Day 6

Day light reveals that we have settled ourselves on top of an anthill, & uncomfortably close to a pair of park trails trafficked by mountain bikers..

A brisk pack up and we jam.

“Where are we going again?”

…Why don’t we ever know.

Morning swim washes the night’s sweat off us.

We check out Shane’s Jeep for wear….oil is still gold & the hydrogen cell is at perfect amperage.

Decide to head Louisiana…gotta see New Orleans & the oil spill.

Stop in a moonsooning Houston for some Chipotle.. our spirits are lightened.

Hug the coast to check out the oil spill…Can’t really see anything.. Which is good right?? As dusk approaches we are forced to stop in Franklin, LA.

Finding a rural campsite is compromised as the entire place is a swamp, complete with alligators & water moccasins. Decision is to try to sleep in a Church’s lawn. We find one. Pull up the long dirt driveway, only to find it’s connected to an occupied house. A young man comes outside..ohh crap

We drive up & tell him our situation.

He obliges and allows us to set up the tents behind the main sanctuary. Plush Louisiana grass..nice. We get to talking to this young man & we find out the bayou 15 feet behind our “campsite” is home to a few of gators…one is 14 foot. He convinces us we’ll be good in the tents. By the time we get our teeth brushed, its pushing 1am, then from out the blue the kids dad peaks around the corner of the sanctuary:

Him: Awkward menacing/confused stare.

Rory: “Hello sir, we’re roadtripping through & your son here said we could make a quick camp for the night”

Him: (To boy) “You head inside right now boay” (to us) Sorry he’s an idiot, I don’t know what ya’ll are doing; but, you’re to pick up & git outta here. You got 20 minutes”

Shane, Jon, & I (in unison) “yessir, right away sir”

We proceed to grudgingly pack up..realizing we’re so going to have to sleep in the car..again.

He awkwardly acts like he’s picking up twigs in the lawn while he non-dicreetly stares at us throw our gear in the back of the Jeep…mad creepy.

We drive back on out & the shock of what just happened fades within a few miles.

We pull into a gas station like place. I attempt to sleep underneath the front bumper, while Jon & Shane lay the front seats back.

Between the biting ants and the stifling heat..not a moment of rest is to be had.

We are left alone for the most part except for a white Chevy Tahoe that suspiciously drives around a few times. At about 4 am..this Tahoes comes by again and parks on the other side of the building..ohh s. here we go. Rory prepares for the worst while Jon & Shane go confront the car. He says he’s a cop. But, his uniform looks more like a security guards..we’re creeped out. Jonny & Shane mimic his accent till sunrise…we laugh & realize it only gets better from here. We wait till sunrise & drive the last few hours in New Orleans.

Day 5

Early to bed does not mean early to rise.

Half of the hosting Melde clan leaves for vacation but Kathy is around to set us up with a late breakfast that would make you jealous.

Fully fed and already tired from playing with Aspen (perfect puppy) we organize the car and head downtown to explore.

We find Austin very active, hip, & clean.

First exposure to broad-leaf trees, green grass, and smiling people.

More than once, we break into conversation with random strangers…we all make vague plans to move here.

Downtown is all it’s cracked up to be: A formal city center surrounded by non-commercial bars/restaurants & invitingly shady neighborhoods.

Before the heat/humidity conquers we are head to local swimhole: Barton springs. Hundreds of people line the river picnicking, swimming, & just enjoying Texan life. We people watch until some 13 year old taunts us into bridge jumping with him..lol.

From here we catch wind of a local park with a river and climbing wall within the city limits called seismic wall. Picturesque to say the absolute least:

Jon plays photographer while we climb with some locals. Amazing climb. A quick bath in the river and we are ready for downtown Austin.

Bars and hangouts for people of all different sizes, tastes, creeds, and budgets. 6th St did not disappoint.

They closed the streets and had a block party because we were in town, Texan hospitality.

The nightly dilemma continues however, we have to sleep somewhere.

