Afro-Jim's Trip to Houston 2004

• Drove to Houston... Red Bull should sponsor my next road trip.
• Got to Houston. Went to a suburb called Kingwood. Big ups to Matt and all the local kids. Matt wanted to take Jerome and I to a few spots, and we ended up canceling the session after breaking into and setting the alarms off at Kingwood High School. Apparently there are some sick spots inside the school. Holy sketchy…
• ‘Ripped’ at Kingwood Skate Park – or SPoK. It’s all metal composite $h!t. But, there is a decent little shop across the street called ‘Stoked.’ I’ve heard of better names, but its definitely not the worst. This park is just another example of older individuals making decisions about a Skatepark – or just having some joker company like ‘Wiley Coyote Acme Ramps and Rails’ come in and throw down some ramps. Talk about a waste of tax payer money.
• Partied.
• Went to an Astros game – I hate baseball, but it was the 4th of July weekend. What’s more American?
• Partied.
• Skated downtown on the 4th for about 10 minutes before getting ejected by the one person downtown – some Nigerian security guard who was bored and had nothing to do. He was on his cell phone the whole time with his woman, so he must not really care that much about his job. Just wanted to make it exciting for a couple minutes.
• Skated some more sketchy-ass spots. I think we need a skate tour guide. There’s no way a city as big as Houston doesn’t have skate spots, right?
• Partied.
• Had a kick-ass down south bar-b-que for the 4th of July. Damn, black people sure do know how to cook...
• Partied.
• Skated Southside Skatepark (Home of Make-a-Wish Jam). Went in with a goal: 180 the euro gap. Sure enough, mission complete an hour later. Thanks to Brian for the free session.
• Got on the road back to Tampa. Left Houston at 4pm central (5pm TPA time) and got back to Tampa around 10am the following day.

You probably hear Ryan Clements talk about how great road trips are enough. Some people who leave comments on the site, might even call him ‘gay’ or a ‘fag’. Well, add me to the list and start hating: Road trips are like no other.

This past year, I have covered almost half the country on the road. Each time has been a unique experience filled with times and people I won’t soon forget. Make sure you take advantage of having a license – or get one. The time you spend with your true friends on the road is special because you’re not having to deal with all the day-to-day drama of being home. You’re gonna be pretty pissed when its too late and you can’t take the time off from the real world that you need. Plus, meeting chicks in other cities is pretty sick.