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.

Slight Detour

Hey kids,

Yes...i'm still alive. I've been horribly negligent in posting and for those of you who were following along I hope you happen back upon Automobilification. At the very least I've had some real fun on wheels since my last post...not the least of which was the following event a few weeks ago:

For those of you who have expressed concern I can summarize my

departure from Automobilification updates via the following events

which have sucked me dry since the last post:

1. quit my job

2. started a new better job

3. dug into new job with gusto

4. got a family puppy

5. wrecked on my bike and nearly invoked "The Contract*" with the

wife

6. I have to cover Texas next

in any event...i do applogize for the delay in my return. I will hope

to continue to expound upon the merits of the cross country road

trip as a force in changing your life as there is still quite a lot of this

(and new) adventures to share.

All of that being said...I take to the next section of this trip with a

certain amount of trepidation which only makes sense 'cause we're

heading into Texas. Those who have driven across Texas know

what I'm talking about. The section between Baton Rouge and

Houston is just flat out nasty:

I will elaborate but this photo should offer some evidence.

So...without any further ado...i'm heading back into

Automobilification.

I appreciate your patience.

*The Contract:

In the event either party breaks both hands during the period

oftime defined by this union, the spousal duty will include all

normalduties in addition to attending to and maintenance of

regions of the body normally reserved for personal hygeine and

non-cooperative efforts.