SMr Road Trip Mississippi to Nicaragua

Day 2 - October 4th - New Orleans to Victoria, TX

    The day before, while ditched on the side of the road, we learned that Shaky Shakira would be much more reliable if we lightened the load. First thing in the morning, we shipped 400 pounds of SMr supplies directly to Nicaragua making the “little VW engine that could,” much more efficient. 

We were now officially on our way. With the pedal to the metal we spent the first three hours getting to know each other the way all great relationships begin; practicing Spanish and discussing which Disney villain each of us would be.

Amanda striking a pose during a fresh air break in Texas

We decided to take the country roads around Houston to avoid it’s infamous rush-hour traffic. Shaky Shakira was still very slow, huffing and puffing, but traveling much more smoothly now with less weight being pulled behind her. We felt as if the troubles were passing behind us, especially because we now found ourselves ahead of schedule. It was too beautiful of a day to stay in the car, so at a random pull off, we played a round of baseball and watched the sunset.

Lacy catches a fly ball

All-star Amanda

Nothin' beats a Texas sunset

Endorphins high in result of brisk activity and serene beauty in the sky, we hit the road again. Our high spirits only lasted so long... while stopping to fill up for gas we discovered that Eli had left the credit card at the last gas station – a mere five hours and one state away. Luckily, Eli’s motorcycle goes a lot faster than Shakira, so he headed back towards Louisiana and Amanda and I headed farther south into Texas.

"Using the Pythagorean Theorem we can find a good hotel in both of our paths.”  Amanda suggested. 

We spent the night in Victoria, Texas, not quite making it to our scheduled destination of Brownsville, Texas, where we hoped to cross the border early the next morning.

*Photos By Eli Baylis*