Road Trip - Day Two

587 miles driven today and we are still in the vast expanse that is Texas, but we're basically Louisiana-adjacent at this point. When they said everything's bigger in Texas, my help, they weren't kidding. Sheesh!

Texas - all along the I10

We started the morning in Fort Stockton and it quickly became clear that the Texas countryside goes on for forever and a day. Note to self - people in this area wear cowboy hats and boots in neither an ironic nor hipster fashion. They mean business. Now as you get into the 'Hill Country,' it gets a lot prettier, unexpectedly so. From the I10, you learn that Texans love their trucks. Wow! Every truck seems to be the 'king cab' model and every SUV is the 'XL' model. It's like every driver has a raging Napoleonic complex. Also, there are an inordinate number of cars just left along the side of the freeway. I counted at least a dozen as we drove. It's like the I10 is a mammoth Goodwill drop off box for cars.

I also noticed, particularly in east Texas, billboards expressing a lot of concern for my soul and the souls of my fellow drivers. Apparently we are in trouble. The good news is that each of these offered up an 800 number with the reassurance that Visa/MasterCard/Amex are accepted  to ease the path to salvation. I'm going to  stick with the plan I'm currently on, but thanks.

We also happened onto the filthiest gas station bathroom pretty much ever. It made the cans at the Port Authority look like a sterile room in a CDC lab. Do yourself a favor and don't use the bathroom in the Exxon in Flatonia. It is a Level 5 HazMat situation. I think Ebola is incubating there. Be smart (and by smart I mean disease-free) and hit the Buccee's a few exits before. There is not enough hand sanitizer on the planet that would make you feel good about that place.

We found solace a few hours later in Katy at Rudy's. There is nothing that brisket, slaw, and peach cobbler can't cure. It was a great way to prep for the last 90 minutes of driving. Now we're done for the night. Tomorrow it's Louisiana, Alabama (may we not relive the epic episode of 'Top Gear' when they darkened Alabama) and then the Florida Klanhandle. That'll be fun.

CAL took this of us standing outside Rudy's in Katy, TX. That is not a dead body on top of the Escape. It's just a part  of the haul. Good times!