice, elevated, rented beachfront homes along the ocean shoreline and others on the bay side also. It was about 16 mies to the turnaround point. But I said a totally fun 14 miles because ...

Cat #2 (no pun intended):

Oh Cat!

Glass!

Cat! Cat! Cat!

Tiny pieces of it everywhere!

Swerved best I could and pulled over immediately to check for damage and I could feel a shard (not shart...see above for that) protruding from the tire. It was embedded somewhat but enough was sticking out so I crossed my fingers and peeled it off. Nothing! No air coming out....well for another mile anyway. Rode gently on it and sure enough she slowly went down.

Well this is turning out to be a catty day for sure lol.

I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get the dang tubeless tire off of the tubeless ready rim and nearly broke both Pedros (see day 8 : ) in the process. There could be` a whole 'nuther blog about putting a tube into tubeless rims etc...safe to say I won't get into it here but just know that this has been a thorn in my side for a while now.

Frustrated at just five minutes into trying - I had opened the Uber app on my phone to ask for a ride. For those 20 minutes I was working on the tire the Uber app could not locate any ride. No options either.

The Uber app just looked at me and said "you are cat outta luck dude!"

Cat #3!

Now what? I'm 14 miles from my car with no way back! I look around and wait! There's a gas station 1/4 mile down the road!

I walk that way drumming up the courage to ask n see if they know of a taxi service or anything. Hopefully a ride back somehow but who knows....

Why the courage is needed you ask? Because it's always kinda awkward to speak with someone that is not a cyclist, in a non-kinda cyclist area, when you yourself are wearing head to toe tight lycra spandex bike gear. I mean...long black shiny winter 'leggings' and a super tight fitting (lets go with aerodynamic ok!?) bright red jacket, a helmet and these awkward clacking bike shoes. So yes I was a little self conscious walking around in a southern town...

As I approach the gas station there is an older model four door, army green colored jeep Cherokee with lifted tires and mud strewn all over it. I'm figuring there's two guys that were out for a joy ride on the beach or the back woods and stopping here for some 'chew' for the ride home. I'll be lucky if I make it out alive lol. 'Specially a pretty boy in lycra.

So totally trying to summon up enough courage to walk into this place looking like I am...when a young couple come out and within a few short minutes they are offering me a ride back to my jeep. We're talking camping on the beach and jeeps instantly. They're asking why I'm out here, where I'm headed next and we're sharing camping stories and what we do for a living and stuff. I mean, I've heard of stories where when you really need a 'lift' on these kinda trips it'll show up...and wow it did! They would not take a penny from me or anything...genuinely just really good people. What a great couple a what a great way to finish what could've been a real catty ending!

Thank you both tremendously!

I quickly packed up and got my money's worth on the $15 cat I paid for earlier using the piers facilities and taking a more leisurely stroll along the pier.

I made a phone call on the walk back...so good to hear the voices of ones you love and luv you back. Helps to keep my sanity :) And now I had something to talk to the ducks about too. Ha!! See what I did there again. Uze guyz iz quik!

Pegged for Houston to get some coffee and check out downtown but oh man....the city blocks were quite filled with peoples that were struggling. I think there was a food bank thing going on too because it was like a street fest but without the happy vibes of an outdoor concert. More of the same energy the skies displayed the day before...brooding, heavy kinda feel. The area did not call my name to stop for a latte so I kept moving nearly an hour north to land in a Starbucks. I needed a break. Gassed up and continued to a Waxahachie Texas Marriott for the night...

*I am a dog lover. But by no means wish any harm to cats. The choosing of this word for coding purposes is not intended to allude to any kind of inferiority on their parts to being loving, warm, caring , enthusiastic pets...like dogs.

No cats were harmed during the typing of this blog.

Inside

I've been traveling so many days now this mans soul is yearning for a warm bed, no tent, no voices outside and a warm blanket. Being on the road so many days I find myself longing for one spot to call home for a bit. The opposite feeling of what called me to go on a trip like this in the first place...the yin to the yang I guess. I'm looking forward to Colorado Springs to hunker down with a Precious Daughter for a few days...and ground myself and connect. Perhaps some time to catch up on this blog - I feel like I'm a day behind. This blog, by the way, stokes me up too! Great to see that peoples are reading it and even better when I get a comment or a like back.. I really appreciate it...

I actually can feel connected to people just typing this... as if friends were here listening to me...and super exciting when there is a response from y'all. Thank you...

Outside

The insight yesterday about a place ringing close to your heart while on still applied today - well Galveston had that kind of effect - as a weekend, warmer weather, beach getaway..But not a place to live. Houston resonated on my heart in a different way...it had the opposite effect. Listening to those vibes inside me carried me away from those city blocks much faster than in the past where I might've hung around looking for the good street or area etc...

Upside

Cinnamon in an Oat Milk Latte.. The best!

downside

Definitely have to nail down how to take care of the cats.

Every Which way but east!

Headed North-ish to the Dallas Fort Worth area to connect with another FAA buddy!

Headed west!

View from the pier

The fishing pier access point... : )

Super cool to be able to just pull up along the beach and enjoy it...most NY beaches don't have this kind of access!

A view of the pier and those rays of the sun...wow.

Checking into a Marriott after a few days dealing with campgrounds and different pets...Omgosh so nice to see this!

A side road off the main drag along the beach...all the rental homes have this view here...