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Travelogue: Texas and More
September/October 2007
By
Roger W. Reini
By
date:
September: 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30
October: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Wednesday September 26
I
left work a bit early today, as I had no more meetings, and I’d done
all I could do on what I had to do. Still, I left my cell phone
on in case anyone was trying to contact me. I put my laptop bag
in the trunk and then tried to tighten one of the bolts on my HF (high
frequency, a.k.a. shortwave) antenna. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t
tighten. I needed a second wrench or pair of pliers, but I didn’t
have either.
I headed down Pelham Road towards I-94, stopping
for gas at one of the stations at Outer Drive. I was below a
quarter of a tank, so I put in over 13 gallons. The fill-up was
over $40, a possible first for me. Then it was down to I-94 and
onto the freeway heading west. Traffic was heavy, but it wasn’t
jam-packed. I turned on my XM Radio and bounced around various
stations. Initially, I listened to XM Home Plate and Charlie
Steiner’s Baseball Beat program. Later on, I gave a listen to the
new POTUS 08 channel, dedicated to covering the 2008 presidential
election. Eventually, I found myself listening to Soul Street,
which covers the 60’s and early 70’s heyday of soul music. This
afternoon’s program featured number 1 songs from the 60’s -- #1 on the
R&B charts, that is. The thing is, most of the songs also did
quite well on the regular charts. There were some that hit #1 on
both – perfectly understandable.
The weather was cloudy, warm
and humid in advance of a cold front. I didn’t hit any rain until
I was traveling down I-69 in Indiana, and even then the rain was
light. I stopped at the Indiana Welcome Center for a restroom
break and a Diet Mountain Dew. Since I was driving after a day of
work, I was rather tired (all the more so because I woke up early to
begin with – 4 AM or so), and I did not want to nod off behind the
wheel. The Mountain Dew did its job. And so I found myself
nearing Indianapolis just after 7 PM. I knew that I would be
passing by Fry’s Electronics, perhaps their closest location to Detroit
(their Chicago location is in the western suburbs, making it a bit
farther away), so I decided to pay them a visit. The location of
some of the items was different, but all in all, it wasn’t very
different from their other locations. I didn’t get anything
tonight, although I could have. I knew I’d have plenty of
opportunities to visit other locations, whether in Austin or Houston.
My
destination tonight was the Microtel Inn in northwest Indianapolis,
near their “North Loop”. I missed the street for it and had to
loop back through a shopping center parking lot, but I eventually got
there. The room was small but functional, which was all I needed
for the night. Download e-mail, read magazines, go to sleep.
Top
Thursday September 27
 
I
woke up a little after 4 again; I must have still been in work
mode. That allowed me to take my sweet time getting ready this
morning. I also wanted to take advantage of the breakfast in the
lobby, which didn’t start until 6 AM. The breakfast consisted of
chocolate muffins, bagels, juice and coffee. I had a muffin and
some orange juice before checking out and hitting the road around 6:20.
Traffic
wasn’t too heavy on I-465, the loop around town. An hour later,
that might not have been the case, but I was far to the west by
then. I got on I-70 and headed westward towards Illinois. I
turned on my amateur radio transceiver and listened; the band for which
I was configured (20 meters) was not open, so I listened to one of the
broadcasters on 49 meters, China Radio International. Before
long, I put on the iPod and my audiobook on language and thought called
The Stuff of Thought by Steven
Pinker. Now I was getting hungry, but I wasn’t sure where I
wanted to stop. By the time I reached Marshall, Illinois, I knew
I wanted to stop. At the local McDonald’s, I had a steak &
egg bagel sandwich, a hash brown patty, and an orange juice. I
was reading the Chicago Tribune,
mainly the comics and sports sections. I’d brought in my iPod
touch to use with their Wi-Fi system, but their Wi-Fi was not free. So
I didn’t use it. I could use my cell phone to retrieve e-mail
later (Powerbook connected through the cell phone, that is).
The
drive through Illinois was uneventful. For a while, I got tired
of the audiobook and listened to some of the songs on the iPod, notably
the Bangles and most of their Different Light
CD. I liked them back in the day and I like them now, and they’ve
aged very well – very well indeed. When I tried to play the
audiobook again, though, I lost my place and ended up at the
beginning. I was in a gas station convenience store parking lot,
fast-forwarding to pick up where I thought I left off. I think I
got it right. So onward down I-57 I went.
Around noon, I
was in Sikeston, Missouri, where I-57 ends at I-55. I had lunch
at Applebee’s (a shrimp and leaf spinach salad – yummy! A Popeye
special, you could say). I’d also brought my Powerbook and cell
phone in with me so that I could retrieve my e-mail. The
connection may have been slower than I would have liked, but I got my
messages and even sent a couple out.
Getting back on the road, I
decided to depart from my original plan to take I-55 down to where it
intersects I-40 near Memphis, then take I-40 to Little Rock. The
restaurant was a few miles west of I-55 already, so that helped my
decision to travel west and go through Poplar Bluff. Many years
ago, when we would drive from Texas to the Copper Country of Michigan,
we would go through Poplar Bluff and eat at a restaurant called the
Hickory House. I wanted to see if the restaurant were still in
operation or if any sign of it still existed. I drove through the
town on Business 67, but there was no sign of it. It had been
over 30 years since I’d been there, so I couldn’t be too
surprised. I drove down US 67 into Arkansas. At one point,
I stopped at a Wal-Mart to buy a tool set, for I really wanted to
repair that HF radio antenna. I did get the connections tight,
but now something else was wrong, for there was a completely open
connection – no reception, no way to transmit, no nothing. Some
more repairs were needed, but I didn’t have time for that now.
I
arrived in the Little Rock area around 5 o’clock, taking the loop
around the city to avoid downtown rush hour traffic. By this
time, I was getting hungry, and I was also getting tired, and I needed
to find a hotel for the night. Eating at the Dixie Café satisfied
my hunger, and bringing in the laptop let me make a reservation in
Arkadelphia (the connection was terribly slow, but I did complete the
reservation). And so that was how I found myself at the Hampton
Inn in Arkadelphia around 7:30 at night. It was fancier than the
Microtel Inn, thus more expensive. But I would be acquiring more
Hilton HHonors points that I could use for free stays at the hotels of
my choice. In the past, I’d used points to stay at the Hampton
Inn in Windsor, Ontario on the way to and from Ottawa, and I was
contemplating doing so again.
