How important is it to travel?

 "As You Move Through This Life And This World, You Change Things Slightly; You Leave Marks Behind, However Small. And In Return, Life—And Travel—Leave Marks On You."

- Anthony Bourdain

One needs to travel. Admittedly I think it’s the younger generations that would benefit the most of it as it will shape who you become. Plus if you are young you have the physical ability to see more as in backpacking, staying in youth hostels, hiking, biking being on the go, not needing fancy train or airline tickets, or hotel resorts. Also while hitting tourist highlights is fun, I feel most benefits come from emerging yourself into the culture. A lot of handicaps come with older age. Travel is still important even then as one should always be curious about the world but let’s face it if you miss out on it in your younger years you will fight a lot of preconceptions that were put into your mind from a closed up society.

So my wish for the youth is to go get out. Do not waste your younger years by being stuck and being in a rat race.

I was privileged to travel extensively in my childhood and even in my adulthood due to the job choices I made. My parents laid the groundwork in my early years. It was the reason why I never turned into a ‘one country citizen’ but always considered myself a citizen of this earth. Borders are a political thing, human connection is a whole different level.

Texas - On the move with my bike …. It’s not easy getting older 😂

 So with temperature in the 80’s in the morning but in the 100’s in the afternoon and evening I figured I take my bike for an outing nice and early today. Well 7:30 is early enough at my age 😉

I admit I was a tad naive to think that having an electric bike would be more of a cruising along then a workout but by the time I got back home I was a sweaty mess. Could be my paddling or of course the temperature… still figuring it out…..

I took a tour on the Fort Sam Houston Base past the Golf Course, which was already looking busy, past the cemetery, which was quiet. I paused that the Winans Gate which is closed at the weekends and then aimed her back towards home. I missed one road which two other bikers, a motorcycle and a few cars took and thought that road looked interesting and that on my next outing I should check it out. Only to realize it had been my exit as well so I had to make a U turn and follow the pack from a distance.

So 22 km / 13.7 miles latter I arrived back home. I am proud of myself as I am very out of shape and I feel I accomplished a bit at least.

Texas, E-Bikes

When we were still in Colorado, Ron researched and then ordered us e-bikes to be delivered to Niki’s house.We figured once we truly start our travels it be wonderful to not have to rely on our car at every stop but actually use bikes to get around. So when we arrived on June 10th we picked them up and Ron put them together during the next two days. 

It was a  rough job as the temps have been 100 + F since our arrival. Hotter then huzzel and rather painful. But then that’s what one gets when spending time in Texas during the summer. Family makes it worth it but otherwise I do not recommend it.

The bikes are incredible! We practiced on them around the Lackland JBSA camp and now at Fort Sam Houston. I am not sure who loves the bikes more, Ron or I. We are equally riding them and the only limitation has been the temperatures so early morning is best or later in the pm. It be fun taking them up north or west or east.

Life On The Road

 Darn did I not update on our trip down from Colorado to Texas? 

We left Colorado on June 4 after leaving Denver on the 3rd and spending one night in CSprings.

Ron picked out an awesome route for us to take 6 to 7 days towards San Antonio. We traveled on just two interstates, I-25 and I-10. I had never gone I-25 south and I never went on I-10 East of San Antonio so this was a treat. Our stops were pretty amazing as in Santa Fe for the first night. It took us longer to get there as we were delayed due to a wildfire that came up right next to the interstate so it got closed down for an hour and we got to see firefighters in action. The campground was absolutely beautiful with a great layout and landscaping. The pups had fun in a large dog run and plenty of trails. I loved all the art work and sculptures. We are truly wanting to return and explore more of the town and spend a week here. 

Oh and I have to point out how incredible the roads are in NM! I-25 in Colorado is truly horrid…. But smooth sailing once we crossed the border!

We spend one more night in NM, in Hatch which I learned is the Chili 🌶 Capital and there is no shortage of Chili’s to buy. 

Then we moved into Texas and our drive through El Paso was amazing. I had no clue how very close to the border of Mexico we were (yes I didn’t do my research) but was shocked when we faced a closed off I-10 and an immigration checkpoint. I guess I never seen one on a domestic road that was not crossing any borders. It was kind of nerve wracking watching border patrol and their dogs search cars, RV’s and Trucks. That night we spend in Van Horn, TX and it was a nice campground (former KOA) that had a pool which was wonderful in that heat and their water was actually cold! Not a given as most pools in TX are luke warm in the summer. They also had two dog runs so a win for K and O. However there is no shade in this rv park so one has to count on their A/C’s!

Our next night was in Sonora TX at Stadium Park. This one was interesting as you almost park in a neighborhood. It was a pull thru side and hoses were provided. The manager asked for cash only ($26) and we had a local sheriff as a neighbor. Great one night stop over in the middle of a town.

Then we made it to Fredericksburg which was a surprise for me from my husband as he knows how much I like the hill country and it’s German influence. He booked us for two nights in a very pretty campground. That whole trip we tried to never drive for more then about 3 hours so it was never to stressful.

The best part of our drive down was the fact that we did it in little steps so we almost always arrived at our new locations by coffee and cake time (3pm) or even for lunch. I did all the long distance driving and Ron took care of the parking and getting gas.

Driving Lucy is really a lot of fun now and without a trailer it is so much easier maneuvering through cities. I now mastered several larger cities with her, from Denver to El Paso as well as San Antonio. 

We arrived in San Antonio on the 10th and stayed at Lackland JBSA FamCamp until the 20th. We picked up our e-bikes from Niki’s house and Ron put then together. They are a lot of fun and have quiet a bit of power. So we did ride them around the campground a bit but are waiting for some cooler temps to really take them for a ride.

Niki left on the 17th so Ron has been staying at the Campground with K & O, while I have been at Nikis house with the other babies. This will last until the 30th when Niki gets back and I will move back to Lucy.

We did move to Fort Sam Houston on the 20th and this one might have been a mistake. While the reviews about this campground have been good the actually experience has not been. We are in a spot that has zero shade, almost all sides don’t have shade, the bathhouse and laundry are not impressive and the camp hosts are also nothing like the ones on Lackland. The plus is of course it moved us closer to Niki but that’s about it.