Dlog: Texas, Cities and an Ironman

Wednesday. April 16th

As I researched in preparation for our stay in Houston, I got the feeling that we would have a surprisingly good time there. I always look for events happening in a city we are visiting and cool places we should go and it seemed like there were a lot of different options that suited us well. One of the first exciting things I found was a meditation sound bath taking place in the old Houston Water Cistern the day that we were supposed to arrive. Perfect, I signed us up! We parked at the Harvest Host Brewery that we would be staying at for the next couple of days and rode the public transit to the Cistern and were surprised by its cleanliness and efficiency. The Cistern was absolutely stunning in person and the sound bath was a super unique experience. This was an awesome way to start the visit!

We emerged from the cistern just in time to catch the sunset in a nearby park. We walked along the rec trails lining the Buffalo Bayou, then cut into down town and eventually hopped onto a train to get back to the brewery. We were parked in a gravel lot behind the brewery and felt quite safe and tucked away for the night.

Thursday, April 17th

Max got up and rode his bike around Houston. He got caught behind a train for a little bit.

Once Max got back, we went into the brewery and did some work on our laptops while day-drinking some local cider. We really live a tough life. 

We took Lola to a park and later that night we joined the brewery's run club. There were about 40 runners that night and we ended up talking to quite a few of them, getting some awesome suggestions for things to do while we're in Texas. 

Friday, April 18th

We planned to picnic at Hermann Park in the Museum district which came highly recommended by our run club friends. We took a slow morning and slowly made our way over to the park. To our surprise, the park was completely overflowing with people. We assumed it must have been Easter traffic, but since it was the Friday before Easter, we didn't even think about it as a potential issue. The parking lots had become hunting grounds where each vehicle was forced to prowl for an open space and individuals walking back to their cars were stalked like some kind of unsuspecting prey. For all the Van's charm, it is not good at prowling or stalking and we had to stop multiple times to let the engine cool down. In some ways, it let the pressure off us. We could spend all day looking for a spot and although it may not be our preference, we really didn't have much else to be doing. Luckily, we did find a spot and took our little picnic into the crowded park. A well used public park is one of societies rare delights, in my opinion. There was joy in the air and fun to be had. The below photo is from the Japanese Garden located in the heart of Hermann Park.

Our next stop was another recommendation from the run club. This restaurant is called Moon Tower and they specialize in very fancy hotdogs. This was absolutely a standout meal for us on this trip so far. Everything was elevated and delicious. The hot dogs were strange and delightfully crafted. We also loved  the turkey sandwich (I know it seems weird that the turkey sandwich would be a standout, but trust me) and the Mozzarella and caramelized onion grilled cheese. We still talk about this meal and will make a point of visiting next time we're in Houston.

We had planned to visit our first MeowWolf at the location in Houston since we learned that they had a location there about a week earlier. We took the public transit again and took about an hour to get there, but we saw the other side of the city. The experience was about as fun as we expected. The art was immersive and captivating. However, we never really could latch onto the storyline. We stayed for about 3 hours and then took an Uber "home". 

Saturday, April 19th

This morning, we left the Harvest Host somewhat early and headed to a local Farmers Market. We got some fresh veg and meat for the road and headed out towards Austin.

Our first stop in town was at Barton Springs. This spring has a paid entry ($10/person) to a built out facility with showers and a field to sunbathe in and a pool built around the spring. However, we read online that just outside the spring dogs were allowed. What we found was not only dogs being allowed, but every manner of wild enjoyment. 

Max's Godmother's son Kevin, who max had not seen since he was 10 years old, had offered to host us while we visited Austin. We had no idea what to expect, but we he had a sweet little house in East Austin with a perfectly tucked away driveway for the van and a beautiful house where we could do the full reset. Laundry, showers, cooking. Kevin was so incredible to us and welcomed us into his lovely home. We are super grateful for his generosity and openness. 

Sunday, April 20th

We had a slow morning and made a quiche for breakfast.

