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Travelogue:
Texas (mostly),
March 2011
By
Roger W. Reini
By
date:
Prologue
This is a story of a trip to Texas in the early spring of
2011. The last time I’d been in Texas was in October 2009,
although I had passed through lands that used to be part of the
Republic of Texas when I took the train out to LA in March
2010.
And when I was in Florida in September and October, the terrain,
weather and greenery, and even some of the billboards,
especially in
central Florida, reminded me so much of southeast Texas.
But it
was time to go there for real, especially after a long, cold and
snowy
winter in Michigan. There were places I really wanted to
visit,
for I’d been unable to visit them on my last visit. Also,
I was
getting antsy to ride my bikes outside, something that is not
yet
consistently feasible in Michigan. I had ridden my recumbent
trike on
February 19 on the rebuilt I-275 trail; the next day, it snowed
8
inches.
Top
Friday March
11
Miles today: 294.5
Miles total: 294.5
As I woke up this morning, I was suffering from yet another cold
or
respiratory infection, with a nasty cough and a plugged
nose. I’d
had difficulty getting to sleep, but I had gotten some sleep
overnight. As I stirred, I pulled over my laptop to check
e-mail
and the morning news. That was when I saw that a major
earthquake
had struck Japan and spawned a large tsunami. The snow
that had
fallen overnight was a minor consideration in the overall scheme
of
things, compared to this quake and tsunami. It would
become more
important when I set off for work. I turned on the TV; CNN
and
BBC News showed the devastation. Tsunami warnings were out
for
the entire Pacific basin. And while that was happening, I
was
getting ready for work and getting ready to set out on my
vacation. As I checked Facebook this morning, I learned of
a
personal connection to this event: high school classmate and
friend
David Zabalaoui was in Hawaii (Maui) with his girlfriend, and
Hawaii
was under a tsunami warning. Their car had been moved to
higher
ground, and their room was on the 8th floor, so they were
prepared to
ride it out.
I finished up my packing and put the last few bags into the
SUV.
I checked to see if newspapers had not been delivered; I’d
halted
delivery for my vacation. The Detroit papers had not been
delivered, but the Wall Street Journal had been. I’d have
to make
a complaint about that. Now it was time to load the bike on the
bike
rack. I had to open up the garage door to do that; I had
some
problems with the pull cord on the door getting caught on the
rack, but
I eventually overcame that. And so, at 6:30 in the
morning, I
pulled out of the garage and set off on snowy and slushy streets
for
the office. The drive was a bit slower than normal, as
expected,
but I didn’t have major difficulties making it in on time or
reasonably
close to it. When I got out of my SUV, I noticed that the
bottoms
of the bike wheels were covered in slush! The gears might
have
received a coating as well. I hoped that no long-term
issues
would result from that. I’d be heading towards warmer
weather
later in the afternoon, and the slush would become a distant
memory.
Work went reasonably well today. I had no major crises to
fend
off, and I had no meetings in the afternoon. I was
coughing a
lot, though, which irked me to no end. After I finished
the last
thing I had on my to-do list, I figured I could head out a
little bit
early, especially since I’d put in extra time the last two
days.
Also, there was some work I could do while on vacation, such as
cleaning up a transcription of old training videos I’d done some
14
years ago. And so it was that I set out on my trip a bit
after
2:30.
The snow from the morning had turned to water on the roadways,
so the
only hindrance to my driving was dirty windows, and washer fluid
took
care of those. After I left work, I went south on Pelham,
which
became Allen Road, and took that to its intersection with
I-75.
Traffic southbound was moderately heavy. I passed by the
Auto
Alliance plant, the Ford-Mazda joint venture plant that builds
the
Mustang. The weather was partly cloudy, a good sign for
the start
of a vacation. Forty-five minutes later, I was in
Toledo.
It wasn’t rush hour yet, so I had no problem getting through
there. I did see a backup on I-75 northbound south of
Toledo, but
that didn’t affect me at all. My first gas stop of the
trip was a
Love’s store in North Baltimore, and then it was back on the
road.
For my radio listening this afternoon, I stuck with the news
channels:
BBC, CNN and Fox. The reports coming from Japan and
elsewhere
about the quake and tsunami were too compelling to ignore.
I was
especially interested in what was happening on the West Coast,
and
there were reports of damage in Oregon and south of San
Francisco.
Onward I drove, down through Findlay, Lima, Sidney, Troy, and
the north
part of Dayton. This was the route I would normally drive
to get
to the annual Hamvention in May. But this evening, I would
turn
west on I-70 and drive toward Indianapolis. The sun was
low on
the horizon, and I had to use my sun visor for much of the
time.
I made a rest area stop just before crossing into Indiana, and
then I
kept going. As I drove through Richmond, I saw several
billboards
for Tom Raper RV (an unfortunate name, but it would be worse if
it were
Tom Rapist). After sunset, I started seeking Jupiter in
the sky;
it would be straight ahead of me, more or less. When I saw
it, I
then started to look for Mercury, which I knew would be close
by.
The clouds made it difficult, but I did find it. I’d seen
Mercury
before, but not very many times.
Finally, I arrived in Indianapolis and stopped at my destination
for
the evening, the Holiday Inn Express at I-70 and
Shadeland. My
room, room 211, was a mini-suite with a king-size bed and a bar
area. I didn’t stay long, for I was hungry, and I walked
to the
Bob Evans across the street for dinner. The chicken
parmesan was
very good tonight; I couldn’t finish it all. If I’d been
at home,
I’d have taken the leftovers with me, but that wasn’t feasible,
not
during vacation. Back in the room, I turned on CNN and
continued
to follow the tsunami coverage. The latest development: at
least
one nuclear power plant in Japan was overheating and might be in
danger
of a meltdown.
Top
Saturday March
12
Miles today: 664.3
Miles total: 958.8
I fell asleep to CNN. When I woke up, I turned off the TV
and
went back to sleep. My sleep wasn’t the best, given my
cough and
stuffy nose, but I might have slept better than last
night. I
woke up for good around 5:10, checked e-mail and turned CNN back
on. There had been an explosion at one of those nuclear
plants
overnight; that could not have been good. Later in the
morning, I
made a donation via GlobalGiving to quake and tsunami aid.
Now I wanted to attend a hamfest in Terre Haute this morning;
I’d set
up my route so that I’d pass through Terre Haute. The
hamfest
started at 8, and while I didn’t need to get there right when
the doors
opened, I did want to get there fairly early. The hotel’s
breakfast started at 7, which I felt was a little late for
optimal
timing for the fest. And so I checked out just before 7
and set
off for Terre Haute without partaking of the Holiday Inn Express
breakfast. It was quite chilly this morning; the
thermometer in
the car said it was 45, but it seemed cooler than that.
The bag
that I’d put on my bike seat had shredded apart, so I removed it
before
setting off. My route took me through downtown
Indianapolis,
which gave me a good view of Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Colts
play. There was no traffic on Saturday morning, and so I
was
through Indianapolis in hardly any time at all.
Now I had an idea where the hamfest was, but I needed good
directions,
and so I stopped at a rest area to hook up my GPS unit and
program in
the address of the armory where the fest would be held. It
guided
me there perfectly, and when I arrived, the parking lot was
quite
full. I saw some Guard members outside the front door;
you’d
expect to see that at an armory. It turned out there was a
Guard
activity there today; a number of teenagers were there,
participating
in a run. Were they potential recruits?
Perhaps. The
fest was a small one, compared to the ones I usually attended,
but I
recognized one regional vendor. One of the vendors bore a
strong
resemblance to a recently-deceased member of the Ford Amateur
Radio
League. Coincidentally, they both were named Bob. I
didn’t
get a chance to talk to him, though. I bought a few items there:
the
latest copy of the ARRL Handbook, a bag of antistatic bags, and
some
tie straps.
