Fred & Hank Mark America

FHMA Day 25: Exercising Our Demons

QUICK FACTS

• Where We Started:  Alpine, Tex.
• Where We Ended: Alamogordo, N.M.
• Miles Driven: 352 (6,279 total)
• New States: New Mexico
• States So Far: 14 (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico)

THE DAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

We've seen a lot on this trip. We've experienced a lot. We've laundered a lot. We've eaten a lot. The one thing we haven't done is exercise a lot. So with a light sightseeing day in front of us, we decided to get in our first hike of the trip. This was also a nod to Fred and Hank, who spent most of our visit to Big Bend National Park in the back seat of the car. And once you get past dating in high school, being in the back seat of a car for long periods of time tends to lose its appeal.

So off we went to Davis Mountains State Park in Fort Davis, Tex., and headed to its highest point to take a hike. Now, I'm not going to try to claim this was a 10-mile hike; it was one mile at most. But it was really steep -- both ways. And we saved the steep uphill for the hike back. And it was hot... OK, so you're not impressed. But, hey, it was a start.

The park provided a picturesque view that would have made some great photos of the beagles. The only problem: After hitting their stride as models over the past week, the beagles went back to being, well, beagles. Joan's attempts to get them to pose led to award-winners like this.

Joan continued to try and work her magic, but our little demons had decided to go all Christian Bale on us. No matter how hard Joan tried, they just wouldn't sit still.

Joan tries to make it clear who's boss when it comes to the picture-taking process. Here, Fred does his closed-eyes act. Translation: "I am so not listening to you." (Photo by Jim)

Finally, we got one usable photo of our difficult subjects, and lacking anything else, had to use it as the Bonus Beagle Photo of the Day. For those who have never owned a beagle, they do tend to be a tad stubborn, but not all the time. Some days, they're both cooperative on all fronts. Other days, they just refuse to do what they're told. About anything. That indpendent streak is something we love about them, since Joan and I both have the same independent inclination. But on days like this, it can make you crazy. Maybe it's because we didn't give them the proper mix of snacks in the green room beforehand. You know how celebrities can be.

We did still manage to get a few decent shots of the scenery. They were just beagle-free.

The view from Davis Mountains State Park. (Photo by Jim)

From there, it was off to El Paso, Tex., a border city that is largely ignored by most travel books. After driving through, we now know why. It's not a pretty city, and seems to have been hit hard by the recession. As a result, it felt like a rather joyless town. For us, the interesting facet to El Paso is the border, especially with the rapidly increasing violence in border towns in recent years. In Fort Hancock, Tex., we hopped on Texas 20 -- which runs close to the border -- and took it toward El Paso. Eventually, we worked our way onto side roads that got us within a few hundred yards of the border.

A border fence rises behind crops in Fabens, Tex.

This was a fascinating drive, as you could see how different the culture was in these border towns. Lots of Border Patrol vehicles,  a number of roads restricted to government vehicles and all sorts of traffic jams both ways at the many border crossings. Yet, in the midst of all this, there were lots of peaceful farms and quiet country roads.

Farmland in Fabens, Tex.

At this point in the ride, we couldn't drive any closer to the border without actually going into Mexico. But we continued the drive, and in El Paso, hopped on Texas Loop 375, which runs mere feet from the border. There, you could look into Mexican villages, and see the additional, razor-wire topped fence that accompanied the standard fence. As we were driving, Joan saw an amusement park, and commented, "That seems rude to put that so close to the border. It's like we're just taunting the people on the other side." Turns out the park was on the Mexican side of the border. Whoops. But we were so close to the border, it was hard to tell what was where until you were right upon it.

After dinner, we cruised up U.S.-54 through a heavy military area that houses the Fort Bliss Military Reservation and the White Sands Missile Range. We also hit another U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint, and for the second time, were merely asked whether we were U.S. citizens or not. I told the officer we were, and we were waved on.

ROAD SCRAPS

• A few miles west of Van Horn, Tex., we entered Mountain Time Zone. The only effect this will have on anyone reading is that this will probably mean the daily report will come a little later in the day. Sorry.
•  I realize that FHMA may contain more bathroom humor than one might prefer. But considering how many public bathrooms we're forced to use, potential humor and/or horror reside around every stall. At the oddball La Kiva, where we ate dinner on Sunday night, Joan went to use the bathroom while I paid the check. She took such a long time I thought maybe they were selling jeans in there. Then, she emerged laughing. This raised all sorts of warning flags in my brain, and told me she'd fill me in when we got in car. My curiosity only increased.Our intrepid toilet journalist then reported the following: Apparently, there was a sign taped inside the bathroom door that said, "Please do not flush ANY paper. Our septic system thanks you." Joan sat and thought about this for a few minutes. She'd seen signs about not flushing sanitary napkins or tampons. But no paper of any kind? Noting an empty but lined garbage can next to the toilet, she pondered her options: 1) flush and risk an overflow situation, or 2) wipe, toss and run. Joan -- being that this was a "uno" situation and not a "dos" -- chose the latter. Fearing she may have misunderstood the sign, we screeched out of the parking lot like Potty and Clyde.
• On this topic, reader Jen Parobek asked in the comments whether we noticed the pervasive smell of urine during our visit to San Antonio. I can't say we did. But considering how much time we've spent in a filthy car with two filthy beagles, it may well be our sense of smell is gone.
• Upon our arrival at Davis Mountains State Park, I went inside to pay and was waiting behind a gentleman, who was engaged in quite a detailed discussion with the ranger. As I waited, I learned a lot about these two folks. He was from Detroit; she was originally from Duluth, Minn. After they spent time arguing which place was colder and which place was nicer, they moved on to a debate about the differing personalities of those from Michigan and Minnesota. There seemed to be no concern that someone was waiting less patiently by the minute. "People from Minnesota are tougher because of the weather," she said. "Michiganites are more refined," he retorted. "Yes, and Northeasterns are the most goddamn impatient," I said, but only in my head. After 10 minutes, the gentleman finally retreated from the counter, and the ranger -- as if I hadn't been there for 10 minutes -- immediately asked me where I was coming from. Afraid of being pulled into another geographically-based debate, I mumbled we were on a cross-country trip and had been everywhere, paid my $10 and sprinted for the car.
• Davis Mountains State Park has signs everywhere warning you to the presence of bears, mountain lions and javelinas. As we were preparing for our hike, I asked Joan that if we were confronted by a mountain lion, and had to choose one dog, which she would give up. Without missing a beat, she said: "I'd tell them to take you." I probably deserved that for asking the question, but I'm sure that's not true. Right, Joan? ... Joan?

MUSIC REPORT

• Random iPod shuffle song of the day: "Theme (from Goldfinger)," by John Barry. First off: I have now declared that the iPod random song of the day can no longer be from a movie score. You all know I have an affinity for movie music, and most of you probably never will let me forget that. So, from here on out, we'll stick with non-movie music. Second, John Barry is an excellent film composer if you're so inclined to check him out. I like James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith and Hans Zimmer more, but Barry is right after that. And, by the way, for those of you who want to take shots at me on this point, let me say this: At least I'm honest about my music likes. I love these lists on Facebook where someone supposedly puts their iPod on shuffle and writes down the first 25 songs that play. Amazing how not a single person ever seems to have anything uncool on their iPod. Please. We all have our music skeletons.
• Most-Played Albums: We had a big Talking Heads day, running through "Little Creatures," "Speaking in Tongues" and "Sand In the Vaseline." My personal favorite Heads tunes: "Once in a Lifetime," "The Big Country," "City of Dreams," "Lifetime Piling Up," "(Nothing But) Flowers" and "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)." We closed the day off with yet another play of the new David Byrne/Brian Eno album, which is less new by the day, I guess.
• Most Appropriate Song of the Day: Sheryl Crow's,"Every Day Is a Winding Road," which played as we navigated switchbacks on a scenic drive between Alpine and Fort Davis, Tex.

