Texas Time

I don't  know what it is about Texas, but I really enjoy being in this state. Maybe it's because on my last trip, I was in Oklahoma for so long, and disliked it so much by the time I got into Texas, that Texas just seemed like a magical awesome place. But as soon as I drove into the state yesterday, I felt happy. I wasn't even driving through awesome landscapes, or picturesque small towns. Route 80 for most of the time through Texas had a speed limit of 70 mph, and felt an awful lot like an interstate. Maybe it's since the state is so big and unknown and there are so many options of where to go. I could spend a month just driving around Texas. Maybe I just like the cowboy culture. There's so much history regarding cowboys (and girls), from cattle drives to rodeos. Cowboys are so appealing.

Whatever it is, in the end, I've spent too much time in Texas for this particular trip. I laugh at myself to think I was going to make it to San Diego today (Tuesday). Or that I was going to be in Tuscon by Saturday. Ha, Tuscon is at least two days away, and I won't see San Diego until Friday. ​(But, that's really okay with me. If I had gone all the way across the country in just four days, I don't think I would want to keep driving. This way, even though I've been driving a lot, I've also been getting out and doing things enough as well. Helps to break it up and not make me hate my car.)

​Big Dave and I

I pulled into Fort Worth Sunday night, and am now leaving Tuesday morning. I've stayed in two different hotels, tried some delicious local beers (Flying Saucer, I will be coming back to you!), ​watched a cattle drive, got a sunburn, bought a cowboy hat, sat on a longhorn cattle named Big Dave, became dehydrated in the almost 90° heat, watched the Bruins lose a game then win game 7, and wished that I could stay longer. It's been a good last few days, even though most of the day yesterday I was dealing with an intense headache that would just not go away. It would be a fun town to come back to again when not feeling sick, and even more fun to come with someone else. Riding a mechanical bull just isn't that fun when no one you know is there to watch! 

Driving, driving, driving

I'm a fan of road trips, but I dislike long drives. And long drives are what I'm doing right now. It's hard for me to keep driving. I just want to stop ​and see things and talk to people and not drive forever. But, I do want to make it to California with enough time to really enjoy my drive up the Pacific Coast. I'd like to spend two weeks driving up the Pacific without feeling rushed at all. So I'm torn at the moment. yesterday I drove for about 8 hours total. Now, I know some people will read that and think to themselves "psh, that's nothing, I've driven more than that in a day!" but to me, that's a lot of driving to do. Especially by myself. Especially since I get antsy, and tend to pee a lot when I drive since I drink a lot while I'm driving. 

I have insisted on staying off the interstates as much as possible, despite how much faster I could get places if I just hopped onto the 4-lane, 70 mph interstate. But, interstates bore me. There's nothing to see, nothing to stop at to pee besides rest stops. ​Just road that goes on forever. At least on the smaller 2-lane highways the speed limit is still typically 55 mph, except when driving through towns. And there is so much more to see! I can people watch, check out the changing scenery, and it gives me plenty to think about. How different people live; the ever changing economy that's evident in boarded up buildings; how gas used to be less than $2; how much the deep south is not the part of the country I want to live in.

​Since yesterday morning, I've driven through Georgia, Alabama, and am now currently in Mississippi. I'll make it through MS, and most likely Louisiana today. I've done most of my driving on Route 80. It used to be part of the Dixie Overland Highway, and was originally a cross-country route. Unfortunately, it'll start to break up on me once I'm in Texas. Apparently it isn't very consistent past Dallas, at least according to its wikipedia site. But, the road trip books I'm using help guide me along the way, avoiding the interstates as much as possible. 

Oh right, I was going to talk about driving through the deep south. It's steeped in history, what with the Civil Rights movement, Civil War, and so on. It's also very beautiful. Alabama wasn't lying with its motto: Alabama the Beautiful. Slightly rolling hills; tall green trees different from ones at home; peach orchards (mostly in GA and AL)​; sunshiny, cloudy but blue skies, small churches scattered about. Extremely picturesque. And steeped in history But, also kind of boring. All of that beauty ends up blending together when there isn't a whole lot to break it up. Mississippi so far has kept me entertained, as I've driven through several small towns and the scenery has been changing a bit in the two hours I've driven so far.

Alabama though. As I said to Jess when I talked to her on the phone, Alabama has plenty of gas stations that closed down when gas was only $1.58, peach trees, stores that look closed but are actually open, old men chatting outside such stores waving at people who drive by, poor and rundown towns, and a lot of cows and horses. I wouldn't have minded stopping in Selma or Montgomery for the history of it, but other than that, there wasn't a whole lot drawing me in. Maybe that makes me a bad person, that a whole state didn't really interest me, but alas. Can't help it. 

So, I'll just keep on driving, stopping every few hours at some place that looks interesting, but otherwise the theme for these days is to just keep driving.​