When I left the hamfest, I drove through Terre Haute and stopped
for
gas before getting back onto I-70. Satellite radio was my
constant companion as I drove throughout the day. Today, I
listened mainly to the news channels in the morning: BBC, CNN,
Fox,
occasionally CBC. This kept me informed about the
aftermath of
the Japanese quake and tsunami. I didn’t stay with them
the whole
time, though; close to noon, I’d tuned in the 80‘s on 8, which
was
doing a countdown program featuring the songs of March
1981. By
the time I’d reached Mount Vernon, IL, I was hungry for
lunch. I
stopped at a McDonald’s and had one of their chicken
sandwiches.
As I ate, I checked my e-mail on my MacBook Pro.
When I left, it was after noon Eastern. The weekly
American Top
40 repeat was airing on 70’s on 7; which week was airing this
week? March 1971, as it turned out, and so I kept
listening to
that. 1971 was the year before I started listening to AT40
and
buying records, but I was starting to become more aware of
popular
music. I kept listening for the entire time, for there was
some
pretty good music playing. Later, at 3 PM Eastern, the
60’s on 6
started ITS countdown program, which this week was for March
1965. All of them were pretty good.
Onward I drove through Illinois on I-57, Missouri and Tennessee
and
Mississippi on I-55. I saw signs for a restaurant in
Sikeston,
Missouri advertising its “throwed rolls”; I didn’t stop. I
passed
through Blytheville and West Memphis, Arkansas; I didn’t stop in
either
place. Traffic got heavier in Memphis; construction didn’t
help
with that. When I entered Mississippi, I pulled off at the
first
rest area and welcome center for a restroom stop, a chance to
refill my
water bottle, and the ability to reserve a room for the
night.
Now where would I want to stop? Jackson was a little under
200
miles away, a bit far, but there weren’t any major cities en
route. I decided to stop in Canton, some 15 miles north of
Jackson, and made my reservation for the Hampton Inn there.
As I set off down I-55 again, I noticed the road was also signed
as
I-69, at least for a stretch. If I-69 ever gets built all
the way
down to Texas, I might be driving that route. But today,
it was
I-55 all the way. The sun got lower in the west, and then
it
set. I became a little concerned that deer might decide to
cross
the road; fortunately, none did. I tried to look for
Jupiter and
Mercury again; it was a harder task, because they were not
directly in
front of me but off to the side. Still, there were times
when the
road curved in the right direction and the trees cleared that I
could
see the two planets approaching each other.
By 7:30, I had arrived in Canton and done my basic
unpacking. I
had noticed a Western Sizzlin steakhouse down the street, and so
I went
there for dinner. My entree was sirloin tips with a baked
potato,
both of which were good. However, the buffet bar there was
overpriced and understocked; I actually was charged the price of
the
buffet as a standalone meal (there was no option of the buffet
with an
entree, as there was of the salad bar with an entree).
What’s
more, it took me a long time to be given my drink (and a refill
of that
drink) and silverware. While the food was all right, the
service
was not the best, and the pricing was too much for what I
got. I
wouldn’t go back there again. Back at the hotel, the desk
clerk
greeted me as I headed towards the elevator. She reminded
me of
Betty Alexander, one of the members of the Detroit Bahá’í
community.
Now it was time to rest. I turned on CNN and kept up with
the
latest on the quake and tsunami aftermath, which included a
worsening
situation with the nuclear reactors. Were they in danger
of
experiencing a meltdown? It sure seemed that way. As
I
watched and/or listened, I typed up a few notes from today for
use in
this travelogue, and when I got tired, I went to bed.
Top
Sunday March
13
Miles today: 565.0
Miles total: 1524.2
When I woke up, I took a shower, and then I went to the lobby
for
breakfast. Thanks to the combination of the transition to
Daylight Saving Time and my traveling to the Central time zone,
I
didn’t have to adjust my watch, my car’s clock, or my internal
body
clock. How convenient! But later on, after I’d hit
the road
around 8 o’clock, I knew that things were different. The
radio
programs were on one hour earlier than I was accustomed to,
which would
make sense because I was now on Central time. That meant
the
repeat of American Top 40 was now on, and Breakfast with the
Beatles
was also on. I listened to both of them, first the start
of AT40
(I’d missed that yesterday) and then BWTB.
There was some fog on I-55 south of Jackson, but it eventually
passed. There was also a Nissan plant in Canton. I rolled
on down
the highway until I crossed into Louisiana, and then I stopped
at the
Welcome Center. Now I was planning to visit Reeves
Zabalaoui
(father of Keith, David and Jamie) in Hammond, and I tried to
call
either him or Keith, who was visiting his dad along with his
daughters. But I had no coverage on my T-Mobile phone in
that
location. To be more specific, I was receiving roaming
coverage,
but I didn’t want to pay roaming rates. My MiFi connection
through Verizon had a good non-roaming connection, though, and
so I
sent Keith an e-mail letting him know where I was. I
continued
down to Hammond, exiting at the first exit for the city.
By this
time, I had a good non-roaming phone connection, and so I called
Reeves. He gave me his address, which I entered into my
GPS
device. I was around 5 miles away from his house, as it
turned
out, and the GPS guided me through the back streets of
Hammond.
Keith’s daughter Becca was out playing with Lily the dog, and
they
welcomed me. Everyone welcomed me, in fact, eventually.
Now I had no specific plans for how long I’d be staying.
Turns
out that the Zabalaouis had plans for going to a puppy
parade.
This was actually part of the “Mardi Paws” event in Mandeville,
on the
north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. They invited me to go, and I
said
yes, thinking it wouldn’t take very long. Well, we drove
several
miles to meet up with some relatives, and then we drove several
miles
further. I didn’t know where we were going, but when I
started to
see signs for the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, I wondered if we
were
going into New Orleans. No, we didn’t go into the city,
but we
struggled to find a parking spot for the festival and
parade. I
found one on a city street. We met up and walked to the
lakefront
park where the festival was being held. And a big festival
it
was, with dressed-up dogs all over the place. There was a
kissing
booth for kissing various dogs. There was an obstacle
course for
dogs to run. There was an area for children to pet goats
and
ducks. We were there for quite a while, but the parade
never
seemed to get under way. In fact, we gave up waiting for
it and
headed back to Hammond. We didn’t head back to the house,
though;
no, we went to Middendorf’s restaurant on I-55 south of Hammond
in the
town of Akers. The restaurant split into two locations
right next
to each other over the years. We went into the southern
restaurant, which I understood to be the original
location. Now
I’d been advised that the place was known for its thin and
crispy
catfish, and so that’s what I ordered. It was pretty good,
although the portions were way too big and I had
leftovers. I
gave mine to Reeves to take home, for I wouldn’t be able to take
them
with me.
