Hawkins → Lake Jacksonville → Lufkin
I am back in a KOA, just off the highway outside of Lufkin. I originally wanted to go to Nacogdoches because a) it has a fun name to say, and b) it's the only town i know in East Texas, primarily due to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, but i couldn't find a campsite. I think i have just about given up on finding any cheap campsites in this part of Texas. Maybe any part of Texas.
This state ain't a real whole lot of fun. My only memory of Texas is from about 10 years ago (?) when i took the Amtrak to Dallas, visited a gay bar, rented a car, drove to Austin, hung out there for a bit, then visited San Antonio and did a Hill Country tiki tour, and pretty much everything was awesome. Friendly people. Great tacos. Epic views. Quirky towns that all had their own character and something to see. This part of Texas is not that.
When i left you i was at a glampsite for Jesus in the woods around Hawkins. I headed into town, where i don't remember doing anything in particular so it probably wasn't very exciting. I cycled on down to Tyler, which i think might be the biggest city i have visted in Texas yet. It didn't give a great impression because i got attacked by dogs again.
I mean. Let's be real. I am getting attacked by dogs multiple times a day, every day, in Texas. It's absolutely insane. I have cycled in Taiwan, and in Turkey, both countries where there are legit wild dogs, and i have never had to deal with as much bullshit as i have in Texas. I've faced down motherfucking coyotes, in the flesh, looking right at me. Foxes. I've heard hyenas and wolves. All of these wild dogs just sit on their territory and stare you down, daring you to take a step closer. You may or may not win the intimidation battle, but i've never had one fucking charge at me, leaving their territory, snarling and growling and snapping. And yet here i am, in fucking Texas, and this shit is happening every fucking day.
In Tyler i had an especially bad encounter because two large dogs came at once, one from the side and one cut in front of me so i had to swerve to miss it. I once heard that if a dog is barking you know you are safe because that means they are just making their presence known and they have no way of attacking you. That is not true in Texas. I also have heard that it helps to do your best to ignore the dog and just keep cycling past it. Basically through your actions you are saying "i am not the slightest bit interested in your pathetic pissing post, and i am so much bigger, stronger and tougher than you, that you're not even worth wasting my time on", and that intimidates them. But that doesn't seem to work either. They just keep coming, and i keep running.
This morning leaving Jacksonville i saw two different dead dogs on the shoulder. Roadkill on highway 69. Because that's what happens to these dogs that charge off their owner's property and run into the highway, chasing after whatever the fuck for a half mile until they either give up or get hit by a truck.
I have zero pity for the owners.
Anyway, after the gauntlet of dogs just getting into Tyler, i found a cute little Mexican restaurant opposite a fried chicken place. Sorry, fried chicken fans, it's not a dish i really like and i especially don't care for it when there is fucking tacos right next door.
In the interests of calorie-maxing, i got a guisada de puerco instead of my usual taco platter. I asked for green sauce but got red. I'm not sure in these places if my terrible Spanish would make me more or less understood than speaking English. Already in a few places i have had to use my terrible Spanish because no habla inglés. Anyway, the red sauce was delicious. And i got a taco de jamón because i have never had a ham taco before. It sounds a bit weird, but it is fantastic. Like a corny ham sandwich. Squirt some tomatillo salsa on it... Oh man. Good stuff.
Then i stopped in at a paletería (icecream shop) and got raspado (shaved ice) with tamarind and an agua fresca (kind of watery juice) with watermelon. The weather here, by the way, is very hot considering the time of year. Like 30C (85F) with humidity 60% and up. I need to drink a lot of water to keep hydrated, and i thought getting fruity sugar water would be a nice way to do it. The best thing about these Latin American sugar waters is you can see them blend the real fruit to make it, so you're not just getting some slushy syrup. Reminds me of the guys in China who will squish sugar cane into juice for you, or pineapple, or whatever.
I spent the night at Lake Jacksonville, which is the city lake for the town of Jacksonville. It was expensive, but at least i had mobile reception and an electric outlet. It was a real windy night, so i slept well and woke up with a bone-dry, bug-free tent. If only they were all like that.
This morning i basically just continued - boringly - down highway 69 and ended up in Lufkin. I had lunch at a Tex-Mex place in a small town called Alto. I had actually wanted to check out the local diner, but it was closed. No catfish for me. Well, perhaps i got catfish anyway, because i ordered fish tacos. They were fine. Tex-Mex isn't really my thing, but at least it has more flavor than the limp burgers you get further north.
And here i am. In the KOA.
East Texas is wearing on me. It really feels unnecessarily antagonistic toward poor people, travelers, Spanish-speakers, "liberals", cyclists, you fucking name it.