MEAL REPORT

•  Lunch: McDonald's, Alpine, Tex.: I believe this was our first McDonald's stop of the trip, which is not a bad thing. This McDonald's had wireless (though you had to pay); that's the first time I've seen that. As for the rest of the experience, it was the cookie-cutter experience McDonald's has brilliantly mastered and monetized. Jim Nutrition Rating: 1.5 stars (out of 5). I got chicken strips and fries. It was relatively small, which is the only reason I didn't give myself one star. Restaurant Rating: 3 stars (out of 5, on the fast-food scale). Perfectly servicable.
• Dinner: Smitty's Pit BBQ, El Paso, Tex.: This Roadfood recommended BBQ joint was a mixed bag. The meal started well with terrific tossed salads, and ended amazingly with Joan's rum cake. My main course -- the sausage platter -- was very good, but Joan's BBQ chicken platter was so dry, she barely ate any of it. So despite the positives, you have to ding a BBQ place when its BBQ doesn't stack up. Jim Nutrition Rating: 2 stars (out of 5). I did have a salad, no dessert and no beer. Then again, when you're making nutition arguments on what you're NOT eating, then you clearly have a problem. Restaurant Rating: 3 stars (out of 5).

HOTEL REPORT

• Quality Inn Alomogordo, Alamogordo, N.M.: We got this room for free, and not even because Joan managed to negotiate the deal. After finally mastering the labyrinth regulations around the "Stay Three, Get One Free" deal, we finally qualified. And, for the most part, we were happy. Our room was big enough that the dogs could chase each other in it and the bed was comfortable. But there were muliple down sides: The wireless wasn't great. There wasn't much grass for the dogs to mark. The laundry room was so dirty that Joan refused to let any of our clothes -- even the dirty ones -- touch anything in it except the inside of the washer and dryer. The room keys worked only sporadically. Hotel rating: 2 stars (out of 5). We are looking forward to being pampered at the Kimpton FireSky Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.

COMMENT OF THE DAY

From Dave Heller, commenting on my hotel meltdown on Sunday morning, as he remembers a similar experience on a baseball trip we took back in 1991:

• I am honored to once have witnessed one of those hotel meltdowns - Chicago 1991, couplers wouldn't work on your old TRS-80. I'm sure that was a common experience back in the day, though.

   

   

   

So, Dave, which event were you suggesting was a common experience: the coupler to the TRS-80 not working, or my melting down? ☺

UPCOMING PLAN (subject to change)

• Today: White Sands National Monument, and on to Tucson, Ariz.
• Tomorrow: Tucson, and on to Phoenix.
• The Day After Tomorrow: Phoenix, and then the beginning of our three-day break.

JOAN PIC OF THE DAY


A homeless man on a street corner in El Paso, Tex.

BONUS BEAGLE PHOTOS

This is the best Joan could do with our ornery beagles at Davis Mountains State Park in Fort Davis, Tex. At least Fred is smiling. Or our of breath.

FHMA Day 24: On a Big Bender

QUICK FACTS

• Where We Started:  Fort Stockton, Tex.
• Where We Ended: Alpine, Tex.
• Miles Driven: 352 (5,927 total)
• New States: None
• State Tally So Far: 13 (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas) 

THE DAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

As the FHMA quartet has moved west, the nature of the journey has begun to change. The days of  short hops between multiple sites are largely over. Busy roads have been replaced with lonely, dusty stretches of highways. History has started to take a back seat to beauty, with all of our Civil War history and most of our presidential history behind us. That's not to say we won't be seeing historical sites out west, but for the most part, there will be more days like Sunday, where we devoted out first full day to a single site: Big Bend National Park.

Now, if you want to go to Big Bend, you don't have much of a choice to but to spend at least one full day there. One of the United States' most remote national parks, Big Bend is 116 miles from the nearest town with a fair number of hotels (Alpine), and 336 miles from the nearest city (El Paso). Because of this, even on a beautiful Sunday, the park was largely deserted.

"Big Bend" refers to the bend the Rio Grande takes near the park's location, and the park lies right on the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, there are a a few overlooks where you can look into Mexico. The park is also rich in topographical features, with the gorgeous Chisos Mountains and parts of four deserts -- the Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan -- within its boundaries. Big Bend not only takes a while to get to, but at 801,163 acres, it takes some time to get through.

The park's location on the Mexican border does present additional challenges for park rangers. While we didn't see any U.S. Border Patrol vehicles in the park itself, there were many on the outskirts of the park, and both main roads leading into the park 24/7 Border Patrol checkpoints. All border crossings from within the park itself were banned in 2002.

We focused on three major areas of the park: Rio Grande Village, the Chisos Basin and the Santa Elena Canyon.

We started at Rio Grande Village, where, at the Bouquillas Canyon overlook, you can look across a narrow stretch of the Rio Grande into Mexico. And what an interesting sight it was: A man with a horse, and what appeared to be a small yellow boat, waiting while his drying clothes hung from a tree. He sure looked like someone poised to attempt a border crossing, though it seemed a bit too obvious to be standing right on the other side of an overlook at a U.S. national park. Then again, since no one on the U.S. side of the border had any jurisdiction over the land where this guy was, maybe it didn't matter. We're certainly open to a better explanation of this scene, but we could not come up with one.

A man on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande sits, waits and observes the tourists on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande.

Of course, just because we were debating the intentions of this man and debating the broader issue of illegal immigration doesn't mean we didn't have time to pose a beagle on the border.

Fred stares off into the distance and ponders the thorny issue of illegal immigration. And treats.

From there, it was off to the Chisos Basin, which sits in the middle of the park. In addition to its rivers, canyons, deserts and mountains, Big Bend also features a amazing array of plants and animals. It's an especially wonderful place for bird watching if that were something that interested us. In fact, for a place that is supposed to be home to hundred of species of birds, we saw about five birds during our time there. Maybe that's because we weren't watching for them.

I won't even pretend I know what kind of bird this is. I only seem to be able to recognize birds that have associated sports teams, as we did see a few blue jays.

The last main part of the park is the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, a 31-mile journey into the Chisos Mountains and into Santa Elena Canyon. The best views we saw all day came from the Sotol Vista, about halfway through this trip.

A lonely road cuts through the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. (Photo by Jim)

Soon after leaving this overlook, we came upon Santa Elena Canyon, which cuts through the Chisos Mountains before connecting up with the Rio Grande. It was one of the cooler sites of the day, especially once we were able to get up close at the end of the scenic drive.

The Santa Elena Canyon at Big Bend National Park.

At this point, the sun was starting to go down, and we were faced with two options to reach the closest park exit: take a 13-mile dirt road, or drive 50 miles on paved roads. Now, on our 2003 trip, we got stuck in sand in Joshua Tree National Park in California. That incident occurred right about sunset, and we were stuck for three hours before we finally were able to get our OnStar to connect with park officials. So you can imagine the concern about heading out onto another dirt road at sunset. The park map made it clear this road was unpaved, but not a four-wheel-drive-only road. So off we went. And after all that buildup, we made it just fine. The Old Maverick Road was rough in some places, but we never were in any place where I was worried, and we even made it out before the sun went down. As we were pulling back onto pavement near the park exit, Joan turned around and saw a sign that said, "Four Wheel Drive Only." But, as I said, the park map was clear that this was a passable road by all vehicles, and just having driven it, there was no reason that road should have been four-wheel drive only.

A typical view from the roads of Big Bend National Park.

As for the park, we liked it. It's beautiful, full of varying types of topography, temperate zones and beautiful sights. But it didn't move us the way that we were moved by the Badlands, Death Valley, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley, the Canadian Rockies and other wonderful natural sites we saw back in 2003. There was such a buildup for the trip to Big Bend -- we had to cancel our trip there in 2003 because we were running short on time -- that we'd have to say we were disappointed. But if you think we had a bad day, here's how the beagles spent most of their day.

