Texas, April 2004

Travelogue: Texas April 2004
Part 2

By Roger W. Reini

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April 9 to 17 (Part 1) | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th

I woke up, showered, had Pop-Tarts for breakfast, and checked e-mail. I also retrieved and saved stories about the Astros' win last night, for I wasn't going to get the paper. I wouldn't have time to read it. No, it was time for me to pack up and leave. It took two trips with the luggage cart for me to get everything loaded. While I was loading, a couple of other guys were checking out their motorcycles and preparing to load them into their trailer. By shortly after 9:30, I had checked out and was on the road. My first stop was the gas station at Nasa 1 and Walnut, where I filled up for the trip ahead. Then it was onto the Gulf Freeway and so long, hometown, for this vacation!

I wanted to visit the Central Market again to see if they'd received any Saint Arnold Root Beer. Fortunately, they had, so I was able to get three 6-packs. I also got a container of wasabi peas for munching on in the car. I drove past the Micro Center on the West Loop, but it would not open for another hour. Since I didn't want to wait, I got on the freeway and headed up to US 290, the Northwest Freeway, for the trip to Austin. The odometer read 77 miles before I saw the sign for the Waller County line; Harris County is one big county! It seems that the terrain was beginning to pick up a slight roll to it at that point, unlike the absolutely flat flatlands of the coastal prairie. By Brenham, the terrain was definitely rolling. I stopped in Brenham for lunch at the Dairy Queen. It would have been a shame not to have visited this Texas institution at least once on my trip, even though I don't recall visiting any Dairy Queens the last few times I'd been down. I got one of their steak finger baskets and enjoyed it while making some notes in my planner. I was recording notes from this morning's traveling, notes used in creating this travelogue. I even noted a place called "Continental Hairlines" (get it?), a hair salon. And speaking of things of note, last week at Baybrook I had seen a T-shirt with the Dairy Queen logo but the words "Drama Queen". I got a laugh out of that.

Towards Austin I went. I saw some bluebonnets on the side of the road, but I feared their season had passed. For most of the trip, I was listening to Sirius's "Outlaw Country" stream, which I thought was turning into a good channel. I tried to find the Pistons broadcast and had some trouble, for I'd misheard the channel number (I'd heard 143, but it was really on 123). But I eventually found it and listened to Mark Champion call the last few seconds of the first half; Detroit would eventually win the game. And speaking of Detroit wins, the Wings beat Nashville yesterday 2-0 to take the series, 4-2. Forget the talk of a curse caused by my April vacations! I eventually turned on the Astros game, and they were giving it to the Brewers again. Roger Clemens, who was my age, was throwing a dandy of a game, and he even knocked in a run to help his cause.

It was around 2:45 when I checked into the Homestead Suites in Austin. I had room 203, which faced west. Plug capacity was at a short supply in the room; I didn't bother hooking up my clock radio or the Sirius radio this time. Instead, I used the XM SkyFi boombox for my satellite radio listening. The room was similar to the Extended Stay America room, although the kitchen seemed larger; there was a lounge chair and ottoman instead of a recliner; there was only one desk for eating/working as opposed to two; and there were provisions for wireless Internet access. I tried to connect, and while the wireless connection was fine, I could not get a valid Net connection. This frustrated me to no end. What was worse, the dataports weren't working, either, so I couldn't get a dial-up connection! I could have used my cellphone as a connection of last resort, but I didn't want to do that. I complained at the front desk, but nobody could look into it until Monday. I wasn't happy with that. I called my friend Keith and left a message; I had digitized video for him. Then I went for a short walk around the area. I noticed that the hotel was around the corner from Threadgill's, a restaurant bearing a famous name in Austin history. I could hear the sounds of the Bob Marley festival coming from a nearby park. I crossed the river, then took Cesar Chavez (1st Street) over to Congress Street, crossed back over the river and saw a great view of the Texas Capitol at the end of the street. This bridge was also the home to hundreds of thousands of bats, and I wanted to visit it later that night to see them fly off to their nightly feeding. But first, I needed to get groceries, so I drove off to the Westgate Central Market, in southwest Austin. This store was laid out somewhat like the Houston store but with enough differences to confuse me for a while. I got some fresh-squeezed orange juice and some organic grape juice (red grape juice and red wine are said to be good for the heart, but as I can't drink wine, the juice is my only option), some munchies and that night's dinner, Diablo Chicken.