There was a sign on the toilets in Jacksonville - only in Spanish - saying to put the paper in the toilet. Like, i get that in some Spanish-speaking countries you put the paper in the waste basket and don't flush it. But that's the same in China too. And in parts of Europe. And even in parts of the United States of fucking America where people might have a septic tank or whatever. So what is this passive aggressive bullshit of only putting the sign in Spanish, when every other sign in the place is in English?
Or, as jenndolari pointed out in a comment on my last post... There is such a thing as "coal rolling" here. Which i have never heard of in my life, but now it explains why at least once a day since i have been in Texas i have had to cycle through thick, black smoke that has been belched out of the back of a pickup truck as it passes me. It's the most idiotic thing i have ever heard of. Up until now i just thought these were people with busted trucks who couldn't afford to get them fixed. But people actually pay money to deliberately make their cars less fuel efficient and more polluting, specifically so that they can... i dunno... own the libs or something!? Are they trying to slowly kill off the cyclists with diesel fumes that their dogs failed to kill? I mean, what the fuck?
And the billboards. Massive anti-abortion billboards, even now, as Texas has some of the most regressive abortion laws in the developed world. Or billboards with fucking nuclear explosions and eagles and airplanes and hammer and sickles saying "voted for a freedom-loving patriot, got a socialist traitor" or some damn bullshit. I have never seen so much political propaganda since i lived in China. I cycle past more Trump flags here in one day than i did throughout the whole rest of my US journey combined.
The poverty too, man, some of these mobile homes just jammed on the edge of town, almost collapsing. Invariably with a black family living there. Meanwhile the campsites have "no older than 10 year" rules for RVs and it costs over $25 a night for a fucking tent, if they even allow tents. Going through one small town i had a (black) panhandler ask me for cash. A panhandler, in a town with barely a thousand people, but somehow still enough money for a high school football arena and about 27 churches. The economic inequality is just... something else. And everything seems systemically designed to keep the poors out. Did i talk about the gated communities? Let's not.
It's just... so different to how i remember Texas being last time i was here. And maybe it was always this way in the north and the east. Maybe i "fit in" better last time because i drove a car. Maybe i'm screwing myself by visiting small rural towns. Well, not so much now that i have just been blasting down highway 69. I mean, at least there is cellphone reception on this highway.
Fucking hell.
I haven't even found a single roadside bar since i got here, which there were plenty of in central Texas. I really need a goddamn drink. Is the lack of bars because this is the Bible belt? For fuck's sake.
Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Tonight i have electricity and wifi. I might try put together a picture post for the morning. My current plan is to get the fuck into Louisiana. I don't know if it'll be any better. It'll probably be worse. But surely at least it can't be as expensive to sleep... can it?
Oh travel. It's not always fun, but i still love every minute and wouldn't want it any different. Does that make sense?
This state ain't a real whole lot of fun. My only memory of Texas is from about 10 years ago (?) when i took the Amtrak to Dallas, visited a gay bar, rented a car, drove to Austin, hung out there for a bit, then visited San Antonio and did a Hill Country tiki tour, and pretty much everything was awesome. Friendly people. Great tacos. Epic views. Quirky towns that all had their own character and something to see. This part of Texas is not that.
When i left you i was at a glampsite for Jesus in the woods around Hawkins. I headed into town, where i don't remember doing anything in particular so it probably wasn't very exciting. I cycled on down to Tyler, which i think might be the biggest city i have visted in Texas yet. It didn't give a great impression because i got attacked by dogs again.
I mean. Let's be real. I am getting attacked by dogs multiple times a day, every day, in Texas. It's absolutely insane. I have cycled in Taiwan, and in Turkey, both countries where there are legit wild dogs, and i have never had to deal with as much bullshit as i have in Texas. I've faced down motherfucking coyotes, in the flesh, looking right at me. Foxes. I've heard hyenas and wolves. All of these wild dogs just sit on their territory and stare you down, daring you to take a step closer. You may or may not win the intimidation battle, but i've never had one fucking charge at me, leaving their territory, snarling and growling and snapping. And yet here i am, in fucking Texas, and this shit is happening every fucking day.
In Tyler i had an especially bad encounter because two large dogs came at once, one from the side and one cut in front of me so i had to swerve to miss it. I once heard that if a dog is barking you know you are safe because that means they are just making their presence known and they have no way of attacking you. That is not true in Texas. I also have heard that it helps to do your best to ignore the dog and just keep cycling past it. Basically through your actions you are saying "i am not the slightest bit interested in your pathetic pissing post, and i am so much bigger, stronger and tougher than you, that you're not even worth wasting my time on", and that intimidates them. But that doesn't seem to work either. They just keep coming, and i keep running.
This morning leaving Jacksonville i saw two different dead dogs on the shoulder. Roadkill on highway 69. Because that's what happens to these dogs that charge off their owner's property and run into the highway, chasing after whatever the fuck for a half mile until they either give up or get hit by a truck.
I have zero pity for the owners.