Fred and Hank wait while we step out for a quick photo op at Big Bend National Park. Yes, we took them out of the car plenty of times, but the park doesn't allow dogs anywhere except where cars can go, so it was a pretty boring day for them. (Photo by Jim)

After dinner, we made another deadly drive, this one the 80 miles from Terlingua, Tex., to Alpine, Tex. The good news: The drive took only slightly more than an hour. On the entire journey, this is the complete tally of we saw: four cars coming the opposite direction, one car we passed going our direction, one boar, one deer and one U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.

ROAD SCRAPS

• We are SOOO multimedia. We produced our first video on Sunday, which gives a brief recap of our day at Big Bend and let's you see some of what we saw. It's rudimentary -- remember, it's our first one -- and you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-292S5ijE. I will work on doing an embed next time, but my self-imposed deadline is approaching quickly.
• Some folks who commented on my Facebook status from Sunday apparently thought I was taking a shot at Texas when I talked about how boring the drive through west Texas is. We both happen to like Texas, but there's no debating how boring that drive is. Look, every state has its bad parts. New York has New Jersey, for example.
• The first human mini-meltdown occurred on Sunday mornng, when I lost about 90 minutes of work on my daily post when Firefox locked up on me. Of course, I'm an idiot for not saving during that time, but nothing makes me crazier than losing work. It's an unbelievably helpless feeling when you lose time you can never get back. So I threw my empty drink cup across the room, fired out some choice profanities and scared the bejeezus out of Hank. And Fred. And Joan. But I got my act together, went back and completed the blog post. But not before a lot of mumbling, harumphing, sighing and other noises a pissy, annoyed person makes. If Sunday's blog post wasn't funny, blame Mozilla.
• Interesting fact: Mobil Speedpass -- a brilliant marketing scheme, in my mind, that allows you to get gas without even having to use a credit card-- is very hard to find once you get off the East Coast. I'm so used to it at home, but only one of every 10 Exxons we've stopped at on this trip have had it. By the way, we've even seen a lot of gas stations out west that don't even have credit-card swipers. Honestly, I'm so spoiled that, when we've encountered those, we've just left and gone somewhere else. Our lives are so hard.
• We experienced the highest temperature of the trip so far at Big Bend: 92 degrees.
• A thanks to reader John McCarthy, who corrects me and tells me that Sitorsquat.com -- a site where people can report and rare public bathrooms, and which I mentioned in Saturday's post -- does indeed have a mobile site. A big thanks to John for the john update.
• One leftover from Saturday. In San Antonio, we passed a wax museum right across the street from The Alamo -- which seems inappropriate enough. But here is what they put forth to try and attract people to come in and check it out.

Now, I am relatively sure -- because of the clothing and hair -- that these are intended to be Sarah Jessica Parker and Johnny Cash. But how good can a wax museum be if they've turned Sarah Jessica Parker into Melanie Griffith, and Johnny Cash into Dudley Moore?

MUSIC REPORT

• Random iPod shuffle song of the day: "Twang Bar King," by Adrian Belew. While this is not one of my favorite Belew tunes, I am a big fan. His solo work is certainly a bit oddball, but then again, so am I. Belew's best work came when he was part of what I consider the best King Crimson lineup ever: Belew, Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford and Tony Levin. "Discipline" is an amazing album, and the best of the three albums this quartet made. "Three of a Perfect Pair" is also excellent, and "Beat" the least compelling of the three but still with interesting moments.
• While driving through Big Bend, we decided to experiment with some ambient music to try and set the scene properly. We didn't have much success, as we didn't like The Orb's "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" and found Tangerine Dream's "The Private Music of Tangerine Dream" to be hit or miss. Eventually, we worked our back to more mainstream stuff.
• Most appropriate song of the day: Golden Earring's "Twilight Zone," which turned up on the iPod during our ghostly night drive on Texas 118 from Big Bend to Alpine.

MEAL REPORT

•  Lunch: KFC/Taco Bell, Fort Stockton, Tex.: Because of my computer issues and my mini-meltdown on Sunday, I was not done with the blog post before we had to leave our hotel, so we needed to go some place I could log on with my wireless card. And there are not a lot of options in Fort Stockton, especially on a Sunday morning. So we ate like crap -- again -- at this schizophrenic fast food joint, while I finished the blog post. We both had one piece of fried chicken, and two unhealthy sides. Jim Nutrition Rating: 1.5 stars (out of 5). Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. Why any stars, you ask? I only had one piece of chicken. Restaurant Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5).
• Dinner: La Kiva, Terlingua, Tex.: After leaving Big Bend, we found ourselves in the unenviable position of being starving and 90 miles from the nearest town of any size. But, hey, the people who live in the Terlingua area have to eat too, right? After all, isn't this the town that hosts two of the world's largest chili cook-offs every year? On the outskirts of town, we spotted this odd place, and decided to get a taste of the local flavor. And what flavor it was. The restaurant/bar is built into a cave, and is wicked-cool on the inside. We walked in, and for the first time on the trip, felt like we'd walked into someone's living room. Despite the fact Terlingua has a lot of tourists passing through, thanks to Big Bend, this felt like a very local bar. When we walked in, a few of the folks bellied up to the bar were collectively belting out Dylan's "LIke a Rolling Stone," with one particularly intoxicated woman continually belting out the chorus at the wrong time. When I went to the bar to order a beer, the bartender picked up a small animal toy he'd just received, pushed the button, and it said, "Go fuck yourself." He then laughed, apologized and said he couldn't stop playing with this new toy. Despite all this odd behavior, the place had more the feel given off by jolly drunks than than anything else. As we ate dinner, we listened to the drunks mangle the lyrics to The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" and Led Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times." Jim Nutrition Rating: I had a BBQ plate with pork, chicken and brisket. The brisket was excellent, the chicken was very good and the pork ribs barely edible. Joan, sadly, got only pork ribs, and declared them merely "fine." Restaurant Rating: 3 stars (out of 5). An extra half-star for the ambience. The most unique restaurant experience we have had so far.

HOTEL REPORT

• Best Western Alpine Classic Inn, Alpine, Tex.: After the bad experience at the Best Western in Fort Stockton, we were not itching for another Best Western. In fact, we were even more worried we would end up itching if we slept at another Best Western. But, in west Texas, beggars can't be choosers, so we ended up at the Alpine Classic Inn. The parking lot of this hotel had three types of cars in the parking lot: Border Patrol vehicles, motorcycles and our car. The room was surprisingly nice and roomy, but after Saturday, we knew that the devil was in the details. Thankfully, at this hotel, the amenities all checked out. The double-lock to our door worked. We were both able to shower in hot water. Joan adds a half-star for big, fluffy towels. Only slight down side: the wireless is a bit spotty. Hotel rating: 4 stars (out of 5). Finally, something that doesn't qualify as a Worst Western.

COMMENT OF THE DAY

From Tammy Kennon.

• Great pic of the beagles! If it's not giving up too many trade secrets, you should describe your (Joan's) tricks for posing the dogs. Witnessing the behind-the-scenes routine was fascinating to me, especially after having tried to pose them myself with results reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy. Photos available on request. ;-)

   

   

   

Thanks for the idea. Joan will create a "Behind the Scenes" post that will address this.

UPCOMING PLAN (subject to change)

• Today: Fort Davis, Tex., and then into New Mexico.
• Tomorrow: White Sands National Monument, and Tucson, Ariz.
• The Day After Tomorrow: Tucson, and then on to Phoenix.

JOAN PIC OF THE DAY


Because of my computer issues on Sunday morning, I forgot to put in Joan's pic of the day. Here, a Muslim husband and wife watch the Cesar Chavez March for Justice in San Antonio on Saturday.