Top
Friday September 28
 
I
woke up around 5 o’clock Central time, took a shower and checked my
e-mail. Then it was time for breakfast, and I partook of Hampton
Inn’s very good breakfast bar. It didn’t have those muffins that
I really like, but I still liked what they had (different muffins,
cereal, sausage). By 6:45, I was ready to hit the road. My
first stop was 30 seconds later at the gas station next door, where I
filled up and washed off the windows. While doing so, though, I
noticed a spot that wouldn’t wash off the windshield. Upon closer
examination, it wasn’t a spot; it was a small hole, not visible from
the driver’s seat because of the rearview mirror. I would have to
see about getting it repaired. I would also have to monitor it
closely in case it started growing. I did recall hearing a loud
tap at some point yesterday
The drive through Arkansas on I-30
was unremarkable, and within an hour or so I found myself at the Texas
Welcome Center in Texarkana. After a bathroom break, I went
inside and picked up some literature for places I might be
visiting. These were places around Austin and Houston,
mainly. Then I continued westward, passing by the turnoff for US
59, the route to Houston. I’d normally take that exit, but not
today, for my destination was Austin. I continued westward for a
few hours, listening to the iPod, stopping for lunch at the Steak &
Shake restaurant in the town of Rockwall. I had stopped here in
the past, meaning the town, for I recognized the nearby Waffle House
and the lake. Once again, I brought in my laptop and cell phone
to check e-mail. While doing so, I saw an article that caught my
attention: second-generation astronaut to head to space station, to
paraphrase the headline. Reading further, I saw that the
second-generation astronaut was someone I knew way back when: Richard
Garriott, who had graduated from Creek two years ahead of me, had
developed the Ultima series of computer games and had become quite
wealthy. We’d also taken drama/acting classes together back in
the mid-70’s (friend Rob Wohrer had done so as well). He was
going to be a “space tourist”, buying a ride to the International Space
Station. His father had flown on Skylab and the shuttle and had
been the first amateur radio operator to operate from space.
After
lunch, I got back on the road and headed towards Dallas. I wasn’t
going to stop there, but I was going to turn towards Austin
there. There was no need to head all the way into town; I could
take I-635, Dallas’s Loop, to connect to I-35E, and that’s what I
did. Once I got onto I-35E, there was construction south of town,
so that slowed me up for a while. Eventually, the construction
ended, and the road opened up. It was heavy with traffic the
whole way down through Waco, Temple and Round Rock. I was
listening to audiobooks on my iPod again. At one point, Keith
called to see where I was and when I might arrive. I had to pause
the iPod in order to take the call.
When I reached Round Rock, I
got off at the exit for RR 620 and took that for several miles.
At the time of my last visit, I did not know that this road would take
me where I wanted to go, so it had me go into town via a more
roundabout route. This time, though, I was more confident based
on experience. A little after 3, I had arrived at Keith’s
house. I didn’t need to be talked in this year, for it was
daylight and I remembered enough from my last visit. Both of his
daughters were there, older daughter Hannah and younger daughter
Becca. Hannah wouldn’t stay long, though, for this weekend was
one where she would stay with her mother (but she didn’t leave until
after dinner). I brought in the stuff I would need for the next
few days, and I also brought in my collapsible walking stick. I
didn’t need it, but I thought Keith could use it, for he’d hurt his
back recently and had difficulty transitioning from the seated or
reclining position to the standing position. He didn’t need to
use it, though.
For dinner, we had a Middle Eastern dish, the
official name of which I don’t know, but it was composed of rice,
various meats, pine nuts and topped with yogurt (and a few more
ingredients that I don’t remember). We all ate in the dining room
– well, all of us except Ping the cat, who wasn’t eating with us but
did come out of hiding in the front room. Becca had to say hi to
him, and that marked the end of her supper. He would let me pet
him, although he did want to edge away a bit; I let him sniff my hand
first to put him at ease. Perhaps he remembered me from last
year. Later on, Keith and I went upstairs to the media room for a
South Park repeat and the start of Shaun of the Dead.
It was a bit chilly where I was sitting due to a fan blowing down right
on it, but there was a blanket there. That blanket may have
planted ideas of sleep in my mind (as if driving 440 miles wasn’t
enough to do that), so “pause” went the movie and to bed went I.
Top
Saturday September 29
I
woke up around 5 o’clock (6 Eastern, which my internal clock was
using). Since I had ready access to my Powerbook, I checked
e-mail, did some Web surfing, and downloaded most of the updates for my
Powerbook. One update I did not download was for
GarageBand. I had moved most of the support files for it to an
external hard drive that was back in Michigan, and I could not load the
update until that drive was available.
Our big event of the
morning was breakfast at the Magnolia Café in Austin proper, the one
west of downtown on Lake Austin Blvd. The drive there took me
through hilly areas that I’d never been through. At one point, at
the crest of a hill, you could see the Capitol and the rest of downtown
straight ahead. I’d been told to expect a wait at the Café, but
we didn’t have to wait long at all before we got a table. The
menu was extensive, and at first I wasn’t sure what to get. I
settled on an omelette with home fries and black beans as well as a
grilled bagel with cream cheese. Unfortunately, Becca was in a
lousy mood and was knocking things around – the family at the next
table over was very understanding and tolerant – so we had most of the
loose items taken away. One of the glasses of water got knocked
over – whether that was Becca’s doing or not, I don’t recall – so we
had a spill to wipe up. After all that, though, the food was very
good. It was very filling, and I couldn’t finish it all. I
only finished half of the omelette, so I got a box for it and took it
home.
We didn’t go home immediately, though. For a few
minutes, we drove around the rather affluent neighborhood along the
river, and then we set off towards the Zabalaoui’s favorite donut
store. Their chocolate-covered glazed donuts were magnificent, I
was told; I was not lied to, for when I had one of my own, they were as
good as Keith and Karen had said.
Earlier in our drive, Becca
had been listening intently to Renee Zellwegger’s recitation of “The
Tale of Peter Rabbit”. It had to be her favorite audiobook, for
every time the story reached the point where Peter was discovered by
Mr. McGregor, Becca would go “Uh oh!” She’d say “Stop! Thief!”
along with the recording. It was all very cute and darling in the
way that toddlers can be – when they’re not being crabby and fussy,
that is. Later on, we turned off the Potter (Beatrix, that is)
and turned on the XM. At one point, when “Strawberry Fields
Forever” came on Top Tracks, I explained how the recording had been
created – how two versions had been recorded, how John Lennon had liked
the first part of one and the second part of the other, and how George
Martin had been able to put them together into the masterpiece we know
today.
Our breakfast was more of a brunch. That, and the
donuts, meant no lunch today. We were too full! Keith and I
repaired to the media room to finish Shaun of the Dead, and then we watched Blades of Glory.
I hadn’t seen it before, but I was impressed. It wasn’t bad at
all. Now it was time for college football. Karen’s big
game, Ohio State vs. Minnesota, was an evening game. But Michigan
State vs. Wisconsin was coming up now. Who would be carrying
it? Listings were conflicting. It would either be on ABC or
one of the ESPN channels. In Detroit, it was probably on
ABC. Here, though, it would be on ESPN2. That also meant it
was in HD on ESPN2 HD, which looked fantastic on a 50” plasma
monitor. The game was a see-saw battle, but ultimately Wisconsin
prevailed. Karen commented on how nice it was to have someone
else who was into football in the house (Keith was not much of a sports
person). For supper, Keith and Becca went to Culver’s to bring
home burgers and/or melts; there would have been no time to go there
and eat in before the Ohio State game kickoff. I ended up
watching that game through halftime, and then I went upstairs to the
media room. Keith was viewing a Travel Channel show on the Disney
Cruise Line, which was of prime importance to him because the family
would be going on a Disney cruise next year. It looked impressive
enough to me, although I doubted I would ever go on one.