It was after 5 when I resumed my trip toward Houston. I
hadn’t
thought I’d be staying as long as I had today, and I had a long
drive
ahead of me. It wasn’t a particularly eventful drive
through
Baton Rouge, the Atchafalaya River basin, Lafayette and Lake
Charles,
just a long one. It was well after dark when I arrived at
the
Texas Welcome Center. There were two raccoons wandering
around,
and one of them stood by as I opened the lid on the garbage can
to dump
my trash. He didn’t show much fear of man, I thought to
myself as
I went to the restroom. Back on the road, I continued
westward. The road narrowed to one lane east of Beaumont,
which
delayed me some more. Soon, I was in familar territory:
Winnie --
Mont Belvieu -- Anahuac -- Baytown -- Channelview. Now I
turned
onto the East Loop and followed that around to where it became
the
South Loop, and then I headed west until Highway 288, the South
Freeway. Even after dark, the sights were reasonably
familiar to
me. I noticed it was after 11 o’clock; the repeat of
Breakfast
with the Beatles was starting, and so I turned it on and
listened to
it. It seemed strange to listen to a breakfast show so
close to
midnight, but the music was still just as good. A few miles
south on
288 took me to FM 518. Four miles to the east, and there
it was:
the Hampton Inn. It was so late that the desk clerk had to
open
the front door to let me in so I could check in. I got my
key and
then pulled around to the back of the building near the back
door. I brought up the two bags that would tide me over
for the
night; the rest could wait until morning. I was tired, and
I
wanted to go to sleep.
Top
Monday March
14
When I first popped awake, the clock said 5:15. I didn’t
actually
get up until it said 5:35. But the clock was wrong, I
learned
later. When I was outside unloading my car the rest of the
way of
bags I didn’t feel like unloading last night, I checked my
watch.
It read 7:15, and I thought, something’s wrong here. My
watch
does not adjust automatically for DST. When I checked my
laptop
time, I knew that the room clock was wrong and that I’d gotten
more
sleep last night than I had thought.
The Hampton Inn had its regular and customary breakfast bar with
the
now-customary waffle iron. My first attempt at a waffle
failed,
as it came apart during removal. After the room attendant
sprayed
non-stick coating on it, the second waffle attempt worked
beautifully. It tasted great, as did the small yogurt and
the
English muffin. Well, the muffin had been cut strangely,
as one
side was much smaller than the other. The Weather Channel
was on
the TV, but it was the national version, with no local
updates.
For that, I’d have to check the web or local TV. And there
was a
front heading this way, with thunderstorms along and in front of
it. This morning didn’t seem like a good time to go for a
bike
ride. Fortunately, I’d recovered the seat with a bag --
just the
cushion, not the back, which was mesh and didn’t need to be
covered.
Now that biking was out of the scope of the morning activities,
what
would I do? I’d already downloaded and identified the
pictures I
took on the way down and in Louisiana. I thought I
would go
to Baybrook, visit the Apple Store and check out the iPad 2,
then go to
Fry’s afterwards. So that’s what I did. I drove
through
Pearland on 518, remembering how empty much of the countryside
was when
my dad and I would return from the dentist. It certainly
wasn’t
that empty now! I found the intersection with Dixie Farm
Road,
which I knew would take me to the freeway. As I neared
Baybrook,
I noticed that the old Circuit City building north of the mall
had been
leveled; there was no sign of it now.
I parked over by Macy’s in my “traditional” location and went
inside. After making my way through the women’s clothing
and the
makeup areas, I was in the main mall. Soon, I was at the
Apple
Store, and there I saw the iPad 2 in the flesh. I picked
it up;
it felt lighter, and it felt different in my hand than my iPad
1.
But I wasn’t motivated to immediately get one. If I hadn’t
already owned one, I would have. So I left and walked
around for
a bit. On the other side of the mall, though, I felt tired
and
sat down. Perhaps my illness was flaring up again. I
didn’t
feel like going to any other store, and so I went back to my car
and
went down to Fry’s. It still seemed weird to pass through
the
Nasa Road 1 intersection where the freeway passes over the road,
rather
than the other way around. Soon, I was at Fry’s. I
could
almost always find something to buy there, but not today.
I
walked around through most of the departments, but there wasn’t
anything that I had to get
It was getting close to noon, which meant it was
lunchtime. I
thought I’d go to Laredo’s for lunch, but when I reached Nassau
Bay, I
decided that I didn’t feel like eating anything. I wasn’t
feeling
well, so I turned around and headed back to the hotel. As
I drove
back, the thunderstorms arrived. Along with the storms
came a
cold front; temperatures dropped dramatically. I was glad
that I
had two coats in the car, for I needed to put one on when I
visited
Walgreens for a bottle of water, a bottle of diet cherry Coke,
and a
bottle of Pepto-Bismol.
Back at the hotel, I holed up in my room, drank the water, drank
some
of the Diet Coke, took some Pepto, and lay down on the
couch.
Thus began my afternoon and evening of misery, where at times I
felt
hot and sweaty, and other times I felt chilled. I didn’t
feel
like eating anything; I’m not sure I would have been able to
keep it
down, anyway. Did I have a case of food poisoning?
Was the
catfish from yesterday causing me grief today? Did I have
something
else going on? I did not know. I didn’t do anything else
the rest
of the day. I didn’t feel like doing anything else.
Top
Tuesday March
15
I did sleep, though not very well. When daylight broke, I
went downstairs to the breakfast bar to have something to eat,
for I
hadn’t had anything since yesterday’s breakfast. I didn’t push
myself;
I went light, eating some yogurt and a muffin. Back in the
room,
I continued to rest for a bit. Suddenly, I heard the door
open. I sprang out of bed! It was only the maid,
grabbing
the used towels. Still, I was perturbed. I’d set the
deadbolt, and no one should have been able to enter.
Now I didn’t feel completely normal, but I was feeling better
than I
had been. And so I decided to drive into town.
Perhaps I’d
find a place to park and ride some of the trails that I wanted
to
ride. I set off on 518 heading west toward 288 and the
South
Freeway, which is what I would take into town. I turned
off onto
the South Loop, which eventually became the West Loop. The
intersections seem to have been reconfigured since my last
visit, and
there seemed to be a few more of them. I never remembered
an exit
for Westpark from the West Loop, yet there was one now. I
continued north until the exit for Memorial Drive and Woodway
Drive. As I drove down Memorial, I didn’t see any place to
pull
off for the trails. I continued heading eastward, looking
for
parking spots for the trails along Buffalo Bayou, but I didn’t
see any.
Now I was in downtown. No, I didn’t want to park
downtown.
So I thought maybe Hermann Park would be a better bet, and so I
headed
there. That turned out to be a mistake, for traffic in the
park
was really heavy. It was spring break week, I’d learn
later, and
zoo traffic was really high. I couldn’t find a place to
park in
the park! So I drove up Main Street back to and through
downtown
and maneuvered my way over to Memorial Drive again. I
turned off
on one of the side streets in the park. That’s when I saw
signs
that the main trail in the park was exclusively for pedestrians:
no
bicycles allowed. I wouldn’t be doing any riding here
today. Now it was getting close to lunchtime, and I was
feeling a
bit hungry. That was a good sign after my illness
yesterday. Unfortunately, I also had to use the restroom
rather
badly, perhaps an aftermath of the illness. The Memorial
Golf
Course had a Beck’s Prime restaurant in its clubhouse, and so I
decided
to pay a visit. I ordered a hickory burger and a bag of
jalapeño
potato chips, along with a bottle of water. The burger was
all
right, but I couldn’t finish it.
Since my biking attempts were thwarted, I decided to head back
to
Pearland. My first stop was the Barnes & Noble on
Broadway,
which was in the shopping mall there. I passed it by the
first
time because it faced in a direction where I couldn’t see it
heading
west, but I eventually found my way there. I had to visit
the
restroom a couple of times there (not good), but I also found an
Arcadia Publishing history book on Seabrook, which I had heard
about. It looked interesting, and so I bought a
copy. Soon,
I was on my way back to the hotel, but not before stopping at a
Walgreen’s for generic Imodium. I took two of those pills
once I
got back to the hotel. As I rested in my room, I heard the
door
lock turn. It was the maid again, dropping off washcloths
and
towels. This time, I hung the Do Not Disturb sign on my
door.
