the adventures of buckaroo bonzai
January 21, 2007
Just like Madonna’s body has probably been telling her to lay off the damn yoga, my body is telling me that Austin may be the end of the road. I’ve pushed myself so far for so long that, this time, I think I’ll listen.
Tonight I camped under an oak tree in the middle of a field. The sky was clear, the moon only a sliver. One by one I watched the stars come out until, looking up through the screen in my tent, I saw Orion staring down at me. At that, I went to sleep.
January 20, 2007
Gerri made a delicious blueberry smoothie this morning. She has a blender with 3 horsepower. You could probably turn it upside down and use it to mow the lawn.
After breakfast, we hit the town. She took me to a couple cool coffee shops and showed me a really nice section of Houston. We went to one place that was part local farmer’s market, part art gallery, and part coffee shop to sit around and talk. As lunch time rolled around we decided to get pizza for lunch. I told Gerri to order for us, so she got a salad with roasted walnut, sun-dried tomatoes, and gorgonzola cheese to start. We finished with a garlic, tomato, and spinach pizza. It was my favorite meal of the entire trip so far.
At 2 pm we went back to her place. She took a nap while I cleaned my bike and installed a few new parts — it was filthy from the previous two days’ riding in bad weather. When I finished, it sparkled.
For dinner we had planned to go to her favorite Indian restaurant, only to find that it was (permanently) closed. So she suggested that we go to an Ethiopian place instead. On the way to the restaurant she played a Talk Talk album from 1991 that was nothing like their 80’s synthpop. Incredible. Her boyfriend showed up a few minutes later… she jokes that he’s on Indian Standard Time, which means he’s always running late.
Dharm suggested that we order everything group-style so the food comes on one big platter. So we did. I forget what we ordered, but it was similar to Indian food only not as spicy. On the side was a bread-like substance called Injer, which is made from the Keff grain. You break off little pieces and use it to scoop up the food. Incredibly, I got full and couldn’t eat anymore, so we made Dharm finish the plate.
I was too tired (and full) after dinner to go out and do anything, so we decided to rent a movie. Gerri wanted us to see “Whale Rider”. And I’m glad we did. It was fantastic! Definitely recommended for anyone… just make sure you have a box of kleenex handy.
January 19, 2007
Anya and I ate breakfast at the Early Bird Cafe. We couldn’t locate it at first, but a woman at a gas station knew where it was and told us to follow her (truck). At the cafe, I ordered an omelet with everything, and Anya got the veggie version of the same. We inhaled several cups of coffee too.
Ten miles down the road, Anya had some serious knee pain and told me to go on without her; she could hitch a ride to Houston. So I did. Getting to Houston took forever. It was at least 85 miles to downtown (I hit 1,000 miles there) and another 20 or so to the west side, where I was staying. 110 miles from Beaumont, and at 8:30 pm I finally got to Gerri’s house.
She welcomed me inside, showed me where I could put my things, introduced me to her cats, and sent me off to the shower. Once I was clean and presentable, we went out to eat Thai food. Both of us ended up ordering the chu-chee curry, but I got it with shrimp and she had tofu. Yum!
Gerri is so amazing. She’s an internet tech guru by day, musician by night, and a weekend adventurer. Loves to read, has an impressive music collection, owns PSB speakers, and her computer is a Powerbook. Like peas and carrots, her boyfriend Dharm is an electrical and computer engineer who designed the new 1 pixel camera sensor. He’s also completely hilarious. Needless to say, we all got along quite well.
January 18, 2007
Riding with Anya was a blast and made the miles go by faster. She’s such a minimalist… her backpack is 1/3 the size of my stuff, but then again she’s not camping either or going west of Austin into the cold cold desert.
We ate breakfast at some trucker type restaurant in Starks, LA called the Silver Dollar. It was dark inside (tinted windows) and had mirrors on all of the walls. Pink neon signs hung over the bathrooms and the main seating area. I couldn’t decide if I was in a strip club or 1982 again. Or both. The breakfast was good (mmm… grits, bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuit) and we were both totally recharged for the final haul into Texas.
Crossing over the state line, we couldn’t resist the temptation to take a few pictures.
Anya and I arrived at Jamie’s around mid afternoon. Jamie showed us around and told us to make ourselves at home, then she went back to work for a couple hours. She’s a reporter for the local Beaumont paper.
I brought my gear upstairs to the 2nd floor apartment. It’s really cute and old (early 20th century), with most of the original sinks, fixtures, hardwood floors, etc. Jamie’s co-worker, Jennifer, lives in the adjacent apartment and that’s where Anya is sleeping.
After unpacking my things, I checked my email, took a shower, and relaxed. Anya went next door and took a nap. Jamie soon came home from work with food and a plan. The three of us cooked dinner: a roasted vegetable salad with homemade dressing, and sauteed veggies over pasta. Jamie’s other co-workers, Ryan and Becky, also joined us for dinner.
Not long after we finished eating, I was fast asleep on the couch.
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