Top
Sunday September 30
I
woke up around 5 AM (6 internal) again. Not long after this, I
could hear Becca screaming for her daddy. I’d been told she would
tend to call for him rather than her mommy if she wasn’t feeling well,
and I thought that was the case, that she really wasn’t feeling
well. Later, I would learn that it was more of a Terrible Two’s
action (I’ll leave it at that). Whatever it was, she calmed down,
and I got some more sleep.
When I woke up for good, I had a
mini-breakfast of toast and juice to tide me over until our main
breakfast/brunch later in the morning. Becca was in a better
mood, and together we watched the Wonder Pets on Noggin. Now the Wonder Pets
was a Nick Jr. show for pre-schoolers where a duckling, a hamster and a
turtle team up to rescue animals in trouble. Not having
preschoolers around anymore (my nieces and nephew are well beyond that
age), I had not seen this before (and probably won’t again).
Our
big morning outing was a trip to the Monument Café in Georgetown, north
of Austin. Keith had recommended that I visit the place, and now
I was. This was going to be a big family affair, for we would be
meeting Renee and Hannah up there. Keith called them a couple of
times through the voice-controlled phone in the car to let them know of
our progress – or attempted to, for the voice control wasn’t always the
most accurate. But we made it to the café and got our
table. Our first table, though, was a booth with a chair on the
end; the hostess misunderstood our seating request, which was for 5
positions and a high chair. So we nursed our drinks while waiting
for another table to open up, one that could accommodate us more
appropriately. I was convinced to try one of the breakfast
options containing Kobe steak (an American Kobe, not Japanese); I
selected eggs with Kobe chicken fried steak and grits. I won’t
need any convincing to get that again; it was good! So were the
biscuits that came with the meal. There was a toddler mishap that
resulted in strawberries and cream all over the floor and a broken
container (oops!).
It turned out that we were near a Disney
Store outlet in Round Rock, and there were some things they wanted to
get prior to a trip to Orlando later in the month. So we all went
there, and while they looked for their items, I looked for possible
Christmas gift opportunities for my relatives. I found some and
bought them. It turned out that I paid far less than I was
expecting to pay, based on the tags that were on the items. So
that worked out very well for me. Then it was off to the
Children’s Place outlet with Keith and Becca, at least until I left
them to find the restroom. As I was walking around, I noticed the
Crocs outlet. Crocs were these plastic shoes that seemed to be
all the rage. I looked at them and tried a couple of pairs on,
but I didn’t really know enough about them to get any. Later on,
Keith and I went back there, and he got one of the clerks to explain
them to me. I should get them on the large side, she said, for
your body heat will make the shoes fit better as you wear them. I
ended up getting two pairs, one sandal-style and one a top-sider
style. I was told the prices here were a great deal compared to
normal prices at, say, Cabela’s.
On the way back to the house,
we spoke to brother David out in California, where among the topics of
discussion were the iPhone and the iPod touch. Once back at the
house, we didn’t stay long before heading out on a photo op tour that
I’d requested. I wanted to go on the route we took yesterday to
the Magnolia Café so I could get a picture of downtown from that
crest. Before we went there, though, we went past the Oasis, now
nearly rebuilt after its lightning-induced fire of a few years
back. I even got to see where the Hippy Hollow park was (a
notorious nude beach). I did get my photos of downtown as well as
the bridge over the Colorado River on Highway 360. By this time,
we were getting hungry again, so we stopped at the Hula Hut at Oyster
Landing. While we waited for a table, we nibbled on chips in the
bar area, and I could see the TV showing the Cowboys winning their
game. I noted with joy the score reports showing the Lions
winning their game. Once we were seated, we found we weren’t
super hungry for a big meal, so we split appetizers. Keith and I
split a nacho (very good), while I also had some tortilla soup (not as
good).
Back home after a long day, a photo opportunity presented
itself. Becca had brought out some of her toys and given them to
me, including a Bob the Builder hard hat and a fairy want. I put
on the too-small hard hat and held the wand, and I must have been a
sight, for the camera came out. Said pictures have now been filed
away for blackmail purposes (ha ha). Later on, after the toys
were returned, Keith and I watched last night’s season premiere of Saturday Night Live, which featured Lebron James as host and Kanye West as musical guest. James didn’t do too badly as host, in my opinion.
Top
Monday October 1
I
was supposed to be on vacation, yet I found myself awake at 5 AM
internally, which was 4 AM in real life. But I found the time
useful, for I checked e-mail and websites I usually check in the
morning. Later, I took a shower and had the leftovers from the
Magnolia Café. I finished the home fries and most of the eggs,
but I didn’t really care for the leftover black beans. I also
finished packing up, for I would be leaving today for Nassau Bay.
Not immediately, though. For a while, I helped Keith watch Becca
(they were between nannies), so I became exposed to the wonderful world
of “Go Diego Go”, another preschooler program that is not going on my
Tivo list. Later on, she said “Bye Roger” when she went over to
the neighbor’s for a couple of hours, which meant I wasn’t able to
officially say goodbye to her when I left around 9:30.
My first
destination of the day was the local amateur radio store in Austin, for
I was looking for an inexpensive temporary mount for my HF
antenna. After a few loops around the block, I found the store in
an older shopping center. When I parked, though, the store was
not open. Nor was there a posting of hours on the door, so I had
no way to know when it would open, or even if it would be open.
They could have been closed on Mondays, for all I knew (an electronics
store back home in Westland was closed on Wednesdays and
Sundays). Disappointed, I left and headed east on US 290. I
would now have to try Houston’s amateur radio store.
Based on
Keith and Karen’s recommendation, I stopped for an early lunch at the
Southside BBQ in Elgin. The interior was low-key and
non-descript, but to me, that conveyed authenticity. I could see
the meat market section, but I wanted the prepared food section.
I had a large chopped beef sandwich (no to pickle, yes to onion), some
chips, and Diet Dr Pepper. It was OK, but I thought Joe’s was
better. To be honest, I might not have been hungry enough for it,
for it was indeed early (I got there before 11).