When evening rolled around, I was hungry for something, but not
anything heavy. I drove down to a Kroger and went inside,
getting
some hummus, flat bread, and a bottle of low-calorie
Gatorade.
That made for an interesting supper. Later, as sunset
approached,
I wanted to attempt to see Jupiter and Mercury together in the
sky
again. If the opportunity arose, I’d want to take a
picture of
the apparent conjunction. The opportunity did arise, for
it was
mostly clear as twilight began. I set up the camera on the
tripod. First, a couple of pictures of the moon.
Then, a
search for Jupiter -- there it was, in the west! And soon
thereafter, Mercury to the right of Jupiter. I took a few
pictures of the planets -- some were in focus, but some were
not.
The ones in focus turned out pretty well, I thought. And
now it
was time to start packing, as I’d be checking out in the
morning.
Top
Wednesday
March 16
Well, today I would leave Pearland. Fortunately, I had
gotten
a reasonable night’s sleep, and when I woke up, I was feeling
quite a
bit better. I had Cheerios, a banana and a danish for
breakfast
down in the lobby, and I started to load the car. It was
cloudy
outside, but rain was not in the forecast. Fog might be
down on
the coast, though. That was of interest to me, as I
planned to go
to Galveston for the day.
I had spent too many days being sick and tired. I wanted
to ride
my bike! And today, I had a chance. I checked out
and set
out on 518 heading east. Once again, I traveled down to
Dixie
Farm Road and turned to pick up the freeway. Traffic
wasn’t bad
at all; I wouldn’t expect it to be, not for outbound in the
morning. It seemed weird passing through the Nasa 1
intersections
and the 518 intersection, all of which were dramatically
different from
how I remembered them and experienced them for so many
years.
Later, I noticed where the new Hampton Inn in League City was;
I’d be
staying there the next four nights. It wasn’t too long
before I
was heading over the causeway into Galveston. Destination:
Seawall Boulevard!
I turned on 61st Street to head over to the seawall by the
quickest
route, and soon I found a parking spot around 59th Street.
I got
out and started to unload the bike and load up the panniers with
the
necessary bike tools and supplies. I needed to pump up the
rear
tire a little bit before I set off; once I took care of that, I
set off
on my trip. I got as far as the 1900 memorial before I
realized
I’d forgotten something important: my water bottle. It was
back
in my car. So I pedaled back to the car to retrieve
it.
Bottle in hand (or in bottle holder mounted to bike), I set off
again. The wind was not coming directly from offshore; I
had a
slight headwind to contend with. I was glad to have been
wearing
a jacket, for it was a little bit chilly with the clouds and the
wind. And if I got too warm, I could always remove it and
stuff
it into my pannier.
As I reached the 1900 Memorial again, I had a problem with one
of my
pants legs: it got caught in the chain and gears.
Fortunately, I
was able to recover and not tip over, but it was close.
What’s
more, I wearing a pair of pants that could convert into shorts
by
unzipping the bottom part of the pants leg. It was
necessary for
me to do this, and the unzipped pants legs went into the
pannier.
Onward I rode. Soon, I could see the hulk of the Flagship
Hotel
in the distance. But this time, it was different. It
was
being demolished, piece by piece. Never again would it be
a
hotel. Plans are to restore the pier to its original
function as
the Pleasure Pier. It would seem weird to not see the
Flagship
anymore; for me, it had always been there. I took some
pictures,
for this would likely be the last time I’d ever see it.
The seawall soon bent away from the coastline; I followed
it. I
followed the seawall all the way to the end, taking care to
avoid the
occasional glass debris. Off in the distance, a parade of
ships
were steadily heading out to sea. Some people came by, off
to do
some fishing. One of them asked about the bike, if I’d
made it
myself. No, I said, it was a commercial model, made by a
company
that no longer exists. I received quite a few comments
about the
BikeE today, and I even encountered another recumbent
rider. He
told me about his ride from Galveston to San Diego; it took him
eight
weeks. That had to have been a rough ride.
When I started to ride back, I rode at the top of the seawall
until it
came back down to the regular level, and then I made my way into
downtown through the UT Medical Branch. I rode past John
Sealy
Hospital and the Shriners Burn Hospital, places I’d heard about
for so
many years, places I hope I never have to visit as a patient but
am
glad are there if I must. I pedaled up and down the Strand
and
through many of the streets of downtown, seeing some unusual
sights as
a building covered with ghost signs and pigeons nesting in the
decaying
marquee of the old Martini Theater. I never saw a movie
there,
but the name was familiar to me from newspaper ads and from the
late
Houston sports reporter Anita Martini; her family owned the
theater. I’ll never forget her anchoring overnight
coverage on
KPRC radio during hurricane Alicia. And near the theater,
I saw a
mark on a wall and the name “Ike” written above; that must have
been
the high-water mark in that part of town during hurricane Ike.
I pedaled back to Seawall Boulevard and got back on the
seawall.
It was much more crowded than when I started out, so progress
was slow
at times. I passed by what was left of the Balinese Room,
the
Flagship, the 1900 Memorial and the nearby historical marker
(still not
repaired after Ike). When I reached 59th Street (where my car
was), I
decided to press on to the other end of the seawall. Then
I could
say I had biked the full length of the seawall in a day.
It
wasn’t all that difficult to do, really, although my rear end
was
beginning to get a bit sore. At the western end, I took a
few
pictures and then set back towards 59th Street. That
return trip
meant a return to the headwind, so it was tougher going heading
back,
but I made it. Now I knew that I was getting close to
reaching
100 miles of riding for the year; I thought I needed 24 miles to
be
sure of reaching it. But when I reached my car, I stopped,
short
of 24 miles. With the crowds on the seawall now, it wasn’t
worth
it. So I recorded my mileage and loaded the bike back onto
its
rack. As I pulled out, another car was ready to pull in.
It was around 1:30 when I left. I’d worked up an appetite,
and I
was finally ready to visit Laredo’s. After heading over
the
causeway, I went up 146, through Texas City, San Leon, Bacliff
and
Kemah before reaching Seabrook. When I pulled up, though,
the
Open sign in the window was not lit. Were they open?
I
tried the door; yes, they were open! I went back to my car
for my
laptop, and then I sat down for my meal. First came the
chips
with three different salsas: the traditional red, a pico de
gallo, and
a green, creamy sauce. While I nibbled on those, I entered
the
mileage from today’s ride into my log. Success! I
had
indeed reached 100 miles for the year today -- just. The
count:
100.01 miles. The chips were good, and the Laredo meal I
had
today was good as well, although I couldn’t finish it all.
There
was something different about the enchiladas and the beans,
though.
They didn’t taste like they used to. Now it was getting
close to
3, still a little early to check in at the hotel but not too
early to
start heading there. And so I made my way to the Victory
Lakes
area (FM 646 and the freeway) and spent some time at the Best
Buy. The store had an Apple section, showing the latest
models on
display, including iPad 2’s. But what caught my eye was a
small
hard drive that promoted an upgradable interface, suggesting it
could
be upgraded to USB 3.0 in the future. My current laptop didn’t
have USB
3, but future ones might, either directly or through a
Thunderbolt
adapter. And I was looking for a drive so I could continue
to do
Time Machine backups on the road. It seemed like a good
deal, and
so I got it.
The Hampton Inn was just up the street -- just up two streets,
in
fact. I drove there via the back way from the Best Buy,
and soon
I was checking in. The hotel was very new and looked
it.
Even the rooms looked fancier than other Hampton Inns I’d been
in. What’s more, my room had a shower, but not a
tub. That
was different, at least for Hampton Inn. The view out the
window
was to the north. Ahead was a small retaining pond, and
past that
the UTMB clinic. To the left was the Gulf Freeway, to the
right
the Victory Lakes subdivision and empty land. I could see
northbound traffic backing up, although I had no idea why.