This day was Easter Sunday so there weren't many places open. We walked around the neighborhood and got a feeling for this part of town. Then, we went to a park closer to downtown to picnic and work on our laptops. There were tons of people out and about doing all sorts of exercises and activities. There were a lot of paddleboarders and kayakers, runners, walkers, pickup soccer, a brass band practicing, and dozens of off leash dogs. It was a cool way to observe the people living in the city. Definitely an active and outdoorsy place!

Monday, April 21st

We started off the day by going to the park again to do some catching up on the Blog and get out of the house. Once the temperatures rose high enough, we decided to head over to Barton Springs. We had briefly visited Barton Springs on our first day in Austin, but we hadn't really gotten the full experience. 

There are two sides of Barton Springs separated by a fence, one is a paid State Park with a long grass hill, diving boards and a large pool, while and the other is a rocky, steep free-for-all. Normally we might struggle to decide which side to attend. Do we pay entry and enjoy ourselves lounging in the sun or swimming in the pool, free of worry about our things being stolen, or do we experience the local culture and grunge? Luckily, our decision was made easy by one simple rule: no dogs allowed on the nice side. 

The unpaid side of Barton Springs is lovingly referred to as Barkin' Springs. At first, we assumed this name was because Barkin springs allowed dogs, but on reflection I think this name refers to the wild-dog atmosphere. The quarter mile stretch of river was completely overcrowded with people. At least 5 volunteer DJs with their oversized boom boxes competed to hog the airspace already filled with children's screams and boisterous laughter.  Bootleg alcohol vendors paddled kayaks loaded with coolers up and down the river while holding precariously dry cardboard signs. Dogs ran loose everywhere knocking over drinks and shaking their soaked coats over stretched out sunbathers. We observed one man bicep curling two pugs in life jackets, lifting the bovine-like animals by the straps of their life jacket harnesses. They had seemed resolved to their fate of bodybuilding equipment usage until another man approached and took the pugs from the exercising man, his motions indicating faint annoyance. To our disbelief, the pugs appeared to not belong to the man who had been so nonchalantly using them as a form of exercise equipment. Oh, Barkin' Springs is a paradise of humanity. 

This restaurant (which shall not be named)  we had been looking forward to patroning since we had seen it on a TV show. The food was ok....and the serving sizes were minuscule. Not our kinda place.

Wednesday, April 23rd

Kevin was an absolutely amazing host and we are so grateful for his hospitality! He grabbed his neighbor and we got a group photo with the van before heading out. Can't wait to visit Austin again!

Trader Joe's was a required stop before leaving town and on our way out, we got to see the "hill country" of the Austin suburbs. Kevin had explained to us that Austin sits on a geological fault line separating the east and west sides of the city. The change in geology and landscape was dramatic. It felt like we had finally crossed the line into the western part of the US...and we planned to turn back east the next day. For for this night, we were determined to find a campsite west of Austin for at least one night. Max took us to a beautiful wildlife refuge with views of the rolling hills. Unfortunately, they did not allow overnight camping and there was a gate. We made a lunch and moved on. We searched on google maps trying to find a spot to map for the night and couldn't seem to find an appropriate spot. We cruised through a few rec spots before heading to an established campsite. Luckily for us, the campsite was stunningly beautiful and absolutely empty. The river was clear and alligator free. We were so happy to finally find a spot to relax and enjoy this beautiful landscape. 

Thursday, April 24th

I woke up in the middle of the night with a strong migraine. Instead of disturbing Max while rolling around in pain, I decided to get up and walk through the empty campground. It was so peaceful and quiet late at night. Eventually, in the wee hours of the night, I did finally fall back asleep. Max woke up bright and early having had a minimally disrupted sleep. He ended up making 4 different breakfasts while waiting for me to wake up and ate all of them because I just kept sleeping. Lola used the morning to run around the river, digging holes in the sand and chasing sticks. Around 10AM I struggled out of bed and we went down to the river to get a swim in. Max insisted on swimming across the river to the large rock outcropping on the other side and right as he stepped up onto the rock, we was confronted with a large snake which quickly slid into the water and swam straight down. Disconcerting, to say the least. It took Max about 20 minutes of procrastination before he was able to swim back across. There were, thankfully, no snake bites on this day!

