Day 11: Hello Tex-ass

Baton Rouge to Houston my friends....ugly time

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What can I say…I have a phobia about Texas. Living in Louisiana for 5 years and a couple George Bushs will do that to ya. Were it not for Lance Armstrong and Austin I’d probably refuse to even drive through that god forsaken state. I’ve always intensely disliked everything about Houston, hated the Dallas Cowboys…on and on.

Alright…with that off my chest. I departed the familiar environs of Baton Rouge and began the long trek east through the industrial refuse of the oil refinery corridor on the 10 Freeway towards Houston.

My goal was to make 2 overnight stops in Texas with the first stop only being relevant in that it offers some basic civility and that it places me within striking distance of Marfa for my second night in Texas. Marfa, high on the list of my good friends Tony’s places to visit in the US (design junky), was always one of my key destinations for the road trip.

More on Marfa in tomorrow’s leg.

I stopped at the first rest area in Texas as I was treated to a “low oil” warning light on my dash. Lovely to discover that in reality…this stop was fairly scenic and no one threatened to kill me or anything. I checked the first box on my “Survive the Texas Leg” of my trip diary which refers to not spontaneously combusting within the first 50 miles inside the Texas Border.

Seriously....i'm gonna show you all the "Blue Star Memorial Highway" signs scattered across the entire US without discrimination. It's very odd...but I think that perhaps every road in the US that goes on for more than 20 miles qualifies as a Blue Star Memorial Highway.

Never thought I’d be so excited to see a sign pointing to San Antonio. Really...never.