Later on, I went out for supper. Actually, I went for
takeout at
the Wingstop, a place specializing in chicken wings. I got
a
combo of some wings, fries and a Diet Coke to take back to the
hotel. The wings were good, if messy; the fries, less
so.
The Diet Coke was Diet Coke, what else needs to be said? And so
I
listened to and watched CNN as I ate; the news was all about
Japan and
the nuclear reactor incidents.
Top
Thursday March
17
I had fallen asleep to CNN on TV. Suddenly, around 1 in
the
morning, I was jolted awake by something I’d rather not
disclose.
Was it a return of my illness from Monday? It seemed like it in
some
ways, but it felt different this time. It kept me awake the rest
of the
night. Later in the morning, I eventually obtained
relief.
I was tempted to blame the Diet Coke, which in retrospect may
have
contributed to what I felt Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning,
as
well as a previous incident. And so I vowed not to have
any
caffeinated drinks any more, not for a while, perhaps ever.
When breakfast time rolled around, I still wasn’t feeling the
best, so
all I had was a cup of yogurt and a muffin, which weren’t
bad. I
read my complimentary USA Today and could hear the Today show in
the
background; I couldn’t see it because the TV screen was blocked
from
view. Later, I decided to drive over to the Super Target,
which
was on the south side of 646. There, I picked up a few
necessities and then ended up going on a little drive. I
drove up
Calder Drive its whole length -- well, the whole length up to
Highway
96, that is. Parts, I’d never been on; other parts, I had,
and
they still looked familiar. The Safari mobile park was
still
there, but so were a number of new subdivisions. I
maneuvered my
way over to Newport and drove past our old house; it was still
in good
shape. I drove into town on Main Street, went down Highway
3 and
made my way back to the hotel. I was feeling a bit better
by this
time, though I was not 100%. The maids had been by; my room had
been
made. So I decided to rest up for a bit, and the rest did
me good.
While I rested, I was reading one or two e-books from my iPad
and had
some NCAA tournament games on the TV in the background. A
couple
of hours later, the problems of overnight were gone, and I
thought I
had a good idea how to avoid a repeat: no more caffeine.
The
weather outside was sunny and reasonably warm, so I thought I
would
ride my recumbent bike through League City. I prepped the
bike,
not bothering to bring a camera this time; I could do that
another
time. Then I set out.
I took a shortcut through a car wash that took me to Walker
Street. But I had to go south a bit in order to U-turn
north. The wind was at my back as I pedaled more or less
north
through mostly open field. I stopped at the light at
Highway
96. When the light changed, I started up again. I
passed by
new subdivisions and soon reached the civic center, home to the
police
station, library, pool and city hall. City Hall was torn
up and
under renovation; the offices had moved elsewhere
temporarily.
The library was much larger than when I lived here, but I had
already
known that. Otherwise, things looked quite familiar to
me.
I crossed Highway 3 and then the railroad tracks. Now I
was in
the older part of League City. There were the Little
League
fields. Over there, League City Elementary, both old and
new
buildings. Here, there was a hair salon in a house; I
think I
visited that salon a few times when I was a teen and still had a
lot of
hair.
I crossed Main Street and passed by League Park with its gazebo
and
playground. I made my way over to Kansas Street, which at
one
time was part of the recommended road between Galveston and
Houston,
and pedaled it to its northern end. There was the
cemetery.
There was the “treehouse” in the lot next to it (really a room
on
stilts); I went there a few times to play guitar with the guy
who lived
there. There was the barricade at the end of the road;
there
would have been an old bridge there many years ago, but it was
long
gone. Yes, this ride was bringing back memories for
me. I’d
want to do this again before I left.
I took Walker Street back to the hotel. The part of the
road west
of the police station didn’t exist when I lived here; it’s all
new. It also was a tiring ride, as I had a strong headwind
all
the way back to the hotel. But I made it there. Now
what
would I do for supper? I had a strong craving for Laredo’s
again,
even though I’d just been there yesterday. But after this
trip, I
would certainly not be going back during my vacation. And
so, I
made the drive over on Highway 96 (I must resist the temptation
to call
it I-96) to Kemah, and then up on 146 to Seabrook and Laredo’s.
This evening, I had a Special Dinner, which had two cheese
enchiladas
instead of one enchilada and a pork tamale, and a taco instead
of a
taco and a chalupa. But I decided to start off with some
tortilla
soup, minus the chicken. The soup was made from chicken
stock,
and I thought it was some of the best tortilla soup I’d ever
had.
The enchiladas and refried beans were not quite as good as I
remembered
them, just as I had thought yesterday. However, the taco
was
still good, and the chips and the sauces were still
excellent.
Now would I return? For the soup and the sauces,
yes. Maybe
not so much for the traditional dinners, though. It seemed
the
restaurant had changed on me. Did I still consider it my
favorite? I wasn’t sure. Then it was back to the hotel for
the
evening. It was time to watch more of the first round of
the NCAA
basketball tournament and to see how well I was doing in the
bracket
game set up by my friend David Horrigan (although I’ve won it
twice, I
would end up doing poorly this year).
Top
Friday March
18
I woke up for good around 7:30 this morning; it was already
light
outside. I’d fallen asleep to the basketball last night
and woke
up during a repeat of the Conan show, after which I’d turned
everything
off and properly gone to sleep. And now, after yesterday’s
illness flareup and my bike ride, I needed and got a good
night’s
sleep. I took my time getting ready for breakfast.
There
was no need to hurry. And when I went down to the lobby
for the
meal, the scrambled eggs, sausage patty and muffin were good.
It was cloudy outside, but rain wasn’t in the forecast.
Now I had
not brought along a camera during yesterday’s bike ride.
Here
looked like a good opportunity for another ride and, this time,
the
chance to catalog it. And so I decided to set out again on
my
bike. It was windy again from the south or southeast, so
I’d
likely have a harder time heading back to the hotel again.
I
brought both of my cameras with me for convenience; the larger
one went
into the pannier, the smaller one went into one of my
pockets.
Off I rode. I followed the same route as yesterday, except
I
didn’t cut through the car wash lot. I took a picture of
the
hotel and some pictures of its surroundings. When I
reached City
Hall, I took a picture of the renovations underway there.
Back
across Highway 3 I went. Today, though, I turned on Clear
Creek
Avenue and rode past the old post office, which was now a
banquet
hall. After taking some pictures in the area, I rode
across the
railroad tracks and made my way over to the elementary school
for more
pictures. I tried to cross Main Street at Kansas, where
there was
no traffic light; I got caught mid-street. Fortunately, no
one
ran me over as I walked the bike the rest of the way. I
pedaled
up to the cemetery, noting the many Japanese names I found
there.
Rice farmers from the early 20th century, no doubt. Then I
made
my way through the back streets towards the Butler Longhorn
Museum, the
old Water Hall mansion (Hall owned League City Bank & Trust
and
other banks in the area). I’d ridden my bike through these
streets as a teen some 30 years ago, and some of the sights were
familiar. Still, I was venturing down some of the streets
for the
very first time.