BONUS BEAGLE PHOTOS 

Fred and Hank try their "Starsky & Hutch" pose at an overlook at Big Bend National Park.

Hank decides he's ready for his close-up. (Photo by Jim)

FHMA Day 23: A Day of West

QUICK FACTS

• Where We Started:  San Antonio, Tex.
• Where We Ended: Fort Stockton, Tex.
• Miles Driven: 368 (5,575 total)
• New States: None
• State Tally So Far: 13 (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas) 

THE DAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

There comes a moment on every cross-country trip where you realize you've reached "the West." There's no official boundary, no welcome signs and no new currency, but at some point, you realize you've arrived. On our 2003 trip, I remember clearly turning a corner on a highway in North Dakota and saw the rugged terrain of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and realized we'd arrived. On this journey, our arrival came with a a four-hour drive down Interstate 10 into the vastness that's otherwise called west Texas.

There's almost nowhere in the East where you can drive even an hour and not see a number of towns and a decent amount of traffic. Not in west Texas, where I was able to drive for two hours without touching the brake or the gas, thanks to cruise control, and where I was passed by approximately three cars in the 150 miles between Sonora and Fort Stockton. This painfully dull drive occurred mostly without incident, though I did require some raucous music for the last 50 miles to keep me energized. The good news: We're now 85 miles from Big Bend National Park, where we'll spend today. Much to our chagrin, we missed Big Bend on our last trip, and were determined not to miss it again.

Our day began in San Antonio, where we decided to hit the Riverwalk for lunch. Running alongside the San Antonio River, the Riverwalk is lined with shops, restaurants and an outdoor theater where the stage is on one side of the river and the audience on the other. Because the Riverwalk sits about 50 feet below the city, you almost forget you're still in a major American city.

The Riverwalk in San Antonio, viewed from an overpass on Commerce Street.

We then decided to take a stroll over to the Alamo, and walked right into good luck. As we ascended the stairs and walked out onto Commerce Street, we saw a march headed our way. Turns out it was the 13th Annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice, honoring the late labor and civil rights leader. For a photographer, a march is like an all-you-eat buffet, so Joan snapped away as the march headed toward its conclusion at the Alamo.

At the end of the march, in front of the Alamo, there were places for interested parties to pick up more information on the various causes that were part of the parade. For the kids, there were rides.

After stalling for as long as we could, we acknowledged that it was time to begin the West Texas Death March. Now, we're big fans of breaking up long drives by finding interesting sites along the way, but in the 313 miles between San Antonio and Fort Stockton, we could find only two: the Treue der Union monument in Comfort, Tex., and Stonehenge 2, in Hunt, Tex.

The Treue der Union monument honors one of those fascinating, little-known stories that fill American history. During the Civil War, 60-plus men -- mostly Germans -- resisted being drafted by the Confederacy and remained loyal to the Union. Eventually, they decided to try and reach Union troops via Mexico, but in the Nueces Massacre in 1862, most of these men were killed in a battle with Confederate cavalrymen. Some were reportedly executed after being captured. The remains of some of these men are interred at the monument, the only one in former Confederate territory that honors Union sympathizers. The Treue der Union is one of only six national cemeteries allowed to fly its flag at half staff in perpetuity.

The Treue der Union, in Comfort, Tex. (Photo by Jim)

From this sober, serious site, we then went to a fun, silly one: Stonehenge II, a recreation of the original Stonehenge, located in England. This structure, in a field on a rural farm road in Hunt, is 90 percent as wide and 60 percent as tall as the original, and was built as a lark by two local residents. It is, however, much larger than the Stonehenge built for Spinal Tap in one of the funniest scenes from "This Is Spinal Tap."

Stonehenge II, in Hunt, Tex. (Photo by Jim)

A biker takes in Stonehenge II in Hunt, Tex.

From there, the only sight we saw for the next 245 miles of I-10 was dinner. But we had one thing going in our favor.

This may have been the point where we officially reached the West.

I had never seen an 80 mile-per-hour speed limit in my life, but apparently, officials in west Texas are also aware of how soul-crushing this drive is, so they decided to help us out. To them, a hearty thanks. According to Wikipedia, this stretch of an 80mph limit -- which covers the 250 miles between Kerrville and El Paso -- is the highest speed limit in the nation.

We arrived at our hotel at about 10pm, and started getting ready for Big Bend. For Joan, that meant sleeping. For me, that meant cleaning the dog shit off the bottom of my hiking boots.

ROAD SCRAPS

• During the Cesar Chavez march, the marchers were chanting, "Si, se puede." That's Spanish for "Yes, we can," and is the motto of the United Farm Workers, which Chavez co-founded. It's now obviously more associated with Barack Obama, but I wasn't aware of this prior use.
• One of the items on my to-do list when this trip ends will be to introduce federal legislation to ban coffee houses from using any form of the word "grounds" in their name. We've seen dozens of versions of this tortured phrasing, but the worst may have been the one we saw a few days back: "Sufficient Grounds." Yes, a funny play on the legal term. But when was the last time you sought out "sufficient" coffee? I mean, it's better than "Insufficient Grounds," I suppose, but either way, not exactly a strong selling point. It just grinds me up.
• Sign of the Day" "Biker Friendly Hotel," in Ingram, Tex. I guess this implies there are a lot of hotels that are not biker friendly, though I'm not sure legally if hotels can turn away bikers. But found it interesting nonetheless. Maybe it just means they're especially friendly to bikers, the way pet-friendly usually implies more than just acceptance.
  
• We stopped to use the restroom at an Exxon in Boerne, Tex. As Joan was washing her hands, a woman walked in her with a child about nine years old, and asked her, in Spanish: "Uno o dos?" The child, old enough to be perfectly embarrassed by being asked this question in front of a complete stranger -- and relatively sure the Spanish was easy to translate -- snarled back, in English: "I don't know!" That's one Mom who got an earful once Joan left.
  

MUSIC REPORT

• Random iPod shuffle song of the day: "Endless Column," by the Blue Man Group. I saw this show in Chicago a few years back, and liked it quite a bit. I'm not one who generally enjoys shows like that, but it was very creative, visually compelling, and the music -- percussion-driven instrumental rock -- is right up my alley. This song isn't one of my personal favorites, but I do like the group. Best tunes: "Opening Mandelbrot" and "Drumbone."
• While cruising down I-10, Joan decided she wanted some Police. Not the kind that pull you over -- I've had a perfect record on that front so far -- but the band. So we played them for a few hours, including "Spirits in the Material World." It's amazing how songs can bring you back to specific moments in your life. "Spirits in the Material World" 's the song I was playing in my car when, in high school, I slid on ice and crashed into a tree and pretty much totaled my car. So, as you can imagine, I tense up every time I hear that song while driving, especially when I'm going 80 miles per hour. But, in the end, I did not become the king of pain, and was able to continue to savor every breath I take.
• We also listened to some Texas artists on our long drive: Buddy Holly, Janis Joplin, Edgar Winter and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. I didn't have any Blind Lemon Jefferson, Tanya Tucker, or Lefty Frizzell. By the way, inducted into the West Texas Music Hall of Fame: Seals & Crofts and England Dan & John Ford Coley. OK, so "Summer Breeze" is a classic 70's soft rock tune. But c'mon.
• Now, I mentioned earlier that I have a playlist on my iPod that I turn to when I'm getting weary on a night drive. It's guaranteed to keep me alert. I won't list the whole thing here, but a few of the tunes:
  • "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll," AC/DC
  • "Living After Midnight," Judas Priest
  • "YYZ," Rush
  • "The Main Monkey Business," Rush
  • "One Thought at a Time," Massive Attack
  • "Exotic Talk," RJD2
  • "Discipline," King Crimson
  • "Dazed and Confused," Led Zeppelin
  • "One of These Days," Pink Floyd (a rare good driving Floyd tune)
  • "Red," King Crimson
  • "Free Bird," Lynyrd Skynyrd
  • "Rock and Roll," Led Zeppelin
  • "Run to the Hills," Iron Maiden (yes, I made fun of them in an earlier post, but this is a good tune)
  • "Confrontation," Tangerine Dream
  • "The Way We Were," by Barbra Streisand (OK, just kidding. Wanted to see if you made it this far)

