From Houston to Austin.
I travel thru Houston today.
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” – Albert Einstein
Today, I travel from Baytown to Austin, Texas. I catch 2 rides and take the city bus across Houston.
Meet Johnnie.
Johnnie picks me up on the Baytown on ramp. He is going into Houston, but thinks I can grab a bus across Houston from near his home. I saddle up!
Johnnie is a born and raised Texan. He had just got done dropping another hitchhiker off going the other direction. “Do you got some time?” Johnnie wants to go drink coffee and smoke cigarettes. The only restaurant where you can smoke cigarettes inside is nearby. Of course, I have time so we head to the small restaurant. The restaurant is full of people digging into bacon and eggs with ashy cigarettes. They know Johnnie, so the waitress just asks what I want.
Drinking Joe with Johnnie.
Johnnie used to travel himself. He always had a car though. He had a television and refridgerator he could plug in through the lighter. Johnnie would get work by approaching car dealerships and asking to wash and wax their cars. Or go up to someone mowing their lawn and asking if he could finish it up. It wasn’t too hard to get by then.
Johnnie is retired now. He has no one to answer to ‘cept himself.
Johnnie has tattoos on each forearm. He had them done when he was in Juvie at the age of fourteen. It is hard for me to understand what they mean. Johnnie attributes this to the fact that I grew up in the North. “The cold isn’t good for your brain cells.” Johnnie says that the folks in the North aren’t as smart as the Southerners because we only have 3 months of warmth. Our brain cells can’t grow nor work as well. His evidence is that only the ancient, “great” civilizations were in warm climates: China, Aztecs, Mayans, or the Greeks and Romans.
Johnnie thinks that Texas should secede from the USA. He thinks that the USA would be hurting. Texas has all the oil and beef. Texas could charge a lot of money for access to them.
Johnnie drives out of his way to show me the bus stop where I can ride across Houston. Houston is the four largest city in the USA.
Downtown Houston.
Houston.
My bus stops downtown and I have to catch a new one to the west side of Houston. In the meantime, I attend an open house with a live band and grab a piece of pizza and popcorn before jumping back on the bus. The open house is to celebrate the airport bus route.
I ride across Houston and am dropped off as far west as I can get. But I am definitely surrounded by urban sprawl. Car dealerships and strip malls. I walk west and just stick out my sign. I don’t think I will have any luck until I get further out. That is when Nick stops.
Meet Nick.
Nick is going to Austin! Yes! I throw my rucksack in the back and relax.
Nick lives in Austin and was in Houston to meet up with his father. Nick drives a taxi. He works about 80 hours a week. He used to work more. “I just love work!” Nick loves work because it keeps him grounded.
Nick hitchhiked for a summer. He didn’t enjoy it much though. He can’t quite put his finger on it, but he wants more structure. Now Nick is deciding what he wants as a career. He is not sure.
We drive through the farms of Texas. Nick is trying to look for a place to get an oil change, which we never find. We swap stories and in no time, he is pulling up to Guadalupe Street across from the University of Texas campus. We exchange numbers and wish each other well.
Austin!
I haven’t been here in a couple years and it was only for 2 days. I am excited to revisit the city. I am meeting a good friend, Alan and staying with him for a bit. I think good things will be happening here.
Create Our World.
Ben
“Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world.” – Jane Addams
Tags: adventure travel blog, Benjamin Jenks, create our world, hitchhiking, roadtrip around the USA
Categories:
Hitchin Stories., People.
paul
great photos