FTE On Tour_TEXAS (Part 1) 8/13

As the sun sets in the Houston skyline, we bullet through Texas into a horizon etched with pink, peach and purple streaks. The faint aroma of an "Icy Hot" product waifs through Lunette's interior as ROSE ROBIN reclines with a strained back, sleeping soundly. Hopefully she'll feel better soon, as she savors the last remaining flavor of the homemade Pecan Pie we just had from the TIGER DINER. Yeah. We ate real good in New Orleans.

Darkness falls quickly and the candy-colored sunset gives way to a black sky filled with Texas stars. Still about an hour and a half away from Austin...time to start looking for a place to camp.

Riding through BRENHAM, TX we spot a sign for Rocky Creek Park and turn onto a gravel road which takes us to a rusty gate that's locked tight. After backing out to re-trace our steps, in the pitch blackness we see a light. It looks like a hotel sign.

"Maybe they know where we can camp.", we thought, making our way toward the sign.

We pull into the parking lot of a huge roadhouse lodge called "TOAD HOLLOW ICE HOUSE".
















It was a bar/resturant with a large outdoor seating area. The entire structure was made out of brand new cedar.

I immediately harbor a queasy, unsettled feeling-having seen cheezy movies about angry rednecks that hang outsiders for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Our brightly-colored "Hippie" bus pulls into the parking lot.

C•Spot & Erin hop out and bounce over to a tall, slender blonde woman sitting in the back area, beaming with fairy smiles.

I scrunch down a little deeper into my seat.

The two return, sporting even wider smiles.

"They said we can stay here! Told us to pull around to the rear!", they sing with glee.

"They did?", I warble, swallowing hard. The bad New Yorker inside of me twitches a little, deathly afraid of being lynched by unfriendly Locals. Shit, a bunch of "Townies" in New Orleans gave us the wrong directions on purpose and we ended up getting rescued by a kind family who gave us a map of the area, stern warnings about where NOT to walk and smiles.

I swallow hard again as a few people hanging out in the roadhouse's huge picnic area come over to the bus for a closer look.

"Her name is "Lunette", C•Spot cheerfully tells them, smiling happily and covered in glitter. The onlookers are delighted. No match for strong fairy magic.

A (hot blonde) woman named Jennifer invites us to sit down and have some beers. I breathe a sigh of relief and get off the bus. She introduces us to a cool guy named Wayne, her boyfriend Mike (The manager) and Tammy (the owner) There is nothing but love at this place. Love for us in Texas. So much for the "Avatarded New Yorker's" pre-concieved notions about Texans & southern hospitality. I now stand humbled in the face of Texas love.

Mike invites us to camp in the area behind the roadhouse. We can't make a fire because of the state's "Burn Ban" (real dry, no rain) so Rose makes Fried Okra on our camping stove. Yum. Tents go up. We sleep.

We awaken up to strong coffee, awesome oatmeal, enormous breakfast burritos and WAYNE who greets us with a friendly "Good Morning Fairies!". As the morning manager does the blog, we plug in our computers and do a quick edit before hitting the road. After giving ROSE her first ride in a '69 muscle car, Wayne gives us some magic items (See Rose's "Toad's Hollow" video) and we speed off into the dry Texas heat.






Charlotte seems to have an eye for funky little coffee joints. As we speed through Giddings, Texas she pulls Lunette over (or, visa versa) to a cute little yellow coffee shop with a drive through window called "THE BUZZ BEAN". (www.giddingsbuzzbean.com)









The sign out front read " Sit 'n sip in the rear". We park Lunette and walk around the back to find a cute little porch with tables & chairs. A woman named JO greets us with a friendly smile, an ash tray for our rollies and some of the best coffee we've ever had.











"I can't believe I didn't wear my bumble bee costume today!", she said as we threw our heads back and enjoyed a good laugh inbetween sips of sexy Iced Mocha frapps and "Mango Tango" fresh fruit smoothies. Also impressive was the air conditioning in the Buzz bean's interior and the in-house book swap. Jo gives us a magic item (A silver lighter cover with a FAIRY on it) and our jaws drop. After a round of information exchanges and REAL hugs, we set off to Austin.


We arrive in AUSTIN, TEXAS at the BOUDIN CREEK COFFEEHOUSE and meet our contact: an amazing soul named ODEIL. After a real good BBQ veggie burger (and lots of coffee) we drive to her house to plan our next bit of fairy madness.