Category: United States

We had a truly great time with Melissa in Rockport – we were on the go for the whole time we were there. One of the really great things about couchsurfing as a group and as a concept is that you become involved in the host’s lifestyle, even if only for a day two. We were with Melissa for over two weeks, and she involved us in every aspect of her life.

We loved the boys – they are exceptional kids – and we loved Melissa’s cooking, among many other things. It’s hard to believe what she can do with food in so little time and with so little effort! We are looking forward to stopping back by when come back through from our short break in Florida.
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The drought here in south/central Texas continues to be news. There’s been no rain of any kind in months. Crops are drying up in the fields; lawns and landscaping are dry and crispy; trees and bushes in the near distance are shimmering in so many heat waves that they appear to be floating in water. While we had a bit of a break for a week, heat indices are now back up to 105-110 degrees.

The weather channels are warning people to stay inside; warning that if we have to be outside, to take special precautions to avoid heat illnesses, and to avoid outdoor exercise if at all possible. We’ve heard that it’s the worst drought since the early 1900s.
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Our time at Ben and Vanessa’s was peaceful and fun. We loved the three kids – Jeremiah is the youngest and has the high energy levels and inquisitiveness of a typical five year old. Next is Michael, who at almost nine is an intellectually curious and knowledgeable young man. He’s the physically active one, always interested in what’s going on, asking questions and hovering to see what’s up. He and Chelsea spent time talking about many things, and playing computer games upstairs.

Johnny is the oldest, and at thirteen, he’s the “old man” of the group. When faced with a choice, he’d rather take a shower than have to go outside. He plays the saxophone and clarinet, among other instruments, and I’ll bet he’s very good at anything he tries. All the boys are good at computers, and love the X-box games.
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When the alarm went off on Sunday morning at five a.m. the world was still very dark. As usual before something exciting, I couldn’t sleep, so it seemed as though we’d just gotten to sleep when it was time to get up. We still managed to be on the road riding by 6:30, watching sunrise off to our right as we headed out.

We had our best riding day in a while. With calm winds and the heat yet to rise to its usual blistering levels, we made much better time than we have recently. What a relief it was! The scenery was nice, nothing breathtaking, but very pleasant. We had a couple of fun things along the route – Chelsea loves to collect money she finds, and just out of Port Lavaca she spotted quarters and dimes – that’s a real haul for her.
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It appears we really will be leaving Port Lavaca tomorrow morning early. Roger has someone coming in late afternoon tomorrow to stay for a week, and Josh’s mom broke her ankle, so he’ll be commuting from Houston for the next week or so.

Perhaps most important is the fact that Chelsea and I are really wanting to find a place where we can get settled in for the next ten weeks so we can finish our book(s).

Though we like Port Lavaca, Roger keeps telling us that we would like Rockport better. We did like the looks of it when we got our quick tour last week, and it’s got the advantage of being closer to Corpus Christi. We keep hearing that Rockport and Corpus Christi are much prettier than points north on the Texas coastline, mostly because the water isn’t the usual muddy brown of both Louisiana and north/central Texas Gulf Coast.
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Our week has continued being really eventful.

Tuesday evening we had dinner with Lauren’s family, the reporter from the Port Lavaca Wave. Her two uncles, her mom, and her grandma all shared a wonderful grilled chicken dinner with us, complete with steamed potatoes, French bread, and a fresh green salad. The house is beautiful; we got to see her mom’s cockatoos; and we had peaceful, low-key conversation for a few hours – a totally enjoyable evening.
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Birding

Because of the brutal heat we’ve been having, we’ve not taken as many walks as we’d normally have taken, but we have managed to go out to the bird-watching pavilion almost every day. Whoever designed the pavilion did a great job. It sits about fifty feet off the edge of the bay, over a wide swath of marsh grass. With the way it’s built and with its location, it always has a nice breeze, so when the air temps are nearly unbearable in the sun or back on land, it’s much more pleasant out in the pavilion.
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Our interim solution to riding in the heat is to not ride. With heat indices this last week of 105 to 110, and “dangerous heat” warnings on weather.com, we think our solution is a good one.

Our solution wouldn’t have been possible, however, if not for the friendliness and generosity of three “local workers”. Though their homes are in the Houston area, these three work for a structural steel company out of Houston that has a large local contract at Formosa Chemical plant, just across the bridge from the campground.
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Despite our fun of the afternoon, Chelsea and I were both whupped. We were too tired to cook dinner for ourselves, and too tired to take a shower (the showers at campgrounds are not normally too enticing, and this place is no different), and the heat was still in the high nineties at 7:30 at night. We felt like just crawling into the tent, when our next-door neighbors came and invited us to eat with them.

Our neighbors were three guys, one in his seventies (Bob) and two in their fifties (Kent and Ernie). Kent and Ernie have a home repair business in Austin, and they’d taken three days off to relax and go fishing.
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Gil had fresh coffee for us, and even popped out for fresh donuts before we left, but we were still dragging from the day before so we restrained ourselves to a donut hole each. We took off after big hugs all around, knowing we’d have fun all day thinking about how well our day had ended!

We had somewhat of a tailwind for part of our early miles, but when it became a headwind it was brutal. We are having a major heat wave in this part of the world, and Chelsea and I can no longer tolerate heat after having had a number of episodes of heat exhaustion over the last few years.
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