The drive along
290 was uneventful, and I made good time toward Houston. After
stopping for gas in Waller, I headed into town. My destination
wasn’t my hotel, not yet. I was in search of a book on Houston
street names, and I knew that one of the stores that carried it was on
Bissonnet (it was locally written and published, and it wasn’t
available at the chain superstores). So I followed 290 to its end
at the Loop, then took the West Loop to the Southwest Freeway to the
Kirby exit. I passed by River Oaks Chrysler-Jeep, where my dad
had bought two vehicles, the second of which turned out to be a lemon
and the last Chrysler he ever bought. Then I turned left on
Bissonnet, and the Brazos Bookstore wasn’t far away. It was a
nice small store, but they didn’t seem to have it, so I left.
There were some other stores that had it, and I’d try those
later. Now, though, I would head to Nassau Bay and my home for
the next week. So I took Greenbrier down to Fannin, keeping clear
of the Metrorail trains along the way, then took the South Loop over to
the Gulf Freeway. The biggest changes I noticed were at Almeda:
the Foley’s was now Macy’s, which I expected, but the Penney’s store
was closed, which I didn’t. I hadn’t been to Almeda in many
years, and I expected that to continue.
Knowing there would be
construction on Nasa Road 1, I exited at Bay Area and stopped for a
restroom break at the Barnes & Noble. They didn’t have the
street name book, either, but I did get some magazines. Then it
was over to the Extended Stay America in Nassau Bay. I normally
stay at this hotel whenever I’m in town, but I didn’t last
November. The lobby and rooms had been remodeled somewhat – new
carpeting, new chairs in the rooms, etc. I had room 107 on the
first floor, with good southern exposure for my XM antenna. One
of the first things I did was to set up the SkyFi radio near the bed,
with the antenna placed above the screens in the window (it had to be
above, otherwise the signal wouldn’t get through).
After
settling in and unpacking, it was time for supper. Now where
would I want to eat? Barbecue was out of the question, since I’d
had it for lunch. The obvious answer for me was Laredo’s in
Seabrook, so that’s where I went. Southbound traffic on 146 was
very heavy as I turned in to the parking lot. But it wasn’t very
busy inside, and I was able to order my regular Deluxe Dinner and be
served very quickly. As always, it was very good. It was
also lighter than some of the other Mexican meals I’ve had.
Afterwards, I went to the Super Target in Kemah to get some food for
myself (cereal, soy milk, nibbles) and some Halloween candy to send to
my sister in Uganda. It was an expensive visit to Target.
Unfortunately, when the time came to pay, my debit card wouldn’t
work. I had to have it processed as a credit, which meant I
couldn’t get any cash back. On the way back to the hotel, I
listened to the tiebreaker game between San Diego and Colorado on
XM. The winner would move on to the post-season, while the
loser’s season would end. I was able to see some of the
construction on Nasa Road 1 before I reached the hotel and called it an
evening.
Top
Tuesday October 2 I
woke up briefly around 4 o’clock, but I went back to bed. I was
up for good around 6. I turned on channel 26’s (Fox) news and
watched it for a while. This was the second day for new
anchorwoman Sibila Vargas; I knew this from reading the Chronicle
website in the last few days. She was new to 26, not to the
industry, and she was very easy on the eyes.
There were bills
that had to be paid; I wrote out 2 checks and paid a third via the
Web. There was a package to Uganda that had to be mailed; I
prepared the box and filled it with candy, magazines and collected mail
that was coming to my house. But there was still a lot of room
left, so I put in newspaper to fill up the space. I had cereal
and Pop Tarts for breakfast, and at 9 I left for the Nassau Bay post
office. It cost $27 to mail that package to Uganda (actually, to
mail it to a mail collection point near Dulles Airport in Virginia)!
Now
what would I do? I had thought about going to Galveston, but I
decided that could wait a day. After not being able to visit the
amateur radio store in Austin yesterday, I did want to go to the one up
in Spring. So I headed westward on Nasa Road 1, which took me
through the construction related to the bypass. Perhaps it would
be complete by the next visit. Once I got through the
construction zone, it was smooth sailing through Webster, and I got
onto I-45 northbound.
My first stop was the Quarter-Price Book
Store on S. Shepherd in Houston, which was just north of the Southwest
Freeway. I didn’t stop there for long, though, because the store
was closed. No hours were posted on the door, though I recalled
seeing a web listing that said it opened at noon. That was
several hours away, and I wasn’t going to wait. My next
destination was the River Oaks Bookstore on Westheimer,
Unfortunately, I could not turn left on Westheimer, so I had to make
right turns and go around the block to end up in the correct
direction. I didn’t know precisely where the store was, but I had
an address for it. I passed by some familiar sights, including
Lamar High School. But when I reached the Central Market at
Weslayan without having seen the store, I was sure I’d passed it by and
made a big loop. I went up to San Felipe and over, getting back
to Westheimer by wandering through the River Oaks streets. When I
went down Westheimer more slowly, I found that the bookstore was in the
shopping center across from Lamar High School. It was a small
store but a well-stocked one. Yes, they had it, and I walked out
of there with a copy. I wouldn’t need to order it from the Web
after all.
Next stop: Houston Amateur Radio Supply in
Spring. The best way to get there was to take the West Loop to
the North Loop to the North Freeway and up one exit past FM 1960.
Traffic wasn’t too bad as I made the trip, and I eventually found
myself at the Cypresswood exit. Spring High School was on the
corner. Across the freeway was the shopping center that contained
the radio store, a Super Target and a Best Buy. I went to the
Target first for two reasons: one, I needed to go to the bathroom, and
two, I wanted to get some sunblock as well as get some cash back.
Unfortunately, I was thwarted again in my attempt to get cash back: out
of network, it said. That wasn’t true last year. Ticked
off, I cancelled the sale. I’d try Wal-Mart next. Next came
the radio store. I ended up getting an inexpensive mount for the
Hamstick antennas I’ve been using. It didn’t fold up like my
regular one did, but it was inexpensive. For emergency use, it
would do.
My next destination was one of two theaters that were showing the movie Across the Universe.
One was near the Willowbrook Mall, while the other was in town near the
Katy Freeway and the West Loop. I decided on the one near the
Loop, for that would be on the way home, more or less. I used the
GPS to guide me there, which it did with plenty of time to spare for
the first showing of the day. That was another reason why I chose
this theater: the first showing was at 1, while the other theater’s
first showing was after 2. There were several restaurants in the
area, but there wasn’t enough time to go to any of them before the
movie started. I ended up getting some popcorn, a hot dog and a
drink. Across the Universe
was a movie that was written around the songs of the Beatles, as one
might gather from the title. Many characters were named for
characters in those songs – the two leads Lucy and Jude, her brother
Max, soul songstress Sadie and her guitarist Jo-Jo (evoking Joplin and
Hendrix, respectively). No original Beatle recordings are heard;
instead, the actors all sang their own songs, and they did a good job
of it, too.
The movie was a little over two hours long.