Seismic wall wilderness… but its pitch black. Headlamps enable us to stumble across the river with our packs and arms full.

Anyway, after playing homewrecker on about seven too many occupied spider webs, we finagle our way up a ridge to a safe looking spread and set up the tents on the side of a hill.

Sleep isn’t easy (again) as it has grown increasingly hotter and humid as a storm moves in.

Day 3/Day 4

Mobbed into San Antonio. Splurged on a nice camera...had too.

Intended to deface the Spurs stadium in some way. Decided it would be a bad idea,
Alamo & riverwalk is about all that was going on.

Drove up to New Braunfels. Thought it was gunna be a little German town. it wasn't at all.

Met a few people there, one of whom we drove up to another town called San Marcos with.
New friend: "Yea that crack in the windshield is from some guys head"
Me: "What about that other one"
"I got mad & punched it"
We should have peaced right then.

Anyway, we went out. Place was crazy..soo many people.
Everything was mostly good until we tried to leave... he tried to breakup a petty verbal fight between a boyfriend & girlfriend.
Boyfriend punched him. Jonny broke it up & then tried to pull this guy away. Guy broke loose. Now like 5 people were drunkenly swinging (including the girlfriend). Finally we broke it all up and pulled him to the truck. We were about to drive away when a cop stopped us.
Cop decides to arrest him, he resists, elbows cop in the mouth and runs, He is tased while running away at full stride. very painful to watch.
Truck is impounded & by the time they are done questioning us the cab are closed. We end up hitching a ride to the main freeway.
Hotels in the area are way too much...we sleep in the IHOP.
Cab company opens at 6..we pay $45 to go 15 miles back to our Jeep.
We try to sleep in it for awhile...not happening..its 100 out with 80% humidity.
We drive to Austin. Favorite place yet.
Drive up into the hill to Shane's uncle's mansion.
It not 10 minutes before we are lounging poolside. ahhhh.
The family takes us out to Rudy's BBQ for dinner.
We pass out at like 9...life is good.

Day 2

Said Seeya to David
Then drove around our favorite town trying to fix the radiator.
Decided we needed to eat out one last time: Alice's Kitchen...best breakfast we'd ever had.

Bought a new radiator and attempted to change it at a spray & wash. Manager showed up out of the blue & kicked us out. wow
Found a place to do it for cheap. problem solved.

Hit the road. Jeep ran well, we all fell into assigned seating, & the hydrogen cell was helping us get about 22 m.p.g in a fully packed rig.

Made our way east to Carlsbad Caverns,
Initial descent was amazing; 20 degree switchbacks dropped us out of the inescapable desert heat.
Very rad place, cool formations. Would post some pictures but we all had the same waterproof/shockproof Olympus camera. Which are good for withstanding the abuse boys give electronics..but horrible at taking anything legible.

Left after a few hours. Goal for nightfall was wherever. Landed in Las Cruces. Hit up Albertsons for some dinner supplies (eggs, cheese, tortillas, & black beans). Tried to camp next to the Rio Grande...pretty weak stream actually. Decided to head up into the desert. Made camp next to some oil well. Nice place..except while scrouging for firewood I stepped on a Coyote carcass in Sandals..awesome.
Anyway, we made a nice fire, cooked up some burritos, & passed out under a trillion stars.

Day 1

Planned to leave by 10 am. So of course we (Jon, Shane & I) didn't leave till like 4.
Apparently allocating 1 hour to clean the interior, change all motor fluids, install a hydrogen cell, and wire a new stereo system wasn't quite enough

Headed to Shane's parents first to pick up a few supplies...on the way the radiator blew. Are you serious?!
Threw some radiator stop-leak in there & said we'd fix it later.

Wasn't more than 5 min into Tuscon that we all re-realized how much we
hate (sorry mom but I do) the place.
We had to remind ourselves we were here to see David & everything was going to be okay.
Had a great dinner, a few IPA's & more than a few laughs.