MEAL REPORT

•  Lunch: Boudros, San Antonio, Tex.: On a recommendation from Frank Hughes, we checked out this Texas bistro, and give it a big thumbs-up. The table-side guacamole and the beef-based salsa were terrific. Joan loved her salmon salad, and I liked my tuna salad. The difference: Joan got her dressing on the side, and they dumped a vat of dressing on mine. Jim Nutrition Rating: 2 stars (out of 5). The tuna salad was a good, healthy call, but the chips with salsa and guacamole more than canceled it out. Restaurant Rating: 4.25 stars (out of 5).
• Dinner: Sonic, Sonora Tex.: Yes, I said we would not eat at a Sonic because of fear we would just be contributing money to those horrible TV ads. But I didn't account for being in the middle of west Texas at dinnertime, and finding that, in the first town we'd seen for 50 miles, Sonic was really the only quick option. Jim Nutrition Rating: On advice of my nutritionist, I will decline to answer this question on the grounds I may incriminate myself. Restaurant Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5). You know, it was pretty good. I had a sandwich that included a meat patty -- sorry, I can't be more specific, on advice of food counsel -- was quite good. So were the fried accompaniments that I cannot name. Joan later reminded me that the food at Sonic wasn't why we disliked it so much on the last trip; it was because I spilled a lemon slush all over my lap, and -- like Kramer with the hot coffee on "Seinfeld" -- apparently blamed Sonic for my idiocy.

HOTEL REPORT

• Best Western Swiss Clock Inn, Fort Stockton, Tex.: This hotel was like the apartment house in "Rosemary's Baby": At first, it seemed friendly and inviting, but before long, you start to realize something is amiss. No, we weren't staying with Satanists, but soon after arriving to a surprisingly large room and comfortable bed, the cracks started to show.  First, we noticed that the latch that double-locks the hotel room door had been broken off. That annoyed Joan a little, and then I really helped out by saying, "That couldn't have happened for any good reason." At that point, she went from annoyed to worried. So we used the one lock we had, and put a chair in front of the door so that we'd hear anyone trying to make an entry. Then, Joan couldn't get any cold water out of the shower. I did, but only because Joan called to complain after her shower, and was told the hotel was having a problem with the water heater, which required you to run the water for 5-10 minutes to get it hot. They also put us at the back, creepy part of the hotel. And the insulation between floors didn't seem to exist. The guy above us seemed to have, as the ads say, a going problem, as he was padding around his room all night.The people were pretty rude too. And what's with the Swiss clock motif in west Texas? Hotel rating: 1.5 stars (out of 5).
• Leftover story from the La Quinta Inn in Austin: As Joan was checking out, a man was trying to check in. They told him they had a room for him, and he said, "Is it OK even though I have a local address? The other La Quinta in town wouldn't give me a room because I have a local address." Interesting. Maybe the first La Quinta had a prostitution problem? Never heard of that rule before. Thankfully, I guess.  
• I am continually finding hotels with outdoor ice machines where you are required to insert your room key to be able to get ice. Am I missing something? Even if I'm not staying at the hotel, is it really a big deal for me to steal some of your frozen water?

COMMENT OF THE DAY

From Dennis Tuttle, who again is offering me helpful eating tips.

• All this time in Texas and not one plate of chicken-fried steak with white gravy, mashed taters, string beans and cornbread, and not one really great mesquite-smoked porterhouse with the trimmings, including homemade peach pie. Pffft. Abilene, Texas--Lytle Land & Cattle Co., Just off I-20, "The Texas Porterhouse T-Bone," 28 ounces, trimmings, $29.95. Gold, Jerry, pure gold.

   

   

   

Yes, you too can now be part of the Dennis Tuttle Diet, with its catchphrase: "Adkins Was a Wussy." All the secrets of this diet are available for only $100. Half is due up front, the other half posthumously.

UPCOMING PLAN (subject to change)

• Today: Big Bend National Park.
• Tomorrow: El Paso, Tex., and Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
• The Day After Tomorrow: White Sands National Monument, and to Tucson, Ariz. (For those who are wondering, we're going to hit Santa Fe after Phoenix; more on that later).

 BONUS BEAGLE PHOTO

Hank and Fred show off their über-serious looks at the Treue der Union monument in Comfort, Tex.

FHMA Day 22: One Hill of a Day

QUICK FACTS

• Where We Started:  Austin, Tex.
• Where We Ended: San Antonio, Tex.
• Miles Driven: 163 (5,207 total)
• New States: None
• Total States: 13 (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas)

THE DAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

The day began with bold visions of making it most the way across Texas and putting ourselves within striking distance of remote Big Bend National Park. But, realizing that we didn't have it in us from a physical or mental standpoint, we ended the day about two hours from where we started. But not before seeing some beautiful scenery in Texas Hill Country.

The original plan was to eat lunch, and then drive all day. But we'd done a lot of driving the previous few days, and after lunch, we decided that -- despite needing to be in Phoenix by the evening of April 1 -- we could afford to chill for a day. Now, on a trip like this, "chilling" means you only spend 3 to 4 hours in the car. So we did decide to see the Hill Country before settling down for evening.

The first stop was Lyndon B. Johnson's boyhood home in Johnson City, Tex. Surprisingly, the town is actually not named after LBJ, but after his family, which started the first settlement in the area.

 
Fred poses on the porch of Lyndon B. Johnson's boyhood home in Johnson City, Tex.

The boyhood home is part of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park, which -- in two different locations, about 15 miles apart -- also includes the original Johnson settlement, the LBJ Ranch and Johnson's grave site. I did the ranch tour on the 2003 trip, so we chose to pass on doing it again.

Heading west, we next stopped in Fredericksburg, Tex., which National Geographic lists as one of American's great small towns. Founded by a German baron, the town maintains a huge German influence. Fredericksburg also maintained a strong pro-Union resistance during the Civil War. It's got a cute downtown area, and the German influence makes it look very different architecturally than most Texas towns.

Fredericksburg is also the birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz, who led the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II. That's why the town is also the location of the National Museum of the Pacific War. The museum, located in what used to be the Nimitz Hotel, is supposedly a wonderful museum. We wouldn't know, since we got there eight minutes after it closed. I was able to walk through The Plaza of Presidents outside the museum, which notes that every president from Roosevelt to the elder Bush served the country in an official military capacity in World War II. I hadn't known that.

The last FHMA stop of the day was Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, which features -- according to the park site, because i know as much about rock formations as I do car axles -- "a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States." Geological explanations aside, it was a cool area, featuring lots of hikers walking to the top of the rock. We even hiked for a while. Yes, we hiked. Really.

 
Jim hangs out on top of a large rock with Hank, who's only concern is how to get the hell off.

 
Fred poses regally on top of another large boulder. I am the one behind the rock, holding the leash, lest he make any attempt to jump. We have not budgeted any more money for the Fred Medical Fund.
 
Hank and Jim at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, north of Fredericksburg, Tex.

After hiking a little way up the big rock, we called it quits. The hike to the top of the rock takes two hours, and frankly, we didn't have it in us. We decided to make a beeline for San Antonio and put down for the night.

Oh, since we're shameless -- and because a bunch of people asked -- here are three more shots of the beagles at play at Galveston Island State Park on Thursday.