When it ended, I headed homeward to avoid getting caught in rush
hour. Remembering my problems at Target earlier in the day, I
stopped at the Wal-Mart at El Dorado to get the sunscreen and attempt
to get some cash back. Once again, I couldn’t get cash back due
to network errors. As I did indeed need the sunscreen for my bike
ride in Galveston, I bought the sunscreen with cash, then attempted to
pull cash from the ATM. That didn’t work either, and then I began
to get concerned. Would I be able to get cash ANYWHERE? Or
would I have to ask a friend to cash a check for me? I stopped at
the Washington Mutual at Bay Area and El Camino to try their money
machine. Fortunately, I was able to withdraw cash; I wouldn’t
have to ask a friend to cash a check. But I was not able to avoid
the double ATM fee that I could have avoided were I able to get cash
back when buying other things.
The weather report had news of a
tropical disturbance of a gulf that could head this way for the coming
weekend. The forecasters were uncertain if it would become a
tropical storm or hurricane. If it turned into a hurricane, I
would have to be prepared to leave quickly, more quickly than most
residents because I wasn’t a resident. I would either head back
to Austin or head back homeward. For now, though, I would assume
business as usual. I got into contact with the Coneys, friends of
the family from way back, and arranged to meet them for dinner Thursday
night. It would be a late dinner because Linda Coney taught
students until 8:30 or 8:45.
Then I took a drive over to Fry’s
in Webster. I took a little bit of a “scenic” route, going
through League City, for I wanted to see what had changed along Main
Street. Not much had changed there. But there was now an
overpass crossing Highway 3 (the Nasa 1 bypass), and there was now an
overpass on the freeway just north of Fry’s, where the bypass feeder
roads will cross under the freeway. Different, indeed! At
Fry’s, I picked up 2 DVD’s and the latest issue of Wired magazine, and
then I thought about what to do for supper. Cheddar’s was right
there, but it was too busy, so I went up to Baybrook. My first
stop was their new Apple store. I wasn’t immediately in the
market for anything, but that will be changing in the future (my
Powerbook is 3 ½ years old and is showing its age). As for
supper, I stopped at Luby’s, but nothing on the menu appealed to
me. Nothing at the food court struck my fancy, either, so I ended
up going over to Denny’s. I hadn’t been to a Denny’s in a while,
not since the one close to me at home closed up. After a good
burger and salad, I went back to the hotel and called it an evening.
Top
Wednesday October 3 I
awoke around 4, went to the bathroom, and then went back to bed
(fortunately). When I woke up for good, it was 7:30. I had
cereal for breakfast while watching channel 26’s news. Today, I
was going to go down to Galveston and rent a bicycle to ride along the
seawall and through town. But first, I wanted to install that HF
antenna mount on my trunk lid. It took me around half an hour to
remove the old mount and install the new one. I’d have to examine
the old mount more closely, but I could see signs of corrosion on the
terminal connecting to the antenna. That could explain the loss
of signal I had seen (but it didn’t; I would later learn that the
terminal crimp had gone bad). There was no loss of signal with
this new mount, though; I was pleased to hear more signals than just
the noise of my car’s engine.
I got on the freeway and headed
towards Galveston. It was quite messy south of Webster with the
bypass construction, but after that, there was no more construction
until I reached Galveston. South of FM 518, I saw Alex Rodriguez
Mercedes-Benz and wondered if that had anything to do with the baseball
player (it sure did, I learned later; A-Rod did in fact own that
dealership). Further south on the freeway, near FM 646, I saw
even more signs of construction and growth. There was a Best Buy
near the Wal-Mart; a sign on the side said “Opening Soon.” I saw
a Home Depot that was open and a Super Target that was under
construction. Hard to believe that all of these new businesses
were opening up in my hometown. What would my late parents think
of all this?
At the Causeway, construction resumed. All
traffic was using the northbound bridge, while the southbound bridge
was being rebuilt. Traffic wasn’t backed up because three lanes
in each direction were available, the same as usual. I stopped at
the Target on 61st Street to use the restroom, then headed towards 18th
and Seawall and the Island Bicycle Company. I had found them on
the Web when searching for dealers that rented bikes. I found a
parking spot along the seawall right across from the store and went
inside. They had several models available, but I ended up renting
a basic beach cruiser – one-speed, coaster brake, balloon tires.
I hadn’t ridden a bike like that in a very long time. In some
ways, it was difficult to get used to it. I couldn’t spin the
pedals to put them in the best place for my feet when taking off from a
stop, and I frequently found myself grabbing for the hand brake levers
that weren’t there. But it worked. I rented it for two
hours.
My first destination: my car, where I retrieved my bike
helmet. Then I set off towards the northeast along the seawall,
in the direction of Stewart Beach. There was a decent headwind
the whole time, so I was getting a good workout. Once I got to
Stewart Beach, I kept going. I had to watch for glass on the
sidewalk, and of course I had to keep clear of the edge. I didn’t
stop until I reached the end of the seawall at the site of Fort San
Jacinto. Here, you could see all of the traffic heading up and
down the ship channel, out to sea or into the bay. The Bolivar
Peninsula was clearly visible. I spent some time here taking
pictures, and then I hopped back onto the bike. Heading back,
though, I rode on the north side of the road, up another seawall of
sorts. No glass up here! And the wind was at my back, so I
found it a very enjoyable ride. I then turned down the road for
the Bolivar Ferry, but I didn’t take the ferry. No, I turned onto
Harborside Drive and road through UTMB, the University of Texas Medical
Branch, and John Sealy Hospital. I then rode along the Strand in
downtown, stopping to take some pictures here and there. I passed
by the Rosenberg Library, which was undergoing renovation in
preparation for its centennial. I can remember their bookmobiles
that would visit our subdivision before the League City library was
built. Only the original building had scaffolding around it; the
newer building was untouched.
As I pedaled around, a
couple drove up to me and asked if I knew where St. Mary’s Cathedral
was. I didn’t know, unfortunately. Guess I must have looked
like a local – well, I almost had been at one time. Then I took
23rd Street down to the seawall, passing by O’Connell High School
(Catholic) and the site of an old Buick dealership that was now hosting
a T-shirt company. I would later learn that this was originally
Pennington Buick, built in 1950, and later Bill Brown Chevrolet.
Once I reached the seawall, I headed southwest. I passed the
Flagship Hotel and rode up onto its parking deck, planning to ride all
the way to the end – until I saw the sign for no bicycles or
skateboards. I did ride on a rock groin that stuck out into the
Gulf, though, and took some pictures. The riding was difficult,
and in some places, I had to get off and walk the bike due to the rough
surface. I even rode on the beach briefly before I attempted to
pedal back up to the top of the seawall. I say “attempted”
because I couldn’t make it with the one-speed. I eventually
pedaled all the way down to the San Luis Resort and the site of Fort
Crockett before turning around. At one point, I thought I would
want to ride the entire length of the seawall. Perhaps I will at
some point, but not today. I made it back to the rental place and
returned the bike.