After a close pass of the creek, I encountered a park I’d never
seen
before. Heritage Park had been dedicated in 2008 (no
wonder I’d
never seen it before) and was adjacent to the Butler
museum. When
I was there, it was probably the Halls’ backyard. I
stopped for a
while to walk around and admire the park, which was nice, even
if you
could see the sewage treatment facility a short distance away
(couldn’t
smell it, though). Back on the bike, I backtracked my
route to
Alabama Street, then took it down to East Main. I rode
down East
Main to Texas Avenue, where I soon passed by St. Mary’s Catholic
Church, site of the K of C fish fry this evening. Not to
be
outdone, the Texas Avenue Baptist Church across the street was
having a
crawfish boil tomorrow. Then I started pedaling back on
Walker,
but not before passing by League Park again. I took a
picture of
a statue at Perkins Station; it was a rider on a buckin’ bronc.
Two
cheerleaders were also having their photos taken at Perkins
Station,
for the yearbook, perhaps. Then I headed back to the
hotel.
The wind was fairly strong out of the south again, so I had some
resistance as I pedaled onward. But soon, I was back at
the
hotel. 15 miles for the morning ride.
Now what would I do? I wasn’t sure my room would have been
cleaned yet, and I wasn’t quite hungry for lunch. So I
decided to
head up to the Barnes & Noble on Bay Area for a little
bit. I
wandered around there for some time but didn’t get
anything. By
then, I was getting hungry, so I went back to 646 and had lunch
at
Cici’s Pizza. The one nearest me back in Detroit had
closed
down, so I hadn’t been to one for a little bit. It hadn’t
changed, except this location was larger. I made sure not
to have
a drink with caffeine in it. Then it was back to the hotel
to
download the pictures from my camera, to work on the travelogue,
and to
rest up. Let’s not forget the NCAA basketball
tournament!
The remainder of the first round was underway, and I watched
several
games casually, not paying much attention.
For my evening meal, I wasn’t sure where to go. Spring
Creek
Barbecue? Looked a little busy. Other fast
food? No,
I wasn’t in the mood. I decided to go to Denny’s and have
the
prime rib & chicken skillet, along with a garden
salad. It
was all very good, although I couldn’t quite finish the
skillet.
Then it was back to the room for more basketball, reading,
websurfing
and what-not. Later, I turned on NASA TV for a while, but
when I
started to fall asleep, I figured it was time for bed (good
figuring!).
Top
Saturday March 19
I think the room was a little warm overnight; I didn’t put
covers on most of the night. I recall waking up one or two
times,
so my sleep wasn’t quite as sound as the night before, but I
managed. After I got up and showered, I definitely had to
turn
down the temperature in the room. I checked my e-mail;
among the
messages was one from Verizon encouraging me to get a 4G
modem.
When a mobile hotspot version becomes available, I will
seriously
consider it. Well, this note said that just such a device
was
coming soon.
Now what would I do today? Well, first I’d have
breakfast.
Today, I had Rice Krispies, a danish and a tortilla (interesting
combination). After that, what? I might be having
lunch
with friends. So I decided to go for a ride, up to
Seabrook. I wanted to ride along Todville Road, the
shoreline
road. As I did, I saw all the houses along the
shore. Most
were on stilts, naturally. A lot of them had to have been
rebuilt
post-Ike. Not everything had been rebuilt, though: the
Pappadeaux
restaurant along the channel was still an empty lot.
As I drove, I saw a number of walkers with numbers on their
chests, as
well as the occasional police car. There must have been
some
event taking place, though it wasn’t obvious what the event
was.
I continued driving up to the turnoff for Pine Gully Park.
Reading that book on Seabrook inspired me to visit.
Unfortunately, the road ahead was blocked, with a truck being
unloaded
for the Maas Nursery. I turned around. It was
probably just
as well; I later learned that the park had a $20 per vehicle
entrance
fee for non-residents, too steep for my liking. I
continued up to
the end of the road, which had changed from what I remember; it
now
connected to Port Road through side streets. I saw signs
for a
cruise terminal but saw no evidence of the cruise terminal as I
headed
west, back towards 146.
Back at the hotel, I took it easy for a while. I had a
chat with
one of my nieces via Facebook; she didn’t know that I was in
Texas. I exchanged messages with Rob Wohrer; we wouldn’t
be
meeting for lunch, but we would be meeting for breakfast
tomorrow. I eventually decided to set off for lunch on my
own.
Stomp’s was on 146 in Bay View or Bacliff; its burgers had the
reputation of being as good as those of Tookie’s. There
was
certainly a wait to be seated; I had to wait some 15-20 minutes
for a
table. I studied the takeout menu while I waited, and then
I
studied it some more after I got my table. So many options
to
choose from, but I just went with a cheeseburger. For a drink, I
just
had tap water. The burger had a nice grilled flavor, and
it
wasn’t bad. It wasn’t the Tookie’s recipe, though, so
anyone
looking for that would be disappointed. Then it was back
to the
hotel for more March Madness.
As suppertime rolled around, I wasn’t sure what I wanted for the
evening meal. I still didn’t feel like barbecue, nor did I
want
another burger. The obvious choice was to try the Panda
Express,
where I had fried rice, lo mein, orange chicken, an egg roll,
and Mug
Root Beer. My one-word review: meh. But does “meh”
qualify
as a word? Then it was back to the hotel to the accompaniment of
the
Underground Garage and the Ko Melina program. Then it was
time to
start packing up for tomorrow’s departure.
Top
Sunday March 20
Today, I would leave League City and Houston and head up to
Austin. First, though, I would meet friend and classmate
Rob
Wohrer for breakfast over at Skipper’s in Clear Lake
Shores.
Before then, I finished packing, had a small strawberry-banana
yogurt
from the breakfast bar to tide me over, and then checked
out. I
took 96 over to what today is the Columbia Memorial Parkway but
which I
knew as part of FM 1266, took that to FM 518, the Deke Slayton
Highway
(and home to a bike trail), took that to Lawrence Avenue and
took that
up to FM 2094, where I could see Skipper’s in the
distance. Rob
and I arrived at the same time (convenient).
As I left Skipper’s, my radio was tuned to Breakfast with the
Beatles. Today, the show featured songs by groups strongly
influenced by the Beatles, interspersed with the regular Beatle
and
solo songs. It was good listening on a Sunday
morning. It
would have been good listening at any time! Now today was my
last
chance, as a practical matter, to visit the special exhibition
on Texas
history at the Museum of Natural Science. I’d have to
return from
Austin otherwise. So when I drove into town, I did not
immediately set out toward Austin. No, I made my way to
Hermann
Park, which was much less crowded this Sunday morning than last
Tuesday
morning. The zoo parking lot was pretty full, but the lot
over by
the Garden Club was still wide open, and so I parked
there. The
museum wouldn’t be too far away. I left my cameras in the
car, as
I had a hunch photography would not be permitted inside the
exhibition. I bought my ticket as well as the chance to
use an
audio guide, made a restroom visit, and then went upstairs to
see the
exhibition.
The entrance to the exhibition was not well marked at all; I had
to
find my way through the start of another exhibit to find the
entrance. When I found it, I found my hunch was right:
cameras
were not permitted. I obtained my audio guide, slipped it
over my
neck, put on the headphones, and then started with the
exhibition. The first part covered the Indians who lived
in the
areas of Texas pre-colonization. Next came sections on the
Spanish and French, including a first printing of Cabeza de
Vaca’s
journals of his time exploring Texas. Spanish spurs, pikes,
helmets
were on display, even the remains of a crucifix from a mission
(the
cross was present, but the representation of Jesus was
not).
There were a number of French artifacts retrieved from the
shipwreck of
one of La Salle’s vessels in Matagorda Bay.
The exhibition moved on to the revolutionary period. There
were
documents from Stephen F. Austin, most successful empresario of
Texas. There was the “Come and Take It” cannon from
Gonzales,
which the Texans would not return to the Mexican army.
