Long Days Ride to Huntsville Texas

It was a long days from to Huntsville, Texas, from Lafayette, Louisiana.

I am still a bit sick but my increased prednisone is starting to kick in to get rid of the fluid from my lungs.

It was also hot an humid. Although as I go closer to Texas it got less humid and more of a dry heat.

Things to do in Texas

I have lots of time to spend before heading into Mexico from San Diego sometime in October. As I mentioned in my last post, transition times can be great to see and do things I wasn’t really planning on.

As I entered Texas I stopped at the information booth in search of things to do.

I picked up pamphlets with ideas. I looked through them and picked out of bunch of things I would be interested in seeing in Texas. These included:

  • Blue Bell Creamery,
  • Seeing a High School Football game,
  • Texas Longhorns Football game,
  • Texas State Capitol,
  • Watch the bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin,
  • The Rose Gardens in Tyler,
  • LBJ Ranch in Fredericksburg,
  • The Fredericksburg Town Square, and
  • Fort Worth Stockyards.

There was one thing not listed in any of the books that I wanted to see, and that was the Clock Tower at the University of Texas at Austin. More on that later.

Motel 6 Huntsvillle Texas

Armed with the information I headed to Huntsville where I found a cheap Motel 6 to stay at. Only $35.99 a night! Of course, multiple that by the US exchange rate of 1.35 and you get $48.59 CDN. A bit over my budget but still cheap. And I need a comfortable place to rest.

When I got there the Motel 6 was perfect. It was clean and looked newly renovated with a new clothes washer. AND … it there was a McDonald’s, Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Buffalo Wild Wings, right there.

I decided to spend 2 nights there to further recuperate.

My Route for September 7, 2016

lafayette-huntsville-map

Start of Transition Across the United States

Today marked the start of my transition across the US. From Vancouver my goal was to reach the Arctic Ocean. Check.

Then I transitioned by riding to Itasca Park to start my ride of the Great River Road along the Mississippi River. Check.

Now I am transitioning to San Diego where I will start a new phase of riding Mexico for 6 months. Transitions are a time for seeing unplanned or un-thought of things. It should be good.

Sick

I left my hostel sick. My lungs were filling with fluid. Hence no pictures today except when I left 🙁 OK … this is my health story that has some effect on my travels.

BOOP

About 15 years ago I was hospitalized with a rare form of pneumonia and lung disorder called Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia, or BOOP for short. At the time, the only cure was high dose prednisone for a year. While this cured my BOOP, it suppressed my adrenal glands from producing cortisol.

Cortisol

Cortisol is sometimes referred to as the stress hormone. It is a life sustaining adrenal hormone essential to the maintenance of homeostasis. It regulates or modulates many of the changes that occur in the body in response to stress including, but not limited to:

  • blood sugar (glucose) levels,
  • fat,
  • protein and carbohydrate metabolism to maintain blood glucose (gluconeogenesis),
  • immune responses,
  • anti-inflammatory actions,
  • blood pressure,
  • heart and blood vessel tone and contraction, and
  • central nervous system activation.
Prednisone

Because my body no longer produces cortisol, I have to replace it orally with prednisone. Prednisone is a wonder drug. But it also has bad side effects such as:

  • aggression,
  • agitation,
  • anxiety,
  • blurred vision,
  • decrease in the amount of urine,
  • dizziness,
  • fast, slow, pounding, or irregular heartbeat or pulse,
  • headache,
  • irritability,
  • mental depression,
  • mood changes,
  • nervousness,
  • osteoporosis,
  • numbness or tingling in the arms or legs,
  • pounding in the ears,
  • acne,
  • swelling of the fingers, hands, feet, or lower legs,
  • visceral fat,
  • cataracts, and
  • weight gain.
Effects

Compounding these problems is that in the body, cortisol levels normally fluctuate throughout the day and night in a circadian rhythm that peaks at about 8 AM and reaches it lowest around 4 AM. Of course you can’t mimic this with medication. So the symptoms of adrenal insufficiency arise throughout the day.

If that wasn’t enough, while my BOOP was cured, my lungs were left a mess. Soooo I have to take asthma medications to keep them operating right.

I rarely feel 100% healthy.

Usually about twice a year my lungs will start to fill with fluid. When this happens, like now, I have to significantly increase my prednisone and then taper down to get rid of it.

These conditions have adversely effected my life. BUT … I know many people suffer from a lot worse than me. I take inspiration from them that I won’t let my ailments get in the way of what I want to accomplish. As a result, I won’t let what I have get in the way of what I want to do. I have traveled extensively in China, lived in Namibia, worked and lived Macedonia, and now riding around the world on a motorcycle.

Franklin

Ok … back to my trip. It was a short ride today. I took a few back roads just because they are more enjoyable.

Some of the towns were so nice. I especially liked Franklin. The city did a great job fixing up their historic downtown and a lot of the old homes.

What really caught my attention was a sign saying there use to be a WWII Prisoner of War Camp located there.

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I looked for it but couldn’t find it. Perhaps it has been built over.

It was early and I made it to the Motel 6 in Lafayette to rest.

My Route for September 6, 2016

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