The bike did not have a speedometer or
odometer, so I had no way to know how far I rode today (I keep track of
that). Fortunately, the route was such that I could drive it with
my car and get a good approximation of my distance. After
stopping at McDonald’s for a milkshake, I drove the route as best as I
could. It came out to 14 ¼ miles, not a bad ride at all.
Heading back towards the hotel, I saw that the new Best Buy in League
City had a sign “Now Open”. I made a note to come back here later
in the day. But first, I wanted a more substantial lunch than
that milkshake, so I stopped at Cheddar’s in Webster. It wasn’t
busy now, unlike last night. It was a casual dining restaurant
not unlike Ruby Tuesday, O’Charley’s, Max and Erma’s, etc. I
didn’t want anything too heavy, so I went for a grilled chicken and
pasta Caesar salad. It was quite good, but I didn’t finish it
because it was quite large. Then I looped back to the new Best
Buy, going through League City on Highway 3 and FM 646. I thought
I could get to it by going through Wal-Mart, but I couldn’t, so back on
the feeder I went. Inside, it was just like any other new Best
Buy, well-stocked with the latest consumer electronics and media.
They even had a special area set aside for Apple products – Macs and
iPods. The clerks seemed to be a little too helpful, in my
opinion, continually asking me if I needed any help. Frankly, I
got annoyed by it; this wasn’t the norm at other Best Buys. In
retrospect, though, it may have been first-day jitters, for this may
have been the store’s very first day open to the public.
I
didn’t get anything at Best Buy, so I went back to the hotel, but not
before stopping for a pop and a paper at the nearby CVS. Back in
the room, I drank the pop and read the paper (better than reading the
pop and drinking the paper), and I also started to charge my cell
phone. I even did a bit of work on this travelogue. For
supper, I walked over to the Luby’s next door and had a chopped steak
dinner. It was OK. One thing that was different, though,
was how you paid for your meal. Before, you’d pay as you
exited. Now, you paid as you left the serving line, before you
sat down to eat.
Before going to Luby’s, I tried listening in my
car for transmissions from one of the amateur radio satellites that was
retransmitting signals from the original Sputnik 1 in honor of its
launch, the anniversary of which was tomorrow. Unfortunately, I
was not successful in hearing it. I did hear the time signal
station WWVH from Hawaii on 15 MHz, though; normally, I would expect to
hear WWV from Colorado on that frequency.
Top
Thursday October 4
Once
again, I awoke briefly around 4 o’clock then went back to sleep.
I woke up for good around 6:30. Today, I would go someplace I’d
never gone before: the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, which was on
the other side of Galveston Bay. Now there were two ways I could
go to reach it: the southerly approach, going through Galveston,
talking the ferry to Bolivar and going up to High Island, or the
northerly approach, going through Baytown to Anahuac and down. I
chose the northerly approach, so I was able to go up 146 through La
Porte and Baytown and experience the major construction on I-10 east of
Mont Belvieu. I stopped at the 2 gas stations at the Highway 61
exit looking for insect repellent, which I had been told would be a
necessity at the refuge. I also got a bottle of water, for no
drinkable water would be available out there (the animals that live out
there could drink it, but not us humans). After a drive
through the Chambers County countryside, I found myself at the entrance
to the wildlife refuge. I signed in, picked up an information
flyer, then set off on my investigations.
My first stop was the
area known as the Willows, a stand of willow trees that is an important
rest area for all sorts of migratory birds. I got out to walk
around on the boardwalk. This may have been a mistake. Even
though I had applied –liberally applied – Off to my body, the bugs
still flew around me. It was incredibly annoying. At one
time, I knocked the hat off my head trying to chase them away.
They chased me back into the car. I wasn’t bit or anything,
fortunately. I then drove around Shoveler Pond, an area known as
an alligator hangout. After the incident with the bugs, though, I
felt content to stay in the car and take some pictures of the birds I
saw through the windshield. I then drove down to the East Bay
shore, encountering a big flock of cranes in the middle of the
road. They flew off when I approached, only to set down again a
few feet down the road. Eventually, they flew off the road, and I
could pass in peace.
The bugs weren’t too bad along the
shore. I could see Bolivar in the distance, possibly see High
Island and Smith Point as well, and I saw a cloud on the horizon that I
think came from the industry around Baytown. By this time, I’d
seen enough and decided to head homeward. So while Rush Limbaugh
played on the radio, I drove back the way I came, after driving briefly
through the town of Anahuac. I briefly considered stopping for
lunch at the local Dairy Queen, but I kept on going. I ended up
having lunch at Laredo’s in what would be my final stop on this
trip. I wouldn’t feel like eating there again until after I left
for home. I got a paper in La Porte, so I was able to read that
during lunch. The weekly local section was for La Porte, though,
while I would have preferred the Clear Lake local section.
Later
on, I drove over to the Borders on Bay Area and happened to find a book
on the Natchez Trace Parkway. At one point, I had planned to
drive down the parkway coming to Texas, but my plans changed. I
could still drive it on my return trip, though, so I bought the book
and went back to the hotel. I then took a shower and hung around
until it was time for dinner. Tonight I would be visting the
Coneys. I drove over to Newport, still a familiar drive for me
(how could it not be, having lived there for 20 years and visited
frequently thereafter?), passing behind our old house along the way (I
didn’t stop or drive past, though). Dinner tonight was ribs and
baked beans, along with cole slaw. Unfortunately, I thought the
cole slaw was mashed potatoes, so I took a large scoop. One taste
told me otherwise, and the scoop remained untouched thereafter (I am
not a fan of cole slaw). The ribs, though, were great, even
though I wasn’t normally a rib person (unlike my dad or my
grandma). We talked for a while after dinner and got caught up on
events. They’d just taken a vacation in China and traveled all
over the country (didn’t get to see pictures, unfortunately).
Daughter Diana is still in West Hollywood; I could have seen her while
I was out there last spring, but I wasn’t aware she was there.
Son David is buying or building a house in eastern League City near the
new schools out there; this will allow his children to attend Clear
Creek High when they’re old enough, rather than being forced to attend
Clear Lake due to where they live now.
Top
Friday October 5 Problem:
I woke up around 2:30 this morning with a funny sensation in my
throat. I instantly dissolved an Airborne tablet and drank it
down and started sucking on Cold-Eeze lozenges, fearing it was the
start of a cold. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much sleep the rest
of the night. I also noticed a bit of sinus congestion, which had
me wondering if I was coming down with a cold or being afflicted with
allergies. I had an allergy flareup the last time I was down here.
