All of this preparation for travel has my mind wandering back to our past adventures. I remembered a story that I wanted to tell you about the good people of Uvalde Texas. Biking into this typical, sprawled out Texan town, our county map told us that it was not just the birth place of Matthew McConaughey but also the Honey Capital of the World. I had been recovering from a tenacious cold that left me coughing, sputtering and quite exhausted. At that time (just over a year ago) David and I had a surefire way of finding a free and safe place to pitch our tent for the night; we would bike to the Police Department or Sheriffs Department as they say down there and ask where we can go. This trick saw us camping in luxury all across the beautiful United States of America but on this day the receptionists of the Uvalde Sheriffs department assured us that there was nowhere free to camp in their county and that we should just keep on biking. With my helmeted head hanging low I walked outside to let David and the dogs know that we would be biking in the dark (and in the rain) this evening. That is when the Constable showed up. Intrigued by our motley crew of bikes and dogs he struck up a conversation with David and before I knew it we had been invited to the finest free camping location in all of Uvalde. Beside the police station. The constable, a hansom fella (with a Spanish name that escapes me now) not only offered us a safe place to sleep but also a shower - a cold one, but a good one. So, clean and with a newly restored faith in our public servants David and I dove into our Eureka! tent and proceeded to make noodles (a bicycle tourists bread and butter) by flashlight. The coughing continued but I tucked myself up to the armpits in my toasty sleeping bag and the worries and struggles of the day started to melt away. That is when we heard footsteps approaching. Shhhh! David and I said in unison. Perhaps all of the Mexican wild camping had left us a little paranoid because David quickly switched off the flashlight. The fright started me on another wild coughing rampage and we heard our favorite Constable on the other side of our tent. Umm.. sorry I just wanted to offer you this, the zipper opened and into our tent was placed enough fried chicken for an army (or two touring cyclists). With that the Officer was gone and I was left wondering what he must have thought we were up to.
Over years of traveling we were never unable to find a place to stay. Life is really much easier than I tend to believe. So with that I leave you with a quote from David, a little inspiration for your own adventures;
Leaving is the hard part.
xo H