Texas and More, June-July 2018

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Travelogue: Texas and More, June and July 2018

By Roger W. Reini

By day:
June: 18 | 19 |  | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30
July: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8


This is the story of a long trip covering Pittsburgh, Virginia, Texas and places in between.

Prologue

This trip covers a lot of ground. Why is that? Well, I missed out on a trip to Texas last year, thanks to hurricane Harvey. And I wanted to see my nephew Brandon graduate from high school, but the schedule did not work well for me. In addition, there was a leadership workshop for technical committee officers held at SAE world headquarters in suburban Pittsburgh. This trip covers all three.

I spent much of the weekend before departing getting ready. I packed my bags, did laundry, made sure that mail and paper delivery had been stopped, getting travel-sized necessities such as toothpaste, powder, etc. I did most of the loading of the car on Sunday so I wouldn’t have that much to pack in the morning.

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FMonday Junet 18

My departure day started like a regular workday, for the first half of it WAS a regular work day. But since I was going to load the last few items of luggage in the car, it was clearly not a regular day. I left the house slightly later than I normally did, and I was delayed further when I stopped to get gas at Kroger’s on the way in. I had my normal morning QSO with fellow ham radio operator Dave, N8HKU, at least until he reached the office a few minutes before I did.

That morning was a normal day at work. The weekly meeting for working on design rules, which included participants from Mexico and Germany, was not disrupted by Mexico’s upset victory over Germany in the World Cup over the weekend. If wrapped up at 11, the usual time, and after checking my desk for anything I might have left behind, it was time to leave.

My vacation was NOT beginning today, but my travels were. I was driving to the Pittsburgh area to attend a workshop at SAE world headquarters for officers of technical committees. I had been to the previous one in 2016. I had driven to that one, as well, but back then I used a pool car (a Ford Edge). This time, I was driving my own car (Lincoln MKZ Hybrid) because I would start my vacation after the workshop.

I was on the road just before 11:15. I drove down Pelham Road, which became Allen Road, thinking I could get onto I-75. I thought the closure of southbound I-75 for construction ended before Allen Road. No, it didn’t. I ended up driving Allen Road to its end near Fort Street and Gibraltar Road. At last I could get onto the freeway and start traveling in earnest. For a short time, I listened to BBC OS on the BBC World Service, but I eventually tuned in the Belgium-Panama game in the World Cup.

The drive down I-75 into Toledo was uneventful. I entertained some thoughts about having lunch at Tony Packo’s, but I decided against it. I stopped at the first service plaza on the Ohio Turnpike east of Toledo; unfortunately, too many other people had done so as well. I didn’t want to wait in a long line at Hardee’s, so I went to the convenience store and got a roast beef and horseradish sandwich and a bottle of diet Vernor’s. I ate my lunch on the road. I had a hard time keeping a good speed on the turnpike, thanks to several extensive construction zones. I listened to England-Tunisia as I drove eastward and then southeastward. This wasn’t true radio coverage of the match; it was merely the TV audio being played on the radio. It wasn’t the optimum experience, but I could follow the action. England won 2-1, by the way.

 Shortly before 4 o’clock, I had reached Pennsylvania. By 4:30, I had pulled into the parking lot of the DoubleTree Hotel - Cranberry, my home for the next three days. I had checked in online and received a digital key, so I was able to go right to my room. The elevator made it difficult to do so, though, as the doors didn’t want to close properly. But I got onto and off of the elevator without incident and got into my room. Later, though, when I went to the elevator, it was passing by my floor. Soon, one of the front desk clerks came up to tell me the elevators were out of order (there were no signs to that effect) and showed me to the stairs. I got what I needed from the car and went back upstairs. I was glad that I was only on the second floor.

For supper that evening, I went to the Saga Hibachi Steakhouse, a Japanese restaurant just up the street. I went with Amar Kashat of Eurotech, who was the secretary of the committee I chair. The meal was excellent, but I found the meal size a bit too large and wasn’t quite able to finish it all. As our meal was prepared, we discussed several work-related items, including what may have been a bombshell to him: I had applied for a phased retirement program at work that, if approved, would see me retiring from Ford by the end of the year. That did not mean I was planning to leave the chairmanship of the committee or leave the committee altogether. Back at the hotel, we sat in the lobby and talked about a few more items before I went back to my room and called it a day.

