11/30/2014
The lavish room at The Marriott Houston Hobby Airport was a nice holiday treat for Crystal and myself. I slept motionless for many hours on the King size bed. It was the nicest holiday gift I could give to myself. I needed a place to regroup and think. I couldn’t believe the support vehicle needed more work. While I rested in the Marriott my mind eased.
My return to the road on day 90 was not an easy affair. Nothing on this trip has been easy. As I prepared to let my legs loose, we discovered our camera was missing. After spending several hours returning to the hotel and searching for the device in our truck we started to notice a few oddities. I wondered why Crystal’s hand pump was in the front seat and why was the top of the center console ajar. We started to think someone rummaged through our car.
After I hit the road, while Crystal filled up the tank, she discovered someone had broken into our car and broken the door lock. We hadn’t noticed earlier because the doors were opened by remote. Our memories raced back to the previous night to the repetitive car alarm that woke us from slumber. Someone had been breaking into cars at the Marriott. We should have double checked the car when we saw the sign in the hotel parking lot. It read, The hotel is not responsible for items stolen from vehicles. Please don’t leave valuables in the car.
I continued to run to escape my troubles. I felt violated and I wanted to hurt someone. It wasn’t a feeling Sure it was only a camera but that camera was the first birthday present Crystal had given me. I had taken so many photographs on this trip with that camera. I had so many questions floating in my head as I ran. I wanted to know why I encountered so much hardship when I just wanted to do something good?
The smell of some sort of cooking, foreign to my nose, brought me out of my thoughts. It was my first scent of Cajun cooking. In my preoccupied state I had completely missed the changing scenery. I had always wanted to experience the southern states and it hit me. I was there. Of course before hitting the sack we encountered some downtrodden folks. One rail think lady that smelled of urine asked us for some money. After our experience I wasn’t going to give someone money for drugs but, I offered her some food from our vehicle. She didn’t seem to appreciate the food.
Did we fall asleep at a train station? No, it was just an empty lot by an abandoned building next to a ton of trains. All night the iron monsters made loud screeching noises. The metal on metal grinding was a constant. We slept very little and the Marriott was already a distant memory. The crack of dawn cued our departure. I was ready to
Light warm winds blew as I ran under a cloudless sky. After a few gentle steps, I began to sweat. I had heard the humidity in these parts was pretty heavy but I didn’t realize it continued through the colder months. I saw my first swamp with lots of amphibian wildlife. I didn’t see any alligators perhaps they would be more prominent in Florida. I hope I find enough food to eat until then. I had been warned that vegetarian fare can be difficult to find in the upcoming miles. Will I be surviving on fried okra and mac & cheese?
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