After settling comfortably in our chairs after dinner was cleaned up and making phone calls to let everyone know we’d made it okay, I headed off to use the facilities across the park. As I returned a few minutes later, I saw that Chelsea had a visitor. Radiating energy, attired in spandex bike shorts, with a huge golden retriever by his side, our visitor and Chelsea were deep in discussion.
Introducing himself as Rick, he told us he’d recently gotten seriously into cycling – in fact, he’d ridden today in his first pair of bike shorts. We chatted for quite a while, then Rick pulled out a half bottle of wine, and we stayed up chatting even longer. Finally we started tying down our rain fly and getting ready to finish the nightly tasks while we talked.
By the end of the conversation, Rick had invited us over to stay at his house. He explained that they’d just gotten their house back to themselves a day earlier after eight months of having family stay with them – his wife’s daughter had been displaced after Ike so the two families had been sharing quarters for the school year.
He said we could either put up a tent in their outdoor kitchen, or we could stay inside in one of the bedrooms. We weren’t sure his wife would be too happy about more visitors without any breathing room in between, so we agreed to make the final decision in the morning.
Chelsea and I had a wonderful night’s sleep – the area was completely quiet, the temps were moderate, and we were so tired we could likely have slept through anything.
Morning dawned hot and muggy, so we moved through our tasks steadily. Chelsea’s first job was to fix the flat she’d gotten the night before. Upon examination, she found out that her slime liner had sliced the tube, so into the trash went the slime liner – we’d had too many pinch flats with them.
Before we’d even had time for breakfast, Rick showed up, ready to take us to his home, telling us his wife was glad to have us, and that we were to be staying in one of the bedrooms. Given how hot and muggy it was, and given the lousy bathroom situation, we agreed to go, and asked for an hour or two to pack up.
Awesome place
Our new accommodations were wonderful. Built in 1954, the house has been well maintained over the years, and is decorated beautifully. It’s not a small house, but it’s broken up into a number of smaller rooms, all running into each other, and all designed with a different feel by use of clever painting and furniture placement.
Situated near downtown on at least ten acres, the backyard stretches almost out of sight. Nearest the house is an area set up with bird and squirrel feeders. Looking out the windows from the house reveals a tranquil scene, with squirrels tucked headfirst into their glass jar feeders; horses out in the back pasture feeding and playing; and purple martins, bright red cardinals, blue jays, and doves all vying for places at the bird feeders.
We had a peaceful private bedroom with a half bath attached, and had access to Rick and Liz’s big shower.
Awesome people
Rick and his wife Liz are truly wonderful. After Rick helped us in getting our bikes and gear out of the truck, Liz had a meal of homemade spaghetti ready for us; we had a chance to get to know her a bit while we ate. We could tell immediately that we would get along well.
We spent the next three days laughing and talking almost non-stop.
Liz teaches English literature to seventh graders at the local junior high; she’s actively involved in the Barbaro Foundation for laminitis research (for horses); she’s active in the fight against horse slaughter; she an active birder, in the process of re-creating their wonderful backyard sanctuary for birds after Ike’s damage; she loves to read; and she’s got a huge heart for any stray animals, often taking care of two or more strays at a time.
Rick works the graveyard shift for an oil company fourteen days on and fourteen days off; he’s done horseshoeing and trimming for years; he’s had up to eighty head of cattle at a time; he hunts; he can do plumbing and electrical work, as well as build fences, barns, and rooms. He loves to cook, and does most of the cooking for the family. He’s also built a screened-in outdoor kitchen that is amazing – it feels positively magical in there, from the Dutch ovens in the corner to the wooden tables, stools, and cabinets.
Rick and Liz have four beautiful and lively horses. They used to ride a lot before Rita and Ike, working the horses at the local Winnie park, but the storms caused damage in their yard, taking down trees, the back porch, and the barn. It’s taking time to get everything back together, and meanwhile Rick has taken up cycling, now riding up to fifty miles in a day.
Food and fun
Our meals were very different from what we have been eating for so many months. For lunches and dinners we had salads, steamed veggies, enchiladas, spaghetti, and sandwiches (with fresh lettuce and tomato). Breakfast was always a real treat – we had crepes and freshly cut fruit one morning, augmented with fresh pastries; another morning we had scrambled eggs and seared ham, with more fresh fruit and pastries.