ROAD SCRAPS

• About two miles from our hotel, and 10 minutes away from a comfortable bed, we made a detour. For a few days, Joan had been looking for an Old Navy to buy some new jeans, and about a mile from the hotel, I spotted one. Although every fiber of my being told me not to mention it, I did anyway, and Joan happily asked if we could stop. "Sure," I said. So Joan went in. And I waited. And waited. And waited. I started to wonder if I'd misread the sign and dropped her off at The Navy, and they'd shipped her off to the Middle East. After a mere 45 minutes, she emerged, and said the same thing she always says in situations like that: "See, I told you it wouldn't take long." My response: "Yeah, that didn't take long at all. By the way, Obama got re-elected."
  
• We've been pretty lucky so far with public restrooms. But, yesterday, at Shell station in Fredericksburg, Tex., I walked into a restroom that was so bad, I reflexively uttered, "Oh, God!" Now, men can pretty much get in and out of a bathroom without touching much of anything native to the bathroom itself, but even I almost turned on my heel and walked out. But nature was calling, and nature doesn't much care if you've entered a room that would have made a former prisoner of war flinch. Had I remembered to get the address, I would have filed a report on Sit or Squat, a site that lists and rates public bathrooms. This proves once again that you can find anything on the Web. And while it's a funny idea for a site, it seems useless without a mobile component. I mean, who plans ahead for roadside bathroom stops?
• Lovely scene as we were leaving Enchanted Rock: While their parents were packing up the car, two boys started throwing rocks at their sister. I mean throwing them hard. The girl kept ducking the rocks and yelling at the boys, and they just kept throwing more. None of them seemed to hit her or do any damage, but I can't say I've seen that before.
  

Q&A
A few quick questions and answers from the comments area:

From Alan Spoll: OK, so I am right there with you in Dweeb-land, as I am in a lot of fantasy leagues...but why would you need to fly across the country for a draft? They have this funny thing called the internet. You may have heard of it.

Jim Responds: Yes, the Internets are excellent, but -- and this is even worse than just being a fantasy baseball geek -- I run two of the leagues I'm in. Plus, one league goes back 21 years and we traditionally get most of the league to Washington for the draft every year. So I don't want to miss that. Not to mention you have a better chance of winning if you don't do drafts by the phone.

By the way, if you have not seen "Knocked Up," it has a great scene where Paul Rudd's wife thinks he's having an affair, so she follows him one night and sees him enter a strange home. She breaks into the house, hears voices and bursts into a room, only to find he's at a fantasy baseball draft. She then admits she thought he was having an affair, then adds, "This is worse." Hilarious.

From Linda Way-Smith: ZZ Top is singing about a brothel in that song? Really?

Jim responds: Indeed. I was going to say that you should read the lyrics closely. Then I realized you didn't have to read them too closely. 

Rumour spreadin a-round in that texas town
bout that shack outside la grange
And you know what Im talkin about.
Just let me know if you wanna go
To that home out on the range.
They gotta lotta nice girls.

From Mary Lou White: WHY no Janis sites???
Jim responds: Well, two reasons: 1) I have to admit, I'm not a huge Janis Joplin fan. I like some of her stuff, but I rarely seek out her work. 2) Having said that, I'm a huge music fan, so was interested in going to Port Arthur, Tex., and seeing the tribute to her at the Museum of the Gulf Coast, which is located there. However, I was surprised to find out that Port Arthur was more than two hours from Galveston, so we determined that didn't have time to make the detour.

MUSIC REPORT

• Random iPod shuffle song of the day: "Allentown," by Billy Joel. This was immediately followed by Joan saying, "Oh God, do we have to play this song?" Joan = not a Billy Joel fan. I am not a huge fan either, but like him well enough. But it's his older stuff -- like "Piano Man," "Captain Jack" and "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" -- that I really like.

MEAL REPORT

• Lunch: The Salt Lick, Driftwood, Tex.: We were torn between going to The Salt Lick, one of our all-time favorite restaurants, and Kreuz Market, which was highly recommended by our friend Melissa Illig. Because we originally planned to be in the car all day, we decided that eating with our hands -- a Kreuz tradition -- was not the best idea. So we met another friend, Casey Taylor, for lunch at the great Salt Lick, about 20 miles southwest of Austin. The drive there takes you through some rural terrain, and by the time you arrive for the first time, you're starting to wondering where you made a wrong turn. But, suddenly, there it is, an oasis alongside the road. The restaurant itself isn't big, but there's a separate building where diners can hang during what tends to be a long wait for a table. The parking lot is slightly smaller than the one at Yankee Stadium. The restaurant is in a dry county, but they have no issue if you bring your own alcohol (which we didn't on this day). As always, we loved our meal. We got the combo BBQ plate of pork, brisket and sausage. The brisket and sausage were perfect, and the pork ribs were good but not amazing. Still, we'd give this place our highest recommendation. Jim Nutrition Rating: 1.5 stars (out of 5). Uh, not so good. I even had dessert, since The Salt Lick has amazing pecan pie. Restaurant Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5).
• Dinner: Pappasito's, San Antonio, Tex.: Again, we found ourselves trying to decide between a handful of recommended places, but after Joan's marathon Old Navy visit, I decided we should go wherever would be the fastest, and Pappasito's was a mile from our hotel. Upon our arrival, we found out there was an hour wait, so we opted for take-out, and had 30 minutes to sit and watch the well-oiled machine that is Pappasito's. The restaurant seats a few hundred, and while bustling, the staff was very calm and had it all under control. And the woman working the take-out counter could not have been nicer. Jim Nutrition Rating: 1 star (out of 5). Chips and salsa. Beef fajitas with cheese. There's really nothing else to say. Restaurant Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5). My beef was tender and tasty. Joan enjoyed her guacamole and small salad, and in fact, is trying to convince me to go back to Pappasito's for lunch. I'm resisting, if only because I like to go to new places and can't afford another terribly unhealthy meal. 
• Does anyone else notice the restaurant rating and my nutrition rating seem never to match up?
• Anyway, without further ado... My weight as of Saturday morning is 249.5!!! That means I put on three pounds last week, and have gone from being down 1.5 pounds to being up 1.5 pounds. And that's probably a good thing. Maybe I'll get serious now.

HOTEL REPORT

• Baymont Inn & Suites San Antonio - Wurzbach, San Antonio, Tex.: Another Baymont, another home run. We backed into our parking space, putting the trunk precisely 24 inches away from the door of our room, allowing us to unload more than usual and try to repack for more convenient access to our clothes. The room was big, had fast wireless and the front-desk person was, as always at Baymonts, lovely. Hotel rating: 4 stars (out of 5).
• OK, we have a simple morning routine. I wake up, write, and when I'm done, I send to Joan to read and edit. While she reads, I hop in the shower. I have decided to remove one star from the La Quinta Inn in Austin, since I could have waited the entire day and still not gotten a hot shower. We're not exactly staying in top-tier hotels here, but there are some basics that all hotel room require: a hot shower, wireless and ESPN.

COMMENT OF THE DAY

From Dennis Tuttle, who -- when he's not encouraging to eat myself into cardiac arrest -- is also unimpressed with my knowledge of cars.

• The simplest way to know how many axles you have on your car when you approach the next Texas toll booth, sit you in your vehicle, fasten your seat belt, do not turn on the ignition, and count the axle on the front wheels and the axle on the back wheels and you will have your answer: two. Big dummy.

   

Well, yes, of course it would be easy to count axles -- if I knew exactly what one was. Anything is easy to count if you know what you're counting. The point is, I didn't really know what an axle was when I made that point. If you'd asked me three days ago, I would have said I had four on my car, one for every wheel.

UPCOMING PLAN (subject to change)

• Today: A long drive to Alpine, Tex., to get set for Big Bend National Park.
• Tomorrow: Big Bend National Park.
• The Day After Tomorrow: El Paso, Tex., and White Sands National Monument.