Back at the hotel, I put everything away, then set off for the bat viewing area near the Congress Street bridge, an area on the grounds of the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. The peak season for viewing the flyoff is in late summer, but this time of year is also good for seeing a significant event. I was not the first to arrive; there were plenty of others, and scores more arrived after I did. There were even people who camped out along the bridge railing, hoping to get a good view. I could hear continuous squeaking from underneath the bridge. And shortly after 8 o'clock, the bats did their thing. They flew out in large swarms. Those with cameras were trying to take pictures of them. I had my still and video cameras, and I was busy taking pictures. I was pretty sure my video would turn out all right, but I wasn't sure about the still pictures. I finished one roll and put in another; tomorrow, when I had the film developed, I would know how those pictures turned out.

After the bat fly-off, I went back to the hotel and heated up the Diablo Chicken. I ate my dinner to the accompaniment of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. And eventually, I noticed that I had another wireless network connection available, one called "arescom". I tried it out and found that it, too, was affiliated with the hotel. This one was able to make a good connection. Unfortunately for my wallet, this provider charged $9.95 a day or $39.95 a week for access. I decided to pay it, for dial-up was not an option here, and I really wanted Net access from my room, not from some other location such as a nearby bar and grill. Once the connection was established, things proceeded quite well.

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Monday April 19

When I woke up this morning, the "arescom" network was not available, meaning I had no Net access. But after breakfast, the network became available, and I was back in business. The forecast said there was a small chance of rain today; the skies suggested a larger chance, so I thought this would be a good day to view some of the indoor sights. Two highly recommended sights were museums: the Lyndon Johnson Library and Museum, and the Bob Bullock State of Texas Museum. The former was the presidential library for Johnson, while the latter was named for the former comptroller and lieutenant governor who died in 1999.

I decided to drive to the museums, for they were on the north side of the downtown area. On the way there, I passed by state office buildings named for longtime lieutenant governor Bill Hobby and former governor Bill Clements. My first stop: the LBJ museum on the University of Texas campus. Earlier, I'd heard an interesting story from Candy Silcott, my former English teacher: she had applied for an archivist's position at the library and had gotten the job, only to have the offer revoked due to a federal hiring freeze imposed by President Nixon in the wake of his re-election. She had to turn to an alternate job plan: become a teacher, and we know how that ended up. But if McGovern had won that election, or if there had been no hiring freeze, I would never have had her as my teacher. But I disgress... The museum had three floors of exhibits devoted to the life and career not only of President Johnson but his wife Lady Bird. There were campaign button collections, campaign posters, historic photographs and documents, etc. There were telegrams and letters from constituents; one nasty one from a Houston resident in the 1950's had two words: "[N-word] lover". A more positive story came from the family of a Texas serviceman of Mexican descent. He was killed in the Philippines in 1945, but his hometown's funeral home refused to handle the funeral arrangements due to prejudice. After Senator Johnson got involved, he was eventually buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The major portion of the exhibits dealt with his presidency, of course, starting with President Kennedy's assassination and Johnson's subsequent inauguration, and covering his major initiatives and, obviously, Vietnam. The second floor had exhibits of gifts given and received by the Presidents as well as a special exhibition commemorating Bob Hope, his relationships with the presidents and his many trips to cheer up the troops. On the eighth floor (the floors in between were the archives) were a recreation of Johnson's Oval Office and an exhibit on Lady Bird's life and times. All in all, a most impressive presentation.

My next stop was the State of Texas Museum. I would spend three hours there watching one presentation and one IMAX film, eating lunch, and touring the three floors of exhibits. The presentation took one through Texas history, starting with the first Spanish explorers and continuing on to today. The theater was rigged to provide special effects – the seats vibrated; puffs of air simulated grasshoppers jumping into your hair (that sure fooled me!); breezes and mist attempted to simulate the 1900 hurricane (they'd have to crank up the wind higher to really simulate it, but then people would be hurt). The IMAX film, "Texas: The Big Picture" showed scenes from life in Texas today, from the Alamo to Padre Island to the State Fair to Houston traffic (only slightly sped up). Then there were the exhibits, from the Indian and Spanish days on the first floor, from 1836 to 1936 on the second, and modern times on the third. One could easily spend more than three hours there.