Anyway, after the gauntlet of dogs just getting into Tyler, i found a cute little Mexican restaurant opposite a fried chicken place. Sorry, fried chicken fans, it's not a dish i really like and i especially don't care for it when there is fucking tacos right next door.
In the interests of calorie-maxing, i got a guisada de puerco instead of my usual taco platter. I asked for green sauce but got red. I'm not sure in these places if my terrible Spanish would make me more or less understood than speaking English. Already in a few places i have had to use my terrible Spanish because no habla inglés. Anyway, the red sauce was delicious. And i got a taco de jamón because i have never had a ham taco before. It sounds a bit weird, but it is fantastic. Like a corny ham sandwich. Squirt some tomatillo salsa on it... Oh man. Good stuff.
Then i stopped in at a paletería (icecream shop) and got raspado (shaved ice) with tamarind and an agua fresca (kind of watery juice) with watermelon. The weather here, by the way, is very hot considering the time of year. Like 30C (85F) with humidity 60% and up. I need to drink a lot of water to keep hydrated, and i thought getting fruity sugar water would be a nice way to do it. The best thing about these Latin American sugar waters is you can see them blend the real fruit to make it, so you're not just getting some slushy syrup. Reminds me of the guys in China who will squish sugar cane into juice for you, or pineapple, or whatever.
I spent the night at Lake Jacksonville, which is the city lake for the town of Jacksonville. It was expensive, but at least i had mobile reception and an electric outlet. It was a real windy night, so i slept well and woke up with a bone-dry, bug-free tent. If only they were all like that.
This morning i basically just continued - boringly - down highway 69 and ended up in Lufkin. I had lunch at a Tex-Mex place in a small town called Alto. I had actually wanted to check out the local diner, but it was closed. No catfish for me. Well, perhaps i got catfish anyway, because i ordered fish tacos. They were fine. Tex-Mex isn't really my thing, but at least it has more flavor than the limp burgers you get further north.
And here i am. In the KOA.
East Texas is wearing on me. It really feels unnecessarily antagonistic toward poor people, travelers, Spanish-speakers, "liberals", cyclists, you fucking name it.
There was a sign on the toilets in Jacksonville - only in Spanish - saying to put the paper in the toilet. Like, i get that in some Spanish-speaking countries you put the paper in the waste basket and don't flush it. But that's the same in China too. And in parts of Europe. And even in parts of the United States of fucking America where people might have a septic tank or whatever. So what is this passive aggressive bullshit of only putting the sign in Spanish, when every other sign in the place is in English?
Or, as jenndolari pointed out in a comment on my last post... There is such a thing as "coal rolling" here. Which i have never heard of in my life, but now it explains why at least once a day since i have been in Texas i have had to cycle through thick, black smoke that has been belched out of the back of a pickup truck as it passes me. It's the most idiotic thing i have ever heard of. Up until now i just thought these were people with busted trucks who couldn't afford to get them fixed. But people actually pay money to deliberately make their cars less fuel efficient and more polluting, specifically so that they can... i dunno... own the libs or something!? Are they trying to slowly kill off the cyclists with diesel fumes that their dogs failed to kill? I mean, what the fuck?
And the billboards. Massive anti-abortion billboards, even now, as Texas has some of the most regressive abortion laws in the developed world. Or billboards with fucking nuclear explosions and eagles and airplanes and hammer and sickles saying "voted for a freedom-loving patriot, got a socialist traitor" or some damn bullshit. I have never seen so much political propaganda since i lived in China. I cycle past more Trump flags here in one day than i did throughout the whole rest of my US journey combined.
The poverty too, man, some of these mobile homes just jammed on the edge of town, almost collapsing. Invariably with a black family living there. Meanwhile the campsites have "no older than 10 year" rules for RVs and it costs over $25 a night for a fucking tent, if they even allow tents. Going through one small town i had a (black) panhandler ask me for cash. A panhandler, in a town with barely a thousand people, but somehow still enough money for a high school football arena and about 27 churches. The economic inequality is just... something else. And everything seems systemically designed to keep the poors out. Did i talk about the gated communities? Let's not.
It's just... so different to how i remember Texas being last time i was here. And maybe it was always this way in the north and the east. Maybe i "fit in" better last time because i drove a car. Maybe i'm screwing myself by visiting small rural towns. Well, not so much now that i have just been blasting down highway 69. I mean, at least there is cellphone reception on this highway.
Fucking hell.
I haven't even found a single roadside bar since i got here, which there were plenty of in central Texas. I really need a goddamn drink. Is the lack of bars because this is the Bible belt? For fuck's sake.
Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Tonight i have electricity and wifi. I might try put together a picture post for the morning. My current plan is to get the fuck into Louisiana. I don't know if it'll be any better. It'll probably be worse. But surely at least it can't be as expensive to sleep... can it?
Oh travel. It's not always fun, but i still love every minute and wouldn't want it any different. Does that make sense?