There was
an original printing of Col. Travis’s message to the world
asking for
help in defending the Alamo. There was Jim Bowie’s knife
that he
had at the Alamo -- Davy Crockett’s pistol and violin.
Farther
down, there was the report that Sam Houston wrote summarizing
the
Battle of San Jacinto. There were artifacts that belonged
to
Santa Anna, as well as the weapon used to capture him.
There was
an original printing of the military orders from June 19, 1865,
the
date that the Texas slaves first learned they were free.
There
were items from a Texas Ranger (lawman, not ballplayer) and
items from
Spindletop. There was a Mardi Gras gown worn by the
daughter of
Jesse Jones during Mardi Gras in Galveston in the ‘40s.
And
there, the exhibition came to an end. Next came the gift
shop,
where I bought a couple of refrigerator magnets and a
video. Then
it was time to leave.
I took a few pictures outside of the park, and then I set
out. I
made my way over to Montrose, thinking to take that up to
I-10.
It did go up there, but construction made it impossible to get
on the
freeway there. Driving over to Heights Boulevard then down
didn’t
help; the construction continued. So I gave up and went
down to
Washington Boulevard, which I knew would lead me to the freeway
eventually. The area had been cleaned up since I’d last
been
there; it was looking like a nice part of town. Soon, I
encountered an entrance ramp to I-10 and entered the
freeway. Now
I was on my way to Austin. I tried calling Keith to let
him know
I was on my way. His cell phone number didn’t work, so I
tried
the home landline. That worked. I later learned that
he’d
given up his cell phone, which explained why it didn’t work.
I stopped for lunch in Columbus at a McDonald’s, then continued
northwest on Highway 71. I turned on the Astros preseason
game
against the Pirates; things weren’t going well for them, as the
Pirates
were beating them soundly. Next stop: La Grange. No,
not at
the Chicken Ranch, but at Weikel’s Bakery, where Keith had asked
me to
pick up a loaf or two of bread - very good bread, I would learn
later. The store was also supposed to be a gas station,
but that
part of it was torn down, possibly being reconstructed. I
wouldn’t stop for gas until later on, not until I reached the
Travis
County line. Soon, I could see the airport in the
distance.
Then came the intersection with US 183, which would wrap around
to the
northwest and position me for the drive to Steiner Ranch.
I had
the GPS unit running, but I didn’t need it to reach my
destination. I’d flipped back to the Underground Garage on
the
radio, and I was hearing some interesting music, including the
Bee
Gee’s “Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You”, a song
I’d
NEVER heard on the radio before (I knew it from my collection,
though).
[Details have been removed after receiving a threat from Ping
the cat to barf in my shoes on a future visit]
Top
Monday March 21
[Not much happened today, for my knee was bothering me, and so I
rested it]
Top
Tuesday March 22
[Highlights for today: a visit to Chuy's and a successful band
competition]
Top
Wednesday March 23
[Highlights included a visit to Hamburger Hut (where hamburgers
were not consumed) and a trip to Fry's. This was also the day
that Elizabeth Taylor died.)
Top
Thursday March 24
Miles today: 537.1
Miles total (this segment of trip): 537.1
I left the house around 8:30, but I got stuck in heavy traffic
on
620. I stopped at the HEB at 620 and 2222 to pick up a few
things
for the road, such as some more peanuts, some cookies, some
muffins, as
well as an Austin newspaper. So when you consider the
traffic and
the HEB stop, I really got under way around 9:30. As soon
as I
could, I picked up the 45 toll road and made for I-35. I
made the
turn onto northbound I-35 and headed northeastward, through
Round Rock
and Georgetown, through Temple and Killeen and Waco. The
last
time I’d driven through here, in November 2009, was the day of
the
shootings at Fort Hood.
Around lunchtime, I had made it to the Dallas area, and now I
was going
around town on I-20 and I-635, heading over to I-30.
Before long,
I was thinking about lunch, where I would like to eat. I figured
I’d be
eating in Rockwall, where I’d eaten a number of times
before.
There was a Carino’s here, I remembered, as well as a Steak
&
Shake. Both were good, but today, I felt more like a
Carino’s
visit. I had the Spicy Shrimp and Chicken, one of the
dishes I
regularly get when I visit. Yes, it was good. And
so, with
a full stomach, I headed back onto I-30 for the drive to
Arkansas.
As I traveled, I bounced around the radio dial, as I usually
tend to
do. For old-time radio, I recalled hearing Dr. Kildare and
a
Studio One presentation of “The Return of the Native.” I also
listened
to 60’s on 6, Fox News, BBC World Service and the World Radio
Network
during the day. Soon I was in Texarkana, and then I was in
Arkansas. I still had a ways to go before reaching Little
Rock,
though, but once I got past there, I didn’t have too far to go
for this
evening’s destination, the Holiday Inn Express in Lonoke.
I made it to Lonoke at 7 and checked into the hotel, having
driven some
515 miles for the day. Not too bad, given the late
start. I
checked in and received room 314, or as it could have been
called, the
Pi room. But there was no pie in the Pi room. There
weren’t
too many places to eat close by; fortunately, the McDonald’s was
within
easy walking distance, so that’s where I went. Back in the
room,
I turned on the Weather Channel to check on the forecast for
tomorrow. The local insert graphics were really archaic,
seemingly never upgraded from the 1980’s; it was still all text.
Top
Friday March 25
Miles today: 537.9
Miles total: 1115.0
I woke up at or before 5:30 in the morning. In doing my
e-mail
checks, I also checked out the national weather for the
day. What
would I be facing on the road? Well, if I went up I-55 and
I-57
the way I had been considering, I might be running into freezing
rain. I didn’t care for that possibility. Now I had
another
alternative path, and that was to drive into Tennessee on I-40
to
Nashville, then go up I-65 towards Louisville and then I-71
towards
Cincinnati. That route looked better on the weather
maps.
There was the possiblity of rain, but the likelihood of anything
frozen
or freezing coming down was very small. And so, I changed
my
plans.
When the breakfast bar opened up in the lobby, I went
downstairs.
I didn’t have much, just some cereal and a muffin. I went
back
upstairs to brush my teeth and do my final packing, and then I
came
down to check out. It was 6:50 in the morning when I
started up
the car and pulled back onto the highway. Memphis was over
100
miles away, so I still had a lot of Arkansas to travel
through. I
drove through Brinkley and Forrest City, places I might have
stayed at
last night but didn’t. Soon came West Memphis and I-55, a
road I
wouldn’t be taking this time. My first gas stop of the day
came
at a station just east of where I-40 and I-55 split. It
was with
a full gas tank that I drove across the Mississippi River into
Memphis. Traffic wasn’t much of a problem at all; it
appeared I’d
avoided the Memphis rush hour.
It was a long drive between Memphis and Nashville; to be honest,
at
this point, everything was a long drive. There wasn’t much
on
regular radio, so thank goodness I had the satellites to keep me
company. I listened to a lot of the RadioClassics station
today;
sooner or later, they’ll always have a program of interest
on. As
noontime (OK, 11 AM in the Central time zone) approached and
passed, I
searched for the Rush Limbaugh show, but I wasn’t able to find
it until
I tuned in WLAC Nashville, and there’s where the dial stayed for
the
next few hours, as I headed into Nashville on I-40 and then out
of it
on I-65. Within an hour or so, I was in Kentucky, and I
flipped
over to WHAS Louisville to keep on listening to the show.
Now I’d thought I would stop in Bowling Green for lunch.
But
there was a problem with Internet access: my MiFi’s power button
turned
blue, indicating the device was roaming on a different
network.