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Tuesday June 19

I have noticed that when I travel, the first night on the road is one where I have difficulty sleeping. I’m not sure why that is. It happened to me on this trip. I slept, but it wasn’t the best sleep. That didn’t keep me from waking up around 6, slightly later than I would normally awaken on a workday. Slightly after 7, I went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for their buffet breakfast. Because I was attending a conference/workshop, I had received a voucher for free breakfast each day of my stay, which was nice. I had no idea how much the breakfast buffet would have cost. While I ate, Lorie Featherstone of SAE in Troy, who was assisting with the workshop.

I had attended one previous workshop in 2016. That was the first year it was open to Ground Vehicles Systems committees; before then, it was only open to Aerospace committees. There were more representatives from Ground Vehicle committees this session, as it had been better promoted to them. During the day, we had good discussions and good participation in exercises. There was a particularly vigorous discussion about the nature of copyright and working with standards from other organizations such as ISO. Lunch and snacks were provided at appropriate times during the day. During one of those breaks, I picked up a bottle of Coke Zero (or Coke Zero Sugar, to use the new proper name, but I think the old one is just fine) that and a name on the label. No, it didn’t have my name (I’d get one of those a few weeks later), but it did have “Ford.” Appropriate, I thought, since I was representing Ford at this conference/workshop.

Just like last time, there was a Tuesday night outing for participants. Last time, we had visited the National Aviary; this time, it was the Carnegie Science Center across the street from Heinz Field. While we enjoyed drinks and dinner, we were able to view the exhibits on the second floor. Most of them were robotic in nature, including robots that shot basketballs and played air hockey. There was also an articulated mechanical hand which, by the push of various buttons, could be put into nearly any configuration. One configuration that it could NOT be put into was giving the Finger. There were replicas of several famous robots from movie and TV history: Maria from “Metropolis”, Gort, Robby the Robot, the Robot from Lost in Space, Dewey from Silent Running, and C3PO and R2-D2. I had my picture taken with the droids. There was also a large model railroad layout that had a replica of Mister Rogers’ house, some houses that looked like ones in the credits for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, including some that reminded me of the old NET logo.  I saw replicas of Forbes Field and Luna Park and a small airport.  All in all, a nice outing. When I got back to the hotel, I put my two phones (work and personal) on chargers and called it a night.

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Wednesday June 20

This was the second night on the road, so I slept a bit better this evening than I had last night. Most of the day was similar to yesterday, though today’s workshop session included a group photo in front of SAE headquarters and a session of “Document Ballot jeopardy”, where we reviewed the proper steps to conduct a ballot on a proposed document following the rules of “Jeopardy”. Our table placed third out of eight.

The session ended slightly early, but the bus back to the hotel was late, so many of us were standing out in the lobby for many minutes. Several others had arrangements to go to the airport right after the workshop ended, but I was not one of them. When the bus did arrive, we got on board and went back to the hotel. I rested for a bit, and then I went out for some dinner. I stopped at the nearby Barnes & Noble and Best Buy stores, but J didn’t see anything I wanted. For dinner, I went to Perkins, and here I observed a milestone: I ordered from the senior menu from the first time. This was not my first senior discount, by any means. The first few times, I received them without asking and presumably without being eligible for them. Maybe wearing reading glasses made me look older. Other times, I received a proper discount, but I had not ordered from a special menu. This time, I did. I had turkey and dressing, and it was pretty good.

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Thursday June 21
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I woke up this morning, took a shower, did my regular e-mail and web checks, and then I went to breakfast in the lobby restaurant. . The breakfast was good, as it had been for the last two days.. But I wouldn’t be having any more breakfasts at this hotel, for the workshop was over, and it was time to go. And when I did go, I was no longer working; I was officially on vacation.

When I left the hotel after 8:30, I got on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and headed east. My ultimate destination was my sister’s house in Ashburn, Virginia. My first destination, though, was the Somerset service plaza, the second one I had encountered. I didn’t need to use the restroom at the first service plaza, but by the time I reached Somerset, I needed to go. Then it was back on the turnpike until I reached Breezewood, where I-70 split off to head to Maryland. It also served as another chance to use the restroom, as did the Maryland rest area east of Hagerstown. They also served as opportunities to stretch and relieve any discomfort from sitting and driving.

I figured I would arrive in northern Virginia in time for a late lunch, and I was in the mood for Mexican, so I programmed Apple Maps on my iPhone to guide me to the Chuy’s in or near Sterling. It did a good job of taking me there, but when I neared the Loudoun County Parkway, I had a realization: it might be better in terms of traffic if I were to eat at Uncle Julio’s at One Loudoun. It would be a straighter shot to my sister’s versus going to Chuy’s, So I went to Uncle Julio’s and had a good combination dinner, although I would have preferred Chuy’s.

I arrived at my sister’s after 3 and marked in front of their house. I brushed against the curb with my right front tire but thought little of it at the time. All of the children were home, although since they are now all adults, it doesn’t seem right to call them children. My younger niece, Heather, was on the couch recovering from surgery on her foot two days earlier.My older niece, Candice, and my nephew Brandon were there as well. I gave Brandon the second of his graduation gifts (the first being a check in his graduation card): a copy of the Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh. His sisters had received their own copies for their high school graduations, and now it was his turn. I also got to meet the two newest kittens in the household, Sasha and Pippin. I met Pippin first, as he was the friendlier of the two. Sasha would also show me friendship, but she was more skittish.

When suppertime came around, the plan was to order Indian food as takeout. Brandon would go and pick it up. That made it a good time for me to go check in at the hotel up the road. But when I went to my car, I discovered that the right front tire was flat! I did not have a spare tire; the car didn’t come with one (the traction battery of the hybrid powertrain was back there, and it left no room for a spare). It had a tire inflator and sealer kit, which was in the trunk. So I had to partially empty the trunk to get at the kit. The emptied contents of the trunk went into the back seat, and I read up on how to use the kit. But I couldn’t get the kit to work; the tire sealant was ineffective, or I wasn’t using it properly.

Now I had a big problem: how would I fix my tire? I’d have to have it towed somewhere, most likely the closest dealership. This put a damper on my enjoyment of the meal, which in my case was lamb meatballs. I couldn’t finish it; what I did eat was all right, but I was just in no mood to finish it. That was due to the large quantity of food and my having had a late lunch as well as my worry about the car.. By this time, it was too late to do anything tonight. So I made plans to come back over at 8 tomorrow morning and arrange for a tow to the closest Ford/Lincoln dealer in Chantilly. My sister Sharon helped me get all of my stuff out of my car and put it into her SUV, and she took me up to the hotel.

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Friday June 22

Needless to say, I did not have a food night’s sleep. I didn’t have the hotel’s breakfast, either; no vouchers at the Hilton Garden Inn for me, and I didn’t feel like charging it to the room. I had a cookie and a Fiber One bar, both of which were in one of the bags recovered from my car.

Before 8, I went downstairs to the lobby. When I went outside, my brother-in-law Randy was waiting to pick me up. His work schedule had him off today, fortunately. I learned that he would also be retiring at the end of the year, joining me in retirement. At the house, I arranged for a tow from Battlefield Towing, who said that they would be there within the hour. One hour became two, then three. Watching old Westerns like “Have Gun Will Travel”, “Rawhide” and “High Chaparral” helped pass the time, but I was growing concerned. Would I be forced to stay in the DC area for additional days to get my car serviced?

The tow truck arrived after 11, and the driver took me and the car to Ted Britt Ford/Lincoln in Chantilly. I got the car written up, and they advised that it would probably be 90 minutes for the car to be reviewed and serviced. They must not have been terribly busy that day. So I went to the lounge and waited, using my iPad and iPhone to pass the time. The service clerk came to report that the tire had been damaged on the side; there was no way the sealer kit could have worked. I needed a brand new tire, which did happen to be in stock. It was an expensive tire, costing just under $300, but I could afford it. And so, I was able to drive back to my sister’s. I wouldn’t have to stay in DC another day, although spending time with the family and playing with the kitties would have helped. For a while, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue with my vacation; maybe I would just go back to Michigan. But relaxation and a tortellini dinner put me in a better mood; I would continue. I made a hotel reservation for a hotel in Knoxville, my targeted first stop on the way to Texas.

I went back to the hotel after 7 o’clock, on my own this time. I packed several things back into the car and left the rest for the morning. I could sleep a little easier tonight.

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Saturday Junet 23

It was the weekend, but I still woke up around 6 and did my normal web and e-mail checks. I had another Fiber One bar and cookie for breakfast (I wasn’t super hungry) and got under way shortly after 8. The weather was cloudy, foggy and drizzly. It wasn’t the easiest driving that morning, especially when I wasn’t that familiar with the area. I was thrown a bit by the presence of traffic lights on what I thought was freeway (Highway 28 north of I-66); I guess it wasn’t a freeway there.

The fog let up around Front Royal, but clouds persisted for much of the drive. I stopped at a travel plaza on I-81 at exit 298 for some gas for the car and Diet Coke for me. I listened to World Cup games and commentary for most of the day as I drove to the southwest. Traffic was heavy at times, and conditions in at least one rest area were such that I could not stop; the parking lot was full. I had to hold it until the first rest area in Tennessee. Fortunately, I didn’t have to go THAT badly.

One of my reasons for traveling through Knoxville was to visit