I had a roll of film to develop. This was the roll I'd finished yesterday while watching the big bat fly-off. I figured I could find a camera store at a shopping mall, drop off the film and wander while it was being developed. I decided to visit Barton Creek Square, which was in the southwest part of town. Due to construction on 5th and 6th Streets and Lamar, I had a difficult time reaching Loop 1, the Mo-Pac Expressway, but I eventually did, and I made my way down to the mall. But when I went inside, I didn't find a camera store. There were photographers, but no places where one could have film developed. I really wanted this roll developed, so I left and headed to the Westgate shopping center, where I'd gone last night. But I couldn't find anything there, either. I then headed up Lamar back to my hotel, thinking I might encounter something along the way. And I did: a Walgreens store. The clerk said to come back after 6:30, so I left and went back to my hotel. There, I read the papers I'd picked up at the LBJ Library, checked my e-mail, and basically took a rest break. I noticed that the paper had coupons for Souper Salad, and I knew there was one not far from that Walgreen's, so I knew where I would be eating supper tonight.

After 6:30, I went back to the drug store and picked up the pictures. They'd turned out very well, indeed. Even the pictures taken at the Bat Bridge turned out all right. Then it was down Lamar Boulevard to the Souper Salad, where I had an enjoyable meal. This was Texas's version of the salad bar buffet restaurant – Fresh Choice, Zoopa, Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes are other examples in other areas. After supper, I went over to Borders and looked for a map of Austin that was better than what I had. I saw several, but I didn't get any. I figured that what I had was good enough for now. Then it was back to the hotel. Would I make it back in time to go and view the bats again? No, I wouldn't. If I hadn't gone to Borders, I would have. But I really had to go to the bathroom, so when I got back to my room, that's where I went. I checked e-mails, then listened to the Tigers play the Indians via the Net. I was able to listen to the Detroit broadcast. Even with the occasional dropouts, I was able to follow the action and cheer on the Tigers as they beat Cleveland.

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Tuesday April 20

When I woke up, the "arescom" network was not visible, so I had no Net access. This was getting annoying. After a couple of hours of waiting for it to appear, I called their technical support number to complain. That's when I learned that the Arescom equipment in my room was actually for a WIRED connection, not a wireless connection. I also learned that the cables on the equipment were completely screwed up. The wire plugged into the LAN jack should have been plugged into the DSL jack, and the other end of the cable should have been plugged into a modem jack on the phone line filter. Then I saw that the LAN cable was actually sized for a proper LAN connector. I had my cable and connected my notebook's network adapter to the box, and voila! I had a stable Net connection at last! Thank you, Arescom technical support! Unfortunately, my computer then decided to act up and not shut down properly, causing me more grief. I did resolve that problem, though.

Once the Net connection was up, I checked my e-mail. I got some surprising news: my sister and her family would not be heading from Arabia to Turkey tomorrow. They would instead be returning to the US for a few weeks to resolve some medical issues. At first, they would be returning sometime next week, but their plans changed and they were now scheduled to leave on Friday. It was a big-time tear-up for them, but I actually welcomed the news, for that would mean I might have an opportunity to go to DC and visit them while they were in town. Assuming all goes well with the medical issues, they would be heading to Turkey in a few weeks. I sent a message to my aunt and uncle informing them of this, and I sent a note off to my boss alerting him that I might want to take some vacation in May.

After all of that, it was time to head off for today's adventures. Although the skies were cloudy, I decided I was going to travel in the Hill Country today and visit Marble Falls and maybe Fredericksburg. My first destination was Marble Falls. I got there by following Barton Springs Drive to the Mo-Pac Expressway to 290/71 to 71 to 281. The drive up Highway 71 took me quickly out of the urban area and into the hilly terrain of the Hill Country. I didn't see too many bluebonnets on the way to Marble Falls, and I was disappointed. When I got there, I drove up and down Main Street. I saw a group of people standing around an artist and his easel; he appeared to be giving a demonstration of some kind. I didn't see any shops I particularly wanted to visit, so I left the way I came. When I got to the intersection of 281 and 71, though, I kept going straight, towards US 290 and Johnson City, for I wanted to visit Fredericksburg next. The skies remained gray, and though I saw occasional patches of bluebonnets, I didn't see any vast areas covered with them. Perhaps I'd missed peak bluebonnet season.