After
breakfast, I walked over to the nearby drug store and got some allergy
medicine along with some decongestant tablets, some throat lozenges,
and a nasal inhaler, along with today’s paper. I was going to
attack whatever this was hard, for I didn’t want to miss the football
game and Tookie’s tonight. I had nothing planned for the morning,
so I stayed in my room and took it easy. For lunch, I remembered
my chiropractor’s recommendations for Chinese hot and sour soup to
combat colds, so I drove over to the Pei Wei restaurant on Bay
Area. This was run by the same folks who operate P. F. Chang’s,
so I felt confident that it would be good. The spring rolls and
the soup were indeed good; the main meal, though, wasn’t as good as I
thought it would be. Or maybe I was too full from the spring
rolls and the bowl of soup, which felt good going down my throat.
Afterwards, I went across the street to the Barnes & Noble store,
where I happened to notice the next edition of “The Complete Peanuts”,
covering the years 1965 and 1966. I also saw another collection
of cartoons from Charles Schulz; these were originally done for church
publications of the Church of God (Anderson). Naturally, I picked
up both of them and planned to read them back at the hotel.
I
alternated between those two cartoon books while I continued to take
care of whatever I had; I didn’t really feel like doing anything else,
frankly. And so I passed the time up until 5:30 or 6, which is
when everyone was meeting at Tookie’s for a pre-game meal. I got
there first; Skip Hartley arrived several minutes later with his sons,
followed by Rob and Amy and her son. We got the first table
inside the door and proceeded to order our drinks and our meals.
I ordered a large Diet Coke, a #99 burger and a plate of fries.
Rob took a picture of my burger as well as his before we started
eating; he was going to post these online to our Yahoo group to make
the non-attendees jealous (he succeeded). As we ate, though, the
rains came. This was from a weak tropical system that was coming
ashore. There were no strong winds; it didn’t even qualify as a
tropical depression. That was good, for if it had intensified
into a named storm, I might have had to evacuate. There was no
lightning, which meant that the football game would continue to be
played. However, we in the bleachers would have been
drenched. I had my umbrella, but no one else did. Amy’s son
was just getting over an illness, and I was starting on mine. We
decided that we would forego the game. It was disappointing, but
it was for the best. Perhaps we could get together someplace else
this weekend, Skip suggested. And so we all headed for
home. I got into the car and turned on KACC Alvin, figuring they
would be carrying a game. They were indeed, but it was the
Alvin-Clear Brook game. There was no rain in Alvin yet, but our
rain would be heading their way soon enough.
Back at the hotel,
I tried to monitor the results of the Creek-Lake game. I found
that in the third quarter, it was 21-7 in favor of Creek (good!).
Then I got tired and prepared for bed. By the way, we won, 21-14.
Top
Saturday October 6 I
didn’t get a good night’s sleep, for my illness had transitioned.
The sore throat was gone, but it had become stuffed sinuses and a
cough. This told me that what I had was not allergies. No,
I had a cold. It’s never fun to get sick on vacation. I now
had to go and get different medicines, which I did when I went to the
Kroger’s on El Camino. I also got some more cookies and another
box of cereal for breakfast. What I didn’t finish here, I could
always take home. I got some Kroger equivalents to Nyquil and
Dayquil, alternating between them when appropriate.
Feeling like
this, the best thing for me to do was to stay in and get some
rest. XM helped keep me company. I listened to a repeat of
an American Top 40 broadcast from October 1971, just before I started
listening for the first time. I found it very enjoyable.
Then I turned on the Michigan State and Northwestern football game,
which was a close game that went to overtime. Unfortunately,
Northwestern won, which I did not find very enjoyable. Then I
turned on the TV and watched the Texas-Oklahoma game. Longhorn fans did
not enjoy the result, for the Horns lost to the Sooners by a touchdown.
By
this time, I was hungry. I hadn’t had lunch, so I went over to
the McDonald’s across the street to pick up some Chicken
McNuggets. It seemed chilly to me in the hotel hallway as I went
to my car; if I weren’t sick, I would not have been chilly. I
probably had a bit of a fever. I went through the drive-through
lane and brought the McNuggets back to my room. I didn’t go
anywhere else that evening; no, I stayed in to recuperate and listen to
the great Saturday night programming on 60’s on 6: Here and There, CQ
USA and a little bit of Wax Your Woody. By this time, I was
falling asleep off and on, so I took my Nyquil and went to bed.
Top
Sunday October 7 I
slept through the night without having a bout of coughing (a good sign,
I thought). I got up, showered, had breakfast and checked my
e-mail. I also started to pack up, for today would be my last
full day in Nassau Bay. But with the off-and-on rain and my
ongoing cold, I didn’t figure I’d be doing a lot today.
Now there were two things I wanted to do before I left. I wanted to see the movie In The Shadow Of The Moon,
and I wanted to go to Joe’s Barbecue in Alvin. Now I could most
likely see the movie when I went back to Detroit (and I did), but there
was no realistic way I could have Joe’s back in Michigan. Well, I
could have some shipped up, but that wasn’t realistic. So I
decided I would go out to Alvin for lunch. Now normally when I
went to Joe’s, I would get a big baked potato topped with barbecue (and
a lot of other things, too!), but I didn’t feel like that today.
No, I contented myself with a chopped beef sandwich, a bag of
jalapeno-flavored chips and some Diet Dr Pepper. It was all
right, though I might have enjoyed it more were I not ill.
As I
left Alvin, I noticed some new restaurants (Kelley’s Country Cooking,
Chili’s), and as I drove through Friendswood and League City, I
couldn’t help but marvel at the ongoing development – the new
subdivisions, the new high school, etc. I stopped at the Amegy
bank to get some money for the return trip, and then I went up to
Baybrook for a while. I didn’t buy anything, but I did try out
the MacBook and MacBook Pros at the Apple Store. Soon, one of
those will replace my Powerbook, still going strong after 3 ½ years but
showing its age. As I left and drove back to the hotel, I
listened to the broadcast of the Lions game on Sirius. It didn’t
sound very promising for the Lions as they were playing and losing to
Washington. After stopping at CVS for a pop and a box of Kleenex,
I went back to the hotel to continue to pack and to catch some
football. The Lions game was not on (mercifully), but the Texans
game was, and they were doing all right. In fact, they came from
behind to beat Miami with a last-second field goal! After the
game was over, I continued to pack, and I also did some work on this
travelogue. I even found some time to start watching one of the
DVD’s I got from Fry’s last week, the one on the Byrds.
Now what
did I want to do for supper? I wasn’t sure, not until I had the
idea to go to Fuddrucker’s. I could always go to the ones back in
Michigan, but the one down Nasa 1 was the very first one I ever went
to. It was the one that got me hooked. So I went there for
a burger. It was rather busy, I thought. But the food was
good, as usual. After I placed my order, I filled up a small
serving cup with some pico de gallo and nibbled on that for a
while until my burger was ready. On the way back to the hotel, I
saw a kittycat on the road near St. John’s Hospital.
Top
Monday October 8  
I
got up around 5 in the morning for the trip home. I still had
most of a box of cereal left, but I had dumped the milk, so no cereal
today. Instead, I had a Pop Tart for breakfast (actually, 2 Pop
Tarts – one packet), then finished packing and loading the car. I
couldn’t check out until after the front desk opened at 7, so I watched
the channel 26 news until I was ready to leave.
