Austin and Wildflowers

Posted Thu May 4, 2006 in Travel

Teenagers! Sometimes they can drive a parent absolutely insane! Young Son is in the middle of his teenage years and in the midst of his teenage angst. There is also an expected amount of rebellion mixed into the package. He’ll get through it, like all of us have, and we all might survive the process!

Nonetheless, the process can be challenging at times. Tuesday night was one of those times. Suffice it to say that this old man didn’t get to sleep until sometime after 0300. So, Wednesday dawned bright and early, but I didn’t. I planned to ride Shadowfax to Austin for this trip, but decided at the last minute to go the easy route and take the car. So, the car needed to be serviced before a long trip.

That meant plenty of errands to run. So, errands were run.

We retrieved the Bimmer about 1300 and I returned home to finish packing while Wife completed her errands. It didn’t take me long to finish and I admit I was dragging my feet a little, but I was on the road by about 1400 or so. As I left Lubbock (Lubbock in my rear-view mirror?), I listened to the radio and let my thoughts drift away to the things that are before me.

Part of the reason for snagging a new phone before this trip was to compare Cingular’s coverage with my Sprint experience. So, I drew my Blackberry from its holster periodically to check signal as I drove. I also talked to Wife a few times and tried to call Daughter, but Daughter didn’t answer. In general, signal presence and strength was acceptable, even with me driving some of the Texas FM roads on my way south and east. I’m still adjusting to my new phone and headset, but I’m getting there. I really want voice-dial on my phone and am hoping that RIM makes that a priority, and a software update.

I stopped briefly in Snyder for a pit-stop then continued southeast along U.S. 84. I know this route by heart and can drive or ride it asleep. I really wanted to be asleep, but I stayed wakeful. Wife hates it when I nap while driving. :) I snagged a Butterfinger bar and a Pepsi while at the truck stop. They were both good. :) :)

My Blackberry vibrated fairly often with incoming email. I get a lot of email these days and it’s a good thing to be able to keep aware of what’s transpiring back at my shop when I’m away or out. I don’t always spend the day at the office and I’m not always around a computer. It isn’t absolutely necessary for me to have this kind of access, but it does keep me in-the-loop and make it possible to respond to some things in a more timely fashion.

BTW, the third-party application, PocketDay is an absolutely essential addition to the Blackberry OS. I has the functionality I tried to produce on my Windows Mobile device integrated into a single software package. If I keep my BB, I will buy this software.

Someone is constructing a new wind farm just south from Sweetwater, Texas. The big mills are sprouting like stark white trees from the semi-arid landscape. These structures are larger than appears. I forgot to mention that I saw a number of big-rigs on my trip to Houston a couple of weeks ago hauling windmill components. I’m not sure where those rigs were going, but a single blade must be at least 60-feet long. The towers are even larger. I wasn’t aware of the size until seeing them in comparison to the tractor on the highway.

I blew through Wingate and Winters in my usual infamous fashion, being careful to watch my speed after an encounter with a local LEO some years ago. I stopped in Coleman, briefly, for a pit-stop and to call in. It was about 1730 and the local folk were out and about provisioning for the evening. I saw a number of six-packs leaving the store.

I kept my eyes peeled for a photo-op, but nothing materialized until I started breaking over the ridges in the landscape north from Lampasas. There’s a ranch maybe ten miles out from Lampasas where I’ve stopped before. The light was OK, even if not gorgeous. The thin clouds diffused the light and changed the color slightly from the best afternoons. Yet, there were a few wildflowers about and the contrast of the goats and burros caught my attention. I reversed and returned to the ranching, having missed it the first time. I also wanted a cup of coffee so it was a convenient stop.

The header-image is from that set. I love images of the road; I never tire of them.

My mission complete, I motored on toward Austin, my destination.

I stopped, again briefly, in Lampasas at the local McD’s for a pit-stop and a bite of supper. While the food at McD’s may be nondescript, at least it’s fairly consistent. A group of young people were hanging out there. I wondered if they were locals. I smiled to myself on the way back to the car, thinking about how they would be thinking of me, an old man, as I passed them, smiling slightly. I would have noticed me way back when I was young, and wonder what the old man was grinning about.

The remaining 75 miles were a little rough. I was tired and it was getting dusky. Plus, the nearer one gets to Austin, the faster traffic moves. When I finally turned south on I-35 at Georgetown, I found myself running 75-80 mph just to keep from being run over by the heavy-haulers.

The La Quinta North used to be by Highland Mall, next to the Denny’s. They now have a new facility a bit further north, the old facility is now a Baymont Inn, and the La Quinta Highland Mall is just south from the intersection of I-35 and U.S. 290E. The Drury Inn was full, so I had reserved a room at the La Quinta Highland Mall. I should have snagged a room at the LQN and the new facility.

Austin is a busy, hopping town.

I called in to check with Wife and JW had called to tell me they have a practice CD for me. I’ve been drafted to fill in for Garrett on Sunday (the acoustic-guitar player in the praise band). They wondered where I was Wednesday night (we are usually at church). I called JW and let him know I was in Austin. He’ll get the CD to Wife so I can hear it Friday night before rehearsal Saturday morning. I don’t mind filling-in and I don’t mind short-notice.

It’s going to be a busy weekend, too! And then next week I’m off for Junction, Texas for a meeting and then to San Angelo for another meeting! Yikes!

Images from the drive down are on my gallery here. I’ll update the album if I find anything else of interest.