BONUS BEAGLE PHOTO

Fred, annoyed that Hank has been featured too often in Bonus Beagle Photo, takes it up a notch, doing the tilty-head between some rocks at Enchanted Rock State Park, north of Fredericksburg, Tex.

FHMA Day 21: The Beach Boys

QUICK FACTS

• Where We Started:  Galveston, Tex.
• Where We Ended: Austin, Tex.
• Miles Driven: 316 (5,044 total)
• New States: None
• Total States: 13 (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas)

THE DAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

It's easy for Joan and me to complain about being in the car for hours at a time, as we have been for the past few days. Nothing like boring stretches of highway, a filthy car and late arrivals at hotels to make you regret ever leaving home. But imagine being Fred or Hank. They don't allow dogs in presidential libraries. Or restaurants. Or museums. So Tuesday and Wednesday had been really boring for the beagles, so when they finally got a chance to let loose on Thursday, they took advantage.

Our first stop of the day was the Galveston Island State Park, which still under limited-access restrictions after Hurricane Ike hammered Galveston last September. In fact, from where we were on the beach, you could see the amount of work being done to repair the damage.

 
Crews work to rebuild the beach areas of Galveston Island State Park.

But Fred and Hank didn't seem to care about anything but being in a wide-open area without anyone else around. They just wanted to run. And run they did. Dragging their leashes along, they experienced the kind of unbridled joy that only dogs seem to be able to achieve.

No need for captions here. Just two dogs, working off some pent-up energy. After 15 minutes of playing, Fred discovered canine nirvana: Something dead to roll in.

 
Fred rolls in something recently departed. He doesn't look too sad.

This run -- and another one a few hours later at Stewart Beach Park in Galveston -- pretty much wiped the dogs out for the remainder of the day, and reminded us how important it is to make sure they get some time to enjoy the trip as well.

After our first beach excursion of the day, we headed over to check out the Galveston 1900 Hurricane Memorial, a cool sculpture that sits right on the city's seawall. Despite a rumor that this monument had been damaged by Hurricane Ike, it survived the storm and still stands tall.

 
The Galveston 1900 Hurricane Memorial.

Not everything along the seawall was as lucky, however, as this damaged historical marker shows.

(Photo by Jim)

Driving through the city, you could see the significant damage to many of the structures along the seawall. Lots of businesses remain closed, and the Flagship Hotel still has visible gaping holes in the hotel walls. But, overall, the city seemed pretty alive and rebuilding work was occurring at every turn. Here, you can see some of the work.

Now, I'm not sure exactly what the purpose of these frames are, but hey, it made for a good photo. (Photo by Jim)

Before heading to Austin, we made a stop in Texas City, Tex. And why wouldn't we? I mean, look at this skyline.

 
The Texas City Industrial Park in Texas City, Tex.

Seriously, though, though this is an extremely ugly port town, I wanted to make a quick swing through here to see the memorials for the 1947 Texas City explosion, which killed more than 500 people. I read about this tragedy back in high school, and for some reason, it stuck with me. The explosion -- ignited by a fire on board a ship carrying large quantities of ammonium nitrate -- was so huge, it was captured at a seismology facility in Denver, and threw a 2-ton anchor from the ship more than a mile.

That said, Texas City is sort of a forgotten tragedy, but one that -- beyond the human cost -- forced major changes in safety regulations for the shipping hazardous materials and led to the first class-action lawsuit ever filed against the United States government. The Memorial Park was very nice, with a number of interesting facts about the tragedy, and it's also where the 62 unknown victims are buried.

We then got in the car to Austin, and after threatening all day long, the skies finally opened up in a big way, and combined with Houston rush-hour traffic, made the first two hours -- and 50 miles -- of the drive quite unpleasant. But the skies closed, the roads opened, and we made it to Austin for dinner.

ROAD SCRAPS

• Fred is spending more and more time in the front seat, chilling on Joan's lap. We thought originally he was waiting for the right moment to launch another attack on the windshield wipers again. But turns out he really likes sniffing the air coming out of the air conditioning vents. He'll sit there for 15 minutes, continually sniffing the vent. Fred has clearly decided this vent is the auto equivalent of a dog's butt.
  
• Joan, looking for any excuse to do laundry, was thrilled when we got hammered by a big wave at Stewart Beach Park in Galveston. Suddenly, we had soaked jeans, socks, shoes and dog leashes. And after we dried the soaking dogs, we had soaked towels. So, alas, a hotel with laundry facilities was required. Now you know we ♥ Baymont, but the one in Austin has no guest laundry.  So we tried our new hotel crush: La Quinta Inns. This led to another wonderful hotel rate negotiation. After working the price down via AAA rate, Joan kept pushing:
  
  • Joan: "Do you have a managers' special?"
  • Hotel rep: "Not that I'm aware of."
  • Joan: "Do you have any other special rates I should be asking about but don't know to ask about?"
  • Hotel rep: "Not that I'm aware of." 
  • Joan (now annoyed): "Does your not being aware of them mean they don't exist? Or that I have to know the secret password to get to a person who IS aware?"
  • Hotel rep: "Not that I'm aware of."
  • Joan, surrendering: "Do you have guest laundry?"
  • Hotel rep, finally able to give a definitive answer: "No."
  • Joan: Terminates call immediately.
  Joan later called La Quinta's 800 number and got the same treatment. La Quinta Inns may take dogs and -- at most facilities -- do have guest laundry. But they've got nothing on the Baymont when it comes to customer service. Unfortunately, Baymonts don't have guest laundry is a lot of places, which is making it increasingly hard for us to stay there. By the way, none of this
  prevented Joan from getting a $109 room down to $84.60.
• We've had our first physical injury of the trip, and it was suffered by the car. A screw seems to have fallen out of one of side panels on the passenger side, so it's now sticking out about six inches. We've already decided that we need to get the car serviced soon, so this will hopefully be resolved then. But, like all Acuras, the car has held up like a champ. The inside is a bit rank, but as long as the car is running, we can handle that challenge.

FHMA PROGRAMMING NOTE
FIrst off, a big thanks to those of you who have been reading this daily stream-of-consciousness travel rant. We're having a great time, and hope we're giving you a little sense of the country.

We will be arriving in Phoenix on April 1. At that point, we will be what we think is about the halfway point of the trip. While in Phoenix, we will get the car serviced, get Fred an acupuncture appointment and Joan will undoubtedly catch us up on laundry. So we're going to take a break, and there will be no posts on April 4, 5 or 6. But we'll be back to start the second half of the journey on April 7.

Now, I'd be lying if I said it was a break for me. I am actually flying back to Virginia during this All-Star break of sorts for a very important reason. No, I have not taken a new job. Yes, our house is fine. No, I have no family commitment. In fact, I am heading home for the weekend because I have a bunch of fantasy baseball drafts. Yes, I am a dweeb. Go ahead, say it.

Anyway, just giving you an early heads up.

MUSIC REPORT

• Random iPod shuffle song of the day: We forgot. Again. Sorry.
• In keeping with our Texas theme, we listened to a lot of ZZ Top on Thursday. This made it more ironic when we later drove through LaGrange, Tex.. A country brothel on the outskirts of that town became the subject of one of ZZ Top's hits, "LaGrange."

MEAL REPORT

• Lunch: Gaido's, Galveston, Tex.: Thanks to Rebecca Chanin, we knew this was the place to hit in Galveston, and she was right. Great oysters -- maybe even better than the ones we had at Benny's in Houston -- and some tasty iced shrimp made for a meal that was not only excellent, but healthy. Joan enjoyed her shrimp salad, though they did slather on the dressing a bit. Jim Nutrition Rating: 4 stars (out of 5). Restaurant Rating: 4 stars (out of 5).
• Dinner: Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill, Austin, Tex.: Joan and I had dinner with Melissa Illig, an old friend from AOL, and she thankfully recommended this place. I had a flatiron steak that was tremendous, and Joan had butternut squash. The shrimp corn dog appetizer was outstanding as well. Jim Nutrition Rating: 2 stars (out of 5). The steak was fine, since I hadn't had red meat in a few days, but of course, got fries. I did skip dessert, though I did steal a few bites of Joan and Melissa's desserts. Restaurant Rating: 4 stars (out of 5).
• Weigh-in is Saturday morning.

