I didn’t leave the Parker household, in Katy, till about noonish. Theresa’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson had arrived from San Antonio during the morning, and it was thoroughly enjoyable to be able to spend some time getting to know them before hitting the road. Having moved here decades ago from Gary, Indiana, Theresa gave me some tremendously helpful advice regarding how I would be able to best arrive to today’s destination, Houston’s Woodway & Voss, home of hosts JB & Glauce, with whom I’d be spending the next three nights. (Link: Today’s Route.) I left Katy, and entered Houston via the nation’s sixth largest city park, George Bush Park, which, covering nearly 8,000 acres, is nearly ten times the size of New York’s Central Park. I walked a handful of miles atop a 20-foot-tall dike on the northern and eastern perimeter of George Bush Park until reaching Briar Forest Drive, an arterial that added a mile or two to my day’s travels, but featured a sidewalk for the vast majority of its span. According to the Houston Chronicle, Houston ranks 8th nationally in most dangerous cities for pedestrians, one of the main reasons being a paucity of sidewalks, and especially given that I’m pushing a hundred pounds of possessions across the country with me, it’s definitely worth it to go a bit out of my way to find that friendly sidewalk.
Despite maintaining a smile as I was completing a 17-mile day into Houston, a noticeable cramp-like pain began developing just below the ankle of my right foot as I was stepping into this massive city. It’s not uncommon for innocuous little cramps or pains to appear here or there, and for the most part, I simply push right through them– they’re usually gone within a few minutes. That said, some pains will sometimes also choose to last a little while longer. Today’s foot pain definitely fits into that latter bracket; the pain grew steadily over the last half of the day’s miles.
Jeremie, a polite 23-year-old French man whom I’d met over a week ago on Hwy 71, near Fayetteville, lived in Houston, and suddenly decided to come and join me for the day. Jeremie was coming from the opposite end of the Houston metro area, and didn’t have his own transportation, so we had to rely on our phones over the course of the day to find and meet each other. Instead of taking public transportation, Jeremie hitch-hiked his way to me, and walked the last 4-5 miles till our paths converged. By the time we met, we both were within five miles of the Woodway & Voss intersection where we’d be meeting JB & Glauce. Jeremie is a sharp guy, and I really enjoy his insights and companionship. That said, he also didn’t have a way home for the night, nor any specific plan on where he’d be sleeping. Having recently come off a three-month road trip across America with a friend, Jeremie was broke. As Jeremie’s fun appearance arrived all of the sudden during the day, I hadn’t told my hosts I would be arriving with a friend. I informed Jeremie that even though I’d been on the phone with Couchsurfing hosts JB and Glauce for well over a week, we had yet to meet in person. We were all soon to meet at the Pei Wei Asian restaurant, close to their home. Knowing Jeremie had no solid plan for how to end his day, I informed him that I’d not feel comfortable suddenly adding someone new to the hosting request I’d made weeks ago, and I asked him to not ask JB & Glauce to be hosted. He nodded in agreement. Though it’s true that the experienced road traveler Jeremie is, and he’d probably host anyone in a heartbeat, he also understood that not everyone is a seasoned road traveler– nor are they comfortable inviting just anyone in off the road on the fly.
We met JB & Glauce at PeiWei late– at about 9pm. We all immediately hit it off really well. JB & Jeremie enjoyed chatting in their native Française. Glauce and I talked a bit in português as well. We stayed nearly an hour, till they closed. As we were headed out, I asked Jeremie if he had any plan.
“Maybe a nearby church?” he asked me.
I pointed to JB & Glauce, who’d best be able to point out to him which churches were in the area. Jeremie then uttered something to JB in French, JB nodded in approval, and we all just proceeded to their classy apartment for the evening. Jeremie had obviously asked JB if he could stay with him. The vibe was good, so I didn’t meddle.
I was hobbling upon arriving to Pei Wei, and the kind friend Jeremie had stepped in to push my cart for the last couple of miles, which really helped me a lot. An hour or so later, when we were all to walk the last mile together, my foot wasn’t feeling any better, and as I limped alongside in pain, the guys not only pushed it all the way for me– they carried it upstairs to the second floor apartment. Wow! What a tremendous help!
JB & Glauce set up two sleeping spots in their guest room, and though we’d be up a while longer, we ultimately settled in to a very rejuvenating night’s rest…

JB & Glauce, Houston, Texas