That meant extra charges on my bill (or so I thought; I later
learned
that Verizon doesn’t charge for data roaming). I didn’t
eat lunch
in Bowling Green; perhaps a few miles down the road, I’d get a
regular
network connection. But I never did, for every time I
turned the
MiFi on, it went into roaming mode. Fortunately, when I
did stop
for lunch at a McDonald’s at a Pilot truck stop, the restaurant
had
free Wi-Fi of its own, and I used that to retrieve e-mail.
I also
used it to locate Louisville’s Apple Store, and when I saw that
it was
on my general path, I made plans to visit there. Soon, I was
back on
the road. South of Elizabethtown, I saw a sign marking the
Eastern time zone. Here, I changed the car’s clock one
hour
ahead. My watch would have to wait until later. I,
too,
would have to wait, for I had encountered a major construction
backup
on I-65 just south of Elizabethtown.
After I passed the construction, I continued northward.
Soon came
the signs of Louisville, including signs for their two loop
freeways. I was looking for the inner loop, I-264, for the
Apple
Store could be found there in the Foxmoor Mall. Now I was
getting
sore and stiff, and I was also getting tired; I had to make a
sudden
stop on the freeway when I wasn’t as alert as I should have
been.
It was time for a break, and I took the break at the mall as I
walked
around. No, I didn’t make a beeline for the Apple Store as
soon
as I got inside; I encountered it during the course of my
travel.
Did I see anything I wanted to get there? Yes. Did I
get
anything? No.
Now over the last few days, Keith and I had talked about
e-readers and
tablet e-readers, with the Nook Color coming up
frequently. After
seeing a recent article about how a rumored future update would
turn
the Nook Color into a basic Android tablet, I thought it would
be
worthwhile to get one as a potential experiment. I looked
around
the area for Barnes and Noble or Best Buy stores, but none were
nearby. Thanks to the Mi-Fi (now no longer roaming) and
the iPad,
I located both a B&N and a BB that were close by; the Best
Buy was
closer, and so I drove to the other side of the freeway
intersection. The Best Buy was still hard to find; it was
actually on a side of the strip mall that didn’t face the main
highway
directly. Once I found it, I parked and went inside.
The
store had a few Nook Colors; it also had some Amazon Kindle
e-readers
and some other brands. Now I had been thinking about the
Kindle
for a while; even though I had the Kindle software on my iPad, I
thought that the experience of e-ink would be worth it to
consider the
standalone reader. Which should I get? Then I
remembered my
bonus. I could get both! And that’s what I did.
Back in the car, I broke out my laptop to make a hotel
reservation. Given the time of day, I thought it best to
stop in
northern Kentucky and not go into Cincinnati, and so I made a
reservation for a Holiday Inn Express just north of where I-71
intersects I-75. I got back onto Louisville’s Loop (the
inner
one, I-264), observing a Chuy’s ahead of me as I circled up the
on-ramp. This would be the closest Chuy’s to Detroit,
possibly
motivating future trips to Louisville. Soon came the
intersection
with I-71, and I headed northeast. I continued listening
to As It
Happens on CBC, which I had turned on before I went to Best Buy
(the
Canadian government had fallen today, meaning elections would
soon be
called).
The drive up I-71 was uneventful. As I drove along, I
passed the
Kentucky Speedway. I passed a sign marking where a bus had
crashed in 1988, killing several people (I remembered hearing
about it
at the time). I passed interchanges that made little if
any
impression on me. At last came the intersection with I-75. Soon,
I’d be
at the hotel; it was located at the next exit. But I was
also
getting hungry. Should I check in at the hotel first and
then get
supper, or should I get supper first? I decided I’d get
supper
first. Supper, this evening, was a plate of 3-way chili at
Skyline Chili, 3-way signifying chili, spaghetti, and shredded
cheese. It was pretty good. In the background, TV’s
were
showing either the NCAA Sweet 16 or an ESPN show on the Fab Five
of
Michigan. The TV showing ESPN eventually got changed to
the NCAA
tournament. Everyone was waiting for the Kentucky game to
start,
it seemed. When I was finished, I drove over to the
Holiday Inn
Express, which was up on a bit of a hill or a rise, and the
entrance
wasn’t that easy to find. But find it I did, and soon I
was in my
room (room 136, no stairs or elevators) for the evening.
Now I wanted to open up one of the e-readers I’d bought earlier
that
evening. Which one would it be? I ended up opening
the
Kindle. I charged it, connected it to my MiFi and
downloaded the
book I was reading. I also used the Kindle to buy a new
book, an
alternate political history called Then Everything Changed from
Jeff
Greenfield. It speculated on how history might have been
different in three instances: if JFK had been killed in 1960
before
assuming office, and LBJ was president beginning in ’61; if RFK
had not
been assassinated in 1968; and if Gerald Ford hadn’t made the
gaffe
about Poland not being under Soviet domination. I noticed
that
the Kindle was much lighter than the iPad and could easily be
held in
one hand. The Nook Color would wait until I got home.
Top
Saturday March
26
Miles today: 276.3
Miles total: 1391.3
I woke up once in the middle of the night to use the restroom; I
woke
up for good around 5:30. That was too early for the
breakfast
bar, which opened around 7. I used the time to check my
e-mail,
the web, the weather, etc. When 7 rolled around, the alarm
went
off. I hadn’t set it; evidently the previous occupant of
the room
had. I attempted to download the current Wall Street Journal on
my
iPad; once again, the download went very slowly.
The breakfast bar here was in a separate room that was closed
off when
not in use. Otherwise, it was the standard Holiday Inn
Express
breakfast bar. This morning, I had a cinnamon bun, some
cereal
and yogurt. I didn’t get a drink, for there was enough
milk in
the cereal to cover that. When I was finished, I went back
to the
room to pack up and check out. By 7:50, I was on the road.
Traffic wasn’t too bad in Cincinnati, although there was
construction
north of town and in Dayton. It wasn’t bad in those
construction
areas, either, for this was Saturday morning.
I
passed the drive time listening to various stations: Soul Town,
MLB
Network Radio, and the 70’s on 7, to name but three. At
one
point, I turned on WJR in Detroit, which was now in range.
It
warned of lane closures on I-275 north of Ford Road, which I
thought
might hinder my way home. I made a note to myself to exit
at
Michigan Avenue and avoid the potential mess. Northward I
went,
past Dayton and Tipp City, through Troy and Sidney and Lima (the
fictional home of Glee). I stopped for gas at a Speedway
in
Beaverdam, right on the Lincoln Highway; this would be the last
gas
stop I’d need to make before making it home.
I continued northward on I-75, through Findlay and Bowling
Green, past
the large mosque south of Toledo and on into Toledo. This
was
around 11:30. Just before noon, I had made it all the way
across
Toledo and into Michigan. I didn’t have much farther to go
now,
around 45 miles or so. Would I make it home by
12:30? No,
but I did make it to I-275 and I-94, so I was very close.
I
remembered to exit at Michigan Avenue, and I made my way to my
house,
arriving at 12:43. I was home. Now came the
unpacking. First, the bike came off of the rack.
Then I
removed the rack from the car. It didn’t want to come off
at
first; I had to hit it with a hammer a few times to loosen it
up, but
it finally broke free. Now the garage door could be
closed, and I
could unpack at leisure. Had I left the heat turned up to
70
while I was away? No, I hadn’t; it was down between 60 and
65.
The cable box was still not responding to the remote control;
I’d have
to call for a service appointment. Now I could make out a bill
that was
due right away; now I could start the Nook Color charging in
preparation for its first use; and now I could rest up from my
vacation.
THE END
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Back
to Travels page
©2011 R.
W. Reini.
All
rights reserved.
Written
by Roger Reini
Revised
May 13, 2014
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