Last day in Texas

In central Texas

We woke up at 4 a.m. on Monday to make sure we would be on location when the shop where I was schedule to get additional off-road equipment would open.

At 10, after crossing central Texas in the fog, we arrived at Wimberley Four Wheels Drive, close to New Braunfels, in the northeast of San Antonio. Jim jackson, the who represents ARB in the U.S. called me after reading my story in the newspaper. He offered to help with some equipment he thinks I will need.

Daniel, the owner of Wimberley four wheels drive wishes the expedition good luck

At 1 p.m., the staff down there was done fitting a snorkel on the truck, and after pilling up some recovery tools in the back, we were heading to San Antonio.

San Antonio Riverwalk

It is now way warmer, for which I am grateful, since I still remember the first cold nights. In San Antonio, we parked and spent some time in the city, which seems to be more pedestrian friendly than Houston. We took the riverside walk, probably the city most famous tourist attraction.

I still had few things to do on the Toyota (I know, by now you guys are tired of the mechanical things), and we were on our way to meet with some new friends who from San Antonio and Austin who sent me an email few days ago after reading about my trip.

San Fernando cathedral

After trying some Texan red wine, Brant took us for dinner with his mother Audrey and his friend Will. We had Tex-Mex for the last time before passing the border.

Then, we welcomed warmly few drinks in a local sports bar.

We plan to get some paperwork done tomorrow, and arrive in Mexico in the afternoon. In the next few days, we will continue to get ready for the more serious part of the expedition, but I swear, after that, you will get great pictures of more exotic places.

Audrey, Nadia, Will, Nick and Brant at the Alamos Cafe

Other countries will have hard time matching the hospitality of the families we met since we left New York. Already, I feel this trip will be so great, because of all the people I will meet. Stuck behind my computer, I probably met as many people in the last year than in the last week.

Thanks for the love Texas!

It was nice stopping for few days in Houston. We arrived Thursday, relaxed Friday, worked on the truck Saturday, and explored some more the city on Sunday.

On Friday, we said good-bye to our French friends who were going back to Paris for vacation. They let us their apartment, so we were able to rest for few days, do some laundry, and have a shower every day (yes, even French people need a shower once in a while).

After I sent a message asking for help on a Land Cruiser message board, I quickly got an invitation from Brett and Greg, and we met at 10 a.m. at Brett’s house, in a northeast of Houston.

Working under the rain

That was nice to really see the power of an internet community, and feel that behind all these electronic messages, there are people who are here to help out, and just enjoy spending time finding solutions. I said in the past that this trip would make me smarter. I have to add that it will also make me a better and more generous person, given all the help I already got, so early in the trip.

Brett quickly isolated the brake problem to the rear right emergency shoes, frozen by rust. Some WD-40 seemed to have settled the problem, but I will keep an eye on the issue, especially when I’ll be back in more humid climates.

It also seems that we were able to fix the engine light problem, most likely due to a carbon-covered sensor. So far, the light didn’t come back.

Amy, Brett, Kristen and Nadia after a day working on the truck

I can’t thank these guys enough, along with Amy, Brett’s wife, who cooked some delicious burgers and hot-dogs while we were working under the rain.

Back in the city, we tried to go back to Blancos to get some more cow-boys action, but the bar was closed. After getting a beer in an average dive bar, we went to bed, exhausted, as usual.

The Lakewood Church

On Sunday, we went to see the Lakewood Church, to see the famous worship service of pastor Joel Osteen (thanks for the tip Gwen).

Houston street

We got pizza, walked through the under-estimated and surprising city of Houston to see the Rothko Chapel and the Menil Collection.

Alaska native american art

More AK art from the Menil

A drink in the Montrose area, and we were back home. We have to be up at 4 a.m. to go to New Braunfles in Texas, close to San Antonio. Up there, at Wimberly 4×4, we will pick up some ARB equipment (more on that tomorrow).

Good night all! And thanks for the love Houston.