Dessert was Moolenium Crunch ice cream with chocolate sauce, ahhhh…
Saturday afternoon we went out hunting for books with Liz – it has been three months since Chelsea and I have had any books to read. Liz knew of a quirky little store nearby that has antiques, junk, collectibles, and a whole slew of odd items for sale, along with an astonishing range and quantity of used books. We were really impressed, and the three of us got absorbed immediately in searching for the perfect books to read.
Chelsea and I hit the mother lode – not only did we find a number of books we really liked, but the woman at the counter let us do a straight exchange. We had seven good titles, and we got to trade straight across for seven different books. That’s extremely unusual for a used bookstore, but we think that she was entertained by our situation (on bicycles for so long).
Not being shy, I asked if the store would be open on Sunday or Monday, thinking that we could trade our books back right away if we managed to finish any. That wonderful woman gave me her cell phone and home phone and told me to call if we wanted her to meet us at the store over the holiday weekend! Only in a small town….
Not only did we get those seven books, but Monday night after we’d already headed off to bed, Liz knocked on our door with her hands full of more books we could take with us. We are now carting around about fourteen books! Talk about heaven for us!
We headed out Sunday morning for the bird sanctuaries in High Island. The heat and humidity were pretty intense, a big thunderstorm was looming, and the mosquitoes at Smith Woods were truly awful. We walked over a log headed to the rookery, and I looked down to see my legs covered with biting mosquitoes.
With my horsefly, deerfly, and mosquito bites from three days earlier still raw and itching, I couldn’t bear to acquire more, so I murmured to Liz, “I don’t think I’m up for this right now”. She looked at her legs covered with mosquitoes, and we headed out.
We did go on to Boy Scout Woods, just down the road, and things were much improved there. The area was beautiful and it must be awesome in birding season, with the boardwalks, lush vegetation, and photographers’ blinds. The impending storm finally chased us across the street to the newly reopened motel café (post Ike), where we settled in for lunch.
One quiet afternoon Liz took us out to help feed the squirrels and birds, check out the outdoor kitchen, and feed the horses. Chelsea was delighted; she’s been wanting to get to know horses, and here was a perfect opportunity. We fed the horses, petting them till they realized we had no more carrots. After that we had to content ourselves with watching them as they grazed in the pasture.
In addition to hours of talking about really interesting subjects, we took care of some tasks too. Back in Port Arthur, at the Causeway, my trailer kept tipping off my kickstand, and in frustration, I left the trailer off the kickstand to finish packing.
Much to my chagrin, I realized that night in Winnie that I had left my kickstand behind, half buried in dirt. After talking over the problems, Rick thought through the issues and made us a bamboo tripod for the hitch, connected on the legs with black cording that we could adjust as needed. It’s bulky, but no heavier than the stainless steel one, so we’ll see how it works.
Heading out to Galveston
Because it rained every day of the holiday weekend, and the winds were predicted to be strong headwinds, Rick offered to take us to Galveston on Tuesday. We had no place to camp for free at High Island, and we were cautioned that the mosquitoes would be awful on the beach, and the road to Galveston would be hot and humid with no services, so we agreed.
That gave us a chance to get caught up on some computer projects, so we worked right up until we had to leave after lunch. We stopped by to say a very affectionate goodbye to Liz – we will miss her very much. We’re hoping that the two of them – Rick and Liz – will meet up with us down the road.
We traversed the length of the coastline slowly, with Rick giving us an awesome and informed history of the area. We stopped only once for a “bio-break” and to eat our picnic lunch. The devastation is nearly complete along the coast but there are clear signs of recovery. The debris is being cleaned up steadily; there was noticeable progress in only two weeks.
We really enjoyed seeing the water and coastline again, and our favorite part of the trip was seeing well over eighty brown pelicans flying in a long line dipping and floating with the wind, hugging the waterline.
The Galveston ferry was fun; the wait felt interminable, though Rick assured us it was quite short for what it usually is. Chelsea and Rick saw dolphins off the bow, chasing the fish, and we watched both the receding and approaching skylines during the twenty minute trip.
Our new couchsurfing host lives only a mile from the ferry, so we were there in a few moments and got our gear transferred over to our next stage of the journey.
Signing off from Galveston TX