As we rolled out of camp, we ran into a few mud puddles that were impassable by the van. We had to turn around re-navigate our way out of the park. It seemed like the day was not going to get any easier. I was still struggling to recover from the migraine. Although the pain had subsided, the brain fog and drowsiness remained. About 1 hour into our drive, I decided that I needed to eat immediately. So, instead of waiting 15 minutes to get food at the gas station we planned to stop at, I insisted on getting food while we were still rolling. In my stupor, I clumsily gathered ingredients for a PB&J sandwich and a protein shake and clambered back into the passenger seat. Not 2 minutes later, Max took a particularly hard turn onto a busy road and I heard the cabinet door crash open. Still in the turn I glanced back just in time to see the Mason Jar full of honey sliding off the top shelf in our cabinet and plummeting to the floor, followed closely by a few cans of vegetables, a package of noodles, and a bag of nuts. "Oh that is disastrous", is all I said before leaping into the back of the van to start the cleanup process. The migraine and the shock of seeing a full jar of honey spill on our carpet just overwhelmed me. So when Max began asking what had happened, I didn't even know how to respond. He pulled the van over and opened the sliding door to me, crouched on the floor over, what can only be described as a puddle of honey. I had one hand on Lola who had become set on jumping off the seat to inspect the sweet mess and the other hand was holding a wad of paper towels. My knee was bleeding from having knelt on a shard of glass. I was so tired and out of it, all I could do was laugh about the ridiculousness. I'd just skipped over the anger and frustration, 

We cleaned up as much of the honey as we could with paper towels and a spatula. Then we started looking for a car wash with carpet shampoo and found one soon after. The shampooing worked surprisingly well and the carpet seemed to have only the slightest bit of stickiness left. 

Long day, listen to podcast

Woke up at river, play with Lola

Swim in river, snake encounter

drop honey

Race storm

Get caught

Engine Trouble

Trailhead sleep in the rain

Friday, April 25th

Woke up at trailhead, breakfast at recreational area

Cruise into town

Jesse went to Joanne

Check out ironman area

Max went for a course preview run

Tried to find a place to swim

Decided to get a tester gym membership at 24 hour fitness. It was amazing. Showered

Rolled up to brewery and had a great time

Saturday, April 26th

Ironman!

Woke up in brewery, headed out early

Got to see my heroes

Clash of dissonant and disparate personalities

Move on to Sam Houston National Forest

Sunday, April 27th

Woke up in Sam Houston National Forest for gravel ride

Rode the 43mi route

Hung out with the squad after

Met Eric, who we connected with

Left the lot around 3pm

Headed North for Jefferson lot Jesse found

Cool Municipal Lot with amenities

Monday, April 28th

Woke up in Municipal lot in Port Jefferson TX

Went to cute coffee shop Hive

Drove up to Mena, AK, made breakfast in Tractor Supply Parking lot

Stopped in Mena park to make sandwiches then went up the ridge to Queen Wilhelmina State Park and settled for the day

Max went for unexpectedly long bike ride and found a spot to camp a few miles down the road

(Strava Activty)

Moved to spot for the night

Tuesday, April 29th

Woke up on the scenic highway. Finally wanting to sleep in because it's moderately chilly up here

Nice breakfast

Get on the road around 9:30 to get out of the rainy windy weather

engine brake down the mountain, engine really not idling smoothly. Stopped and it fixed itself lol

Looking for a wilderness spot in Ouachita National Forest that was scenic, peaceful, free and had internet access (we do not have a signal booster) 

Meandered around some country roads to get to Collier Springs, max shvimmin

Went through a few more parks until we found Hickory Nut Mountain Campground

Wednesday, April 30th

Thursday, April 31st