It was a
little after 7 when I checked out and headed east on Nasa 1.
Since today was Columbus Day, the space center would be closed, so
traffic was probably lighter than normal. But there were
contractors who were still working, and I talked to someone (WA5ARI)
who was heading into work. I mentioned that I worked for Ford,
which prompted praise from him for his 1993 Explorer, which has over
260,000 miles on it with few problems. I had to end the QSO when
traffic got heavier and I needed to concentrate on driving. By
this time, I was on 146 heading towards Baytown and I-10. I went
up Garth Road to get onto the freeway, remembering my driving
experience from last Thursday. This took me by San Jacinto Mall,
home in the 1980’s to a restaurant in its food court that sold baked
potatoes. It was all quiet now at this time of the morning,
naturally.
When I left, it had been mostly cloudy. Now, as
I drove through Chambers County, it became foggy. The fog had
lifted by Beaumont, but clouds remained. And so I drove into
Louisiana, listening to a mini-marathon of episodes of “Yours Truly,
Johnny Dollar” on XM’s Old Time Radio channel (mini-marathon meaning a
strip of a week’s worth of 15-minutes episodes). Now as I drove
along, I had a decision to make. Did I want to attempt to drive
the Natchez Trace Parkway, or should I drive straight on through and
try to make it home as quickly as possible? There would be no
decision necessary were I healthy; I’d drive the parkway. Did I
feel up to it now, though? I thought about it as I continued to
listen to the OTR channel – “Tales of the Texas Rangers” and a
“Cavalcade of America” program about Bob Hope’s first WWII trip to the
troops. By Baton Rouge, I’d made up my mind: I would try
the parkway. I drove through Baton Rouge on I-110 and out of it
on US 61. In St. Francisville, I stopped for lunch at McDonald’s
hoping to check e-mail. However, I couldn’t, for I was out of
T-Mobile range.
I soon found myself in Natchez. I didn’t
visit the historic areas in town along the Mississippi (no time),
choosing instead to immediately pick up the parkway. I had the
guidebook I bought last week to tell me what sights I would be seeing
as I drove along the highway. With the speed limit of 50 and my
stopping at many of these sites and sights, I didn’t make a lot
of time on this segment. But that wasn’t the point. I got
to see and walk sections of the original Natchez Trace, the old trail
blazed by animals, then used by Indians, boatmen walking home after
selling their non-powered boats in the days before the steamship, and
by soldiers heading to the Battle of New Orleans. I walked up an
ancient Indian mound used for ceremonies. I saw old springs and
the remnants of a waterfall.
My XM tuner got a workout
today. For a while, I listened to Sonic Theater for the tail end
of a reading of “The Twelve Caesars”, the start of a reading of “Carry
On, Jeeves”, and episodes of Sherlock Holmes and Harry Nile. Then
I put it on MLB Home Plate for a while, then flipped over to Fine
Tuning and Escape. Escape played beautiful music, what one would
have heard on KODA in its prime. I wouldn’t have been caught dead
listening to this music in my school days, but it was soothing.
It was until I got tired of it and changed the channel, that is.
As
I neared Jackson, I decided to exit the parkway and stop for gas.
I exited onto I-20 and found the first gas station. After filling
up, I checked for hotels in the area, mainly Microtels and Hampton
Inns. The closest Microtel was on the other side of town, but
there was a Hampton within 2 miles of where I was. I might have
been able to go a little farther, but the next town along the parkway
was farther way than I would have liked. So I called it a day and
made a reservation at the Hampton Inn in Clinton, MS. When the
time came for supper, I drove towards an Applebee’s that I had seen
driving in, but when I arrived there, I saw a local restaurant next
door, the Froghead Grill, and decided to go there instead. I
could go to Applebee’s any time (I live a half-mile from one), but this
might be my only chance to go to the Froghead Grill. I wasn’t
disappointed. I had what I thought was a French dip sandwich but
which I later learned was that evening’s special that I’d been given
accidentally. It was still good. The homemade chips that
came along with it were substantial and filling. I couldn’t eat
them all. Then it was back to the hotel to watch the baseball
playoffs for a while before I called it a day.
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Tuesday October 9
 
Top
Wednesday October 10
On
this last day of travel, I woke up around 5 or 5:30 and got ready to
travel – take medicine, check e-mail, etc. I loaded up the car,
then had breakfast in the lobby (cereal and a muffin) before checking
out and hitting the highway. It was 6:42 when I left, and the sky
was rapidly brightening in the east. It was clear, so eventually
I put on the sunglasses. I turned on XM 2, which today featured
the latest episode of Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour (today’s theme:
California). Somewhere south of Elizabethtown, I crossed the
boundary for the Eastern Time Zone and reset the clock in the car (I
wouldn’t reset my watch until later in the afternoon). I stopped
for restroom and refreshment at the Love’s Truck Stop south of
Louisville, then took I-265 around Louisville. I had last been
here in May on a business trip to Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant.
Today, though, I drove right on by and got onto I-71. I stopped
for gas in the little town of Glencoe off the freeway. As I
continued driving homeward, I listened to CNN and occasionally tried to
tune in WJR for news about Chrysler. Would the union go on
strike? Around 11:30, the answer become clear: they would, and
they did.
As I went farther north, the air got chillier.
Goodbye, shorts and Hawaiian shirts; hello, pants and jacket.
Near Cincinnati, the skies were still clear; near Dayton, though,
they’d clouded up and would remain cloudy for the rest of the
way. At one point, I turned on Sonic Theater and listened to a
reading of The Twelve Caesars (a major source for the novel and miniseries I, Claudius).
Eventually, I stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s in Findlay. The
remainder of the drive was uneventful, and after successfully
navigating through Toledo and Monroe, I arrived home at 4:20 PM.
The
unpacking started. But not all at once, though; I brought a few
bags in and dumped some garbage. I then retrieved my mail, where
I had a big pile waiting for me. I looked through it for three
bills that had not arrived before I left but which I knew were coming
due shortly. I found them and set them aside for later
action. Then came more unpacking and the emptying of suitcases
and the filling of laundry baskets.
Unlike previous trips, I
would be going to work tomorrow. Ordinarily, I would arrive home
on a Saturday or late Friday, giving me Sunday to rest up. This
time, though, I couldn’t take advantage of that third weekend of the
trip. However, tomorrow would be an unusual day, because I would
be at SAE offices in Troy all day, either chairing a committee meeting
or summarizing what happened at the meeting. Friday would be the
first “real” work day, and then I’d have a whole weekend to recover (ha
ha).
Top
THE END
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Back
to Travels page
©2007
R. W. Reini.
All
rights reserved.
Map images based on Google Maps.
Written
by Roger Reini
RevisedApril 20, 2008
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