HOTEL REPORT

• La Quinta Inn Austin North, Austin, Tex.: Another solid La Quinta. I admit; I'm surprised. For some reason, I had low expectations for La Quinta Inns, but they have been very good to us.  Hotel rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5).

COMMENT OF THE DAY

From Josh Hatch, who -- though he's never been in a car with me -- must have heard something about my driving.

• Based on the support for RUSH, I'm seriously questioning the readership of this blog. But, more importantly, have you noticed the one common factor in all three near accidents? I don't want to give it away, but it's spelled ACURA.

   

By the way, Josh also did his own travel blog last year. I discovered this when I went to his Facebook page to see what music he likes, in order to rebut his Rush insult. He lists no favorite music. This seems lame. Show your cards, my friend.

UPCOMING PLAN (subject to change)

• Today: A quick drive through Austin and San Antonio, and then west.
• Tomorrow: Big Bend National Park.
• The Day After Tomorrow: El Paso, Tex., and southern New Mexico.

BONUS JOAN PHOTO

A father and son work on a sandcastle at Stewart Beach State Park in Galveston. To Joan's disappointment, there didn't appear to be any fishing gear in sight.

BONUS BEAGLE PHOTO

Fred and Hank in front of an anchor from one of the ships involved in the Texas City explosion in 1947. They looked somber enough, so we thought it was OK.

2003 Flashback: Austin

Despite the fact we have enough Austin restaurant recommendations to keep us here for a week, we're passing through Texas's capital pretty quickly. I'm here every year for a journalism conference at the University of Texas, so I'm very familiar with Austin. I love it, since I'l surely be back soon, we're going to head out after lunch Friday and head west. But here's our 2003 report on Austin:

FRED TAKES AMERICA DAY 110 (Nov. 17, 2003)

• Where We Started: Austin, Tex.
• Where We Ended: San Antonio, Tex.
• Miles Driven: 155 (30,565 overall).
• New States Covered: None. Current Tally: 42 states down, 6 to go.

Cool Site of the Day
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin. The fifth presidential library visit of the trip, this one -- located on the University of Texas campus -- was also very good, featuring lots of information about LBJ's rise from schoolteacher to the Senate to the Presidency. Like the best of the presidential museums, it neither shies away from the problems of his administration -- Vietnam, race riots, the Robert Kennedy and MLK assassinations -- nor smooths over Johnson's own personal warts.

Among the interesting exhibits are a creepy animatronic LBJ telling some of the stories he was famous for; a 60-foot-by-20-foot exact replica of the White House that is temporarily on display; an area where the Johnsons' reactions to the JFK assassination are captured; tape recordings of LBJ using some of his legendary bargaining skills to get bills passed; and an replica of the Oval Office as it looked during Johnson's presidency.

A shot of The Great Hall, where hundreds of thousands of boxes of Johnson's presidential papers are kept. As a tour guide mentioned at the museum, LBJ was the ultimate pack rat. After his presidency, he needed something like 25 moving vans to transport all his personal papers from Washington back to Texas.

 
Scary, eh? A very tight shot of LBJ's bust at the LBJ Museum in Austin.

The Day's Other Highlights
-- Other than the LBJ Library visit and two amazing meals, our Austin visit did not quite come off as planned, thanks mostly to the weather. It was cloudy when we woke up, so we decided to take Fred to a local dog park then, rather than late afternoon. But the information on the website we used was not clear, and we were unable to find either of the two dog parks we had addresses for. By then, rain had started to fall, so we decided to do the library instead of exploring Sixth Street, the entertainment heart of Austin.

An exhausted Joan spent about 30 minutes in the library before telling me she needed to go back to the car and sleep, as our crazy-busy weekend finally started taking its toll. By the time I left about 45 minutes later, the rain had become torrential. I briefly considered calling Joan and asking her to pull the car as close as possible, but then I realized I had paid very little attention to the layout of the complex, and was not really sure where to tell her to pull up to. Since I knew I could find the car once I got out into the plaza, I just ran out into this monsoon without a jacket. After 20 seconds, I made it to an alcove, paused, and then made the 60-second sprint to the car. In those 80 seconds, I became soaked to the core, water pouring off head and dripping down my face.

At this point, it became clear that any walk on Sixth Street was going to be impossible, as the weather was showing no improvement and it was getting late. Since I have been to Austin a few times, but never been to San Antonio, I did not want to miss a night stroll along the Riverwalk, so we decided to head out. Very disappointing. Here are a few shots from our car trip:

The Texas State Capitol -- the largest state capitol in gross square footage -- is also 15 feet taller than the U.S. Capitol. The Washington version is bigger in square footage, however.

The 307-foot-tall University of Texas Tower, from which a sniper killed 16 and wounded 31 in 1966. Unlike most sites of similar massacres, the tower personnel do not acknowledge the incident and, in fact, get visibly annoyed if you ask about it.

-- As soon as I got back in the car after my sprint through the rain, Joan started suggesting I should change out of my clothes. I muttered the typical, "Ah, it'll dry; I'll be OK" response and did nothing. Later, the inevitable cold began setting in, aided and abetted by my decision to sit in an easy chair right by an open window at our hotel. By the time I went to bed, it was clear I was gonna be in for a few uncomfortable days.

-- We made it to San Antonio at about 8:30pm, and after checking in, we took Fred on a stroll down the Riverwalk. We were staying on the fringes, where the foot traffic is much lighter and the scenery beautiful. We walked all the way past the commercial area, lined with bars and restaurants before turning around and heading back.

The Riverwalk in San Antonio.

On the Riverwalk, Joan flashes as tough a look as you can get away with while wearing a Gap sweatshirt and walking a little beagle.

Meal Ratings
-- Lunch: Chuy's, Austin, Tex.: Well, this Elvis-themed Tex-Mex place scored big points right away for Joan, as the silverware came wrapped in a plastic bag that said, "This silverware has been sanitized for your protection." Then, chips and two types of salsa arrived, one that seemed to have a ketchup base and another more green chile based. Both were fantastic, so we added in some chile con carne, which Joan said was the best she's ever had. As usual, Joan spent hours before we arrived talking about how starving she was, and then ordered what I consider a snack-size meal of guacamole, refried beans and some tortillas. I had the famous Elvis Presley Memorial Combo, comprised of three enchiladas, rice and beans, and a taco with guacamole. Overall, this place was the complete package: great food, friendly and efficient service and clean. Joan felt so comfortable there she almost asked whether she could do some laundry. (4 stars).
-- Dinner: The Salt Lick, Driftwood, Tex.: The second half of what was a fabulous eating day, this world-renowned BBQ place was all it was cracked up to be. The ambiance is fantastic, as the restaurant -- which is located in the middle of nowhere, about 20 miles south of Austin -- looks like a huge ranch house. Inside, the feel is totally Texas, wood-paneled with long tables you sit at with other diners. As for the sauce, it's among the best I have ever had. It's not hot, but more sweet and sour. I had the sausage/pork ribs/beef ribs combo, and it really was memorable. Joan was not hungry, so -- despite my warnings that she would get crap from the folks on this email -- she merely ordered a slice of pecan pie. Even that was a huge hit, as she called it the best pecan pie she's ever had, and promptly bought an entire pie. This might be the first day of the trip where both restaurants merited four stars. (4 stars)

Bonus Fred Photo!
 

Fred plays tug of war with the photographer at the Westin Riverwalk.