In Johnson City, I stopped at the visitor's bureau, picked up some information and a map, then visited the jerky store next door. My main purpose in visiting was to use their restroom. After I did that, I thought I'd sample some of their wares. The jerky wasn't too bad, but some of their hot salsa caught my taste buds' fancy. That stuff was good and hot! I bought a bottle before leaving. Back on the road, I briefly considered, then dismissed, eating at the Johnson City Dairy Queen. There would be better food in Fredericksburg, I thought. While traveling there, I passed by the LBJ Ranch, which is now a national park. I wouldn't stop there today, but I would consider it for future days. Onward I went, past the turnoff for Luckenbach, where "ain't nobody feelin' no pain," past the Grape Creek Barbecue establishment, and finally Fredericksburg. Main Street had a lot of stores; it even had a museum of the Pacific War, which commemorated the life of Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was from the area. Funny thing was, once I got there, I didn't feel like visiting any of those places. Then why did I go? More for the journey itself, I figure. I also wanted to see more bluebonnets than I did.

I was hungry for lunch, and that Grape Creek Barbecue place sounded like just the thing for lunch today. So I turned around and went back east on 290 until I arrived at the establishment, which consisted of a restaurant, gift store, banquet hall (under construction) and gardens. All in all, a nice place to visit. As I arrived, rain started coming down, so I took my umbrella and the newspaper I'd bought at the hotel this morning and scampered into the restaurant. I decided I would have a barbecue baked potato. Unlike the one at Joe's, this place just gave you the potato and a small dish of barbecue on the side; you had to put it on the potato yourself. I also got some pinto beans, cherry cobbler and a drink. As I left the cash register, the lights dimmed; the rain had turned into a thunderstorm. It was a good time to be off the road, so I sat down and enjoyed my lunch while reading the paper. When I'd finished, so had the rain. I visited the men's room and took a look at the gift shop and the gardens before getting back on the road. I took 290 all the way back to Austin. Once there, I stopped at a Best Buy, looking for a DVD: Paul McCartney's movie Give My Regards To Broad Street. It was regarded poorly by the critics, generally with good reason. However, the music was good, and it featured Tracey Ullman's feature film debut (although it was no showcase for her talents). But they didn't have it, so I left empty-handed and returned to my hotel for a brief rest, a visit to the restroom and an e-mail check.

Supper tonight was homemade spaghetti (or spaghettini, to be precise) topped with poblano pesto sauce from Central Market. It turned out pretty well, I thought. Then I thought I'd travel up to Fry's to look for the DVD. The Fry's in Austin is on the north side of town, near the end of the Mo-Pac Expressway. I braved downtown streets in an attempt to get to the freeway, but once I did, I was forced to sit in nearly continuous traffic jams for several miles. I think it took me 40 minutes to drive up there! On the way up, I was listening to Ottawa play Toronto in game 7 of their playoff series; Toronto would go on to win the game and series. Once there, I immediately looked for the DVD, and they had it. It was inexpensive, too: only $9.99. I also got a book, "Windows XP Hacks", which had a $15 rebate on a book costing $23. Not a bad deal, although the rebate was not instantaneous; I had to mail for it. When I left, I turned on the Astro game and tried to find the station that had the strongest coverage; sometimes, it was the Waco/Austin station, and sometimes, it was KTRH from Houston. I went across town and took I-35 back to the hotel, arriving in time to go to the Congress Street bridge and watch the bats fly off again. This time, I watched them fly from on top of the bridge. The bats were maybe 10 to 15 feet away, possibly closer, as they left their homes underneath and flew off in big swarms to the southeast. It was still an impressive sight! I saw five or six boats on Town Lake appreciating the spectacle. There was also a police boat there ensuring that order was kept, although they weren't busy. The flyoff was still continuing at low levels 15 minutes after it began; that's when I left. Before returning to my room, though, I went across the street to the Whataburger and got a Whataburger, which I brought back to the room. It was pretty good. I'd not had Whataburgers that much growing up, for some reason.

While checking e-mails (including some from work), I called up David Bealmear, friend and high-school classmate. We, along with Dale Fortenberry, were contemplating meeting and doing something together – an Austin un-reunion, you could say. I had suggested taking in a Round Rock baseball game; Dale had yet to confirm if he could make it. But David was willing, even when I said I would go to tomorrow's game no matter what.

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Wednesday April 21

I got up a little before 7 this morning – that's a practice that will change when I return to work, for that is the time I normally arrive at work for the day. I took it easy this morning, checking e-mail and reading the paper. I was hanging loose for an expected phone call from David Bealmear around 10 AM; the timing didn't allow for me to go anywhere. When the call came through, both he and Dale Fortenberry were on the line. Although the weather was cloudy, we all decided that we would chance going to the Express ballgame at noon. Dale would drive over from Marble Falls, while David would come down here to the hotel and make sure I knew where the ballpark was located.

We would all be driving separately to the game, for our ultimate destinations were in different parts of the area. Knowing this, I also knew I had to go and get some gas. I used the Web to locate the closest Shell station, and then I drove there for a fill-up. It was a few miles south of the hotel at South Congress and US 290. Not long after I returned to the hotel, David called from the lobby. I put away the laptop, packed up my camera, put on my Astro cap, and went down to meet him. As we went to our cars, he explained to me how to get there: just take I-35 to US 79 in Round Rock, then take that east for 4 miles or so. The directions were easy to follow, and I had no problem getting there. When we arrived, we waited several minutes for Dale to arrive. There was a chance we might have been able to acquire some free tickets, for a co-worker of David's had won some on the radio that morning but was unsure if she would be able to use them. However, when he contacted her, he got no answer, which he took to mean she would be using them. He got us some tickets right behind home plate in row 18. At last, Dale arrived, and we went inside. The seats were indeed good ones; you could tell with ease where the pitches were going. We weren't super-close to the action, but with a park that only holds 10,000 or so, every grandstand seat would be close to the action. Well, the stands in left field would be rather far from everything. Other than those stands, the park reminded me a lot of Olds Park in Lansing, home of the Lugnuts. Interestingly enough, today's Austin paper had a feature story on the unusual names that some minor league teams are acquiring, and the Lugnuts were prominently featured.

I had my good camera and both of my lenses with me, so I knew I'd be able to get some good pictures. In the second inning, I told Dale and David I would be leaving to tour the park and to get some lunch. I started walking around from the first-base side heading to right field. I saw a stand where Hooter's was selling chicken wings, but I decided to pass on them today. I took some pictures from the outfield, then made my way to a hamburger stand in left field. The concession lines were long, but I eventually got my burger and made my way back to my seat. In my absence, Dale and David had moved down a few rows where no one was sitting; they had gotten tired of climbing over people to get in and out of their seats. The game was a good one, with Round Rock playing El Paso. Round Rock led from the start and never relinquished the lead, although El Paso kept it close throughout the game. We talked of many things there, including last weekend's "un-reunion". But this would have qualified as an "un-reunion" of sorts, too. And we spoke of plans to continue the un-reunion with lunch with another classmate, Melissa Mayo, who as it turned out was working in a building very close to my hotel. But her current project had her working very long hours – close to nearly every waking our, by my reckoning. Would we be able to meet for lunch?

Before the end of the game, David's friend with the free tickets and her companion came over to join us. She took two pictures of us three classmates after the game had ended, after which I took my leave and visited the gift shop. I got an Express home cap, then visited the restroom before heading to my car for the long drive back to Austin. The drive was only 25 miles, but the traffic would get quite heavy, not only leaving the ballpark but also in town, for rush hour would be under way. And that was indeed the case. Now I had another roll of film to develop, so instead of stopping at the hotel, I continued on to the Walgreen's on Lamar Street, where I had had my film developed on Monday. I dropped off this roll and went back to the hotel. An hour and a half later, I picked up the developed pictures; they'd turned out pretty well. Then I went to the Borders on South Lamar for a look around. I came very close to buying a book on the rise of redneck rock (i.e., the Austin music scene from the '60s to today) but decided to pass. I'd almost bought the book on Monday at the State of Texas Museum, too; that must mean I'll eventually get the book, ha ha. Then it was across the parking lot to the Central Market for dinner. I ended up getting some lasagna as part of a dinner for two – or in my case, dinner for two days. The lasagna was pretty good, even if I did have to microwave it instead of reheating it the preferred way, in the oven (the room had no oven). I wish I could say the same about the Astro game, for they were getting hammered by St. Louis. It was ugly. I'm glad I saw the Astros last Saturday and Round Rock today! If the hotel had had the local UPN station on its TV's, I would have turned off the game and turned on Enterprise. Unfortunately, they didn't, so I couldn't. But with the high-speed access, I could participate in my weekly Tracey Ullman Yahoo! Group chat. We hadn't chatted last week, so tonight's chat was longer than usual. It also helped that I could stay up later than normal.

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Thursday April 22

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Friday April 23

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Saturday April 24

Sunday April 25

Monday April 26

Written by Roger Reini
Revised April 20, 2008

Travelogue: Texas April 2004 Part 2

By Roger W. Reini

Travelogue: Texas April 2004
Part 2