Out of Texas!

Whew! I finally made it out of Texas. Day 3 finds me stopping near Baton Rouge, LA in a place called Hammond. I probably could have continued to drive into Mississippi, but decided to try to get a room early tonight. It seems that the last two nights I have been stuck with expensive rooms at Best Western. I guess it is only normal that the cheap rooms would fill-up first.

I just finished eating at a place called The Iron Skillet. I am glad that I have an iron gut, the "Southern" cooking shouldn't bother my system at all. I had the obligatory fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, jumbo, sweet tea, etc, etc. It has been my first real sit-down meal all trip, so I might have gorged myself a tad. I'll soak in the tub and get to bed early for sure.

Nothing really to report today beyond the monotony of Texas. I saw a lot of "moo cows" and "neigh horses", and a few "baa sheep" or goats. That is what I say as I drive by, "Hello moo cows!" or "Hello Mr. neigh horse!" Talking to animals while I am driving... that is probably a good sign that my sanity is slipping just a bit. This cannot be compared to my trip going to CA from FL however, as I was accusing road-side rocks of following me. I won't mention the white plastic bags I saw hiding in bushes and trees along the highway today. They don't think I see them, but I do...

EDIT: Remember to check Monday's post for the link to the photos.

Texas, Texas, and more Texas

Day two finds me leaving New Mexico early in the morning, only to enter the largest State in the Union (not counting Alaska), Texas. Who's idea was it to make Texas so dang wide? Can't we cut it in half, or maybe even quater it? After a couple of hours it all looks the same. After 8 hours? It still looks the same.

I will say that my trusty Garmin GPS is doing a fine job. It decided to take me off the I-10 to take-in all the sites the US-290 has to offer. Did I mention the reduced speed to 45mph in some zones? Did I mention the time-warp feeling back to 1950? Did I mention missing the annual Mud Dauber Festival and Ball in Fredericksburg, TX? Did I mention having to stay at a Best Western (and paying $140 for a room) due to said Festival and Ball? I didn't? hm, maybe I will next time I see you.

EDIT: I also got stopped my US Border Patrol. To be fair, they were stopping everyone. When I finally got to the front of the line, Wolf/Bare Johnson almost came out, but I suppressed him. I wasn't too worried, as I knew where my passport was.

Also, remember to check the prior post to see newly added photos from today.

On the Road Again...

Well, I'm heading to FL once again, but this time I think it is going to for an extended duration. I'm going home to look after my dad, and in the process I hope I find a decent job. I managed only 10hrs of driving today, had a slow start. I'm hoping I can fit 12hrs of driving tomorrow. I pulled over once it started getting dark, which put me in Lordsburg, NM. I was afraid that having my vehicle so weighted-down with my junk the headlights would blind other drivers. Not that I'm carrying that much (stuffed to the brim), but rather my lights are a bit high with nothing loaded.

Driving through Phoenix was an interesting journey. Talk about speed traps! The speed dropped from 65 to 55, then jumped up to 75 in a short span. I witnessed one car immediately pulled over as soon as the 55mph zone started. Those AZ troopers waste no time. There were also many speed cameras set-up on the I-10.

I did learn something though, my car gets much better gas mileage going 65mph than 75mph. On average I was squeezing out 175 miles on a half tank @ 75mph instead of 210 miles going 65mph. Now I have the dilemma of of driving slower and getting decent mileage or getting to FL sooner with a smaller bank account. Pictures of day one below, with others being added when I stop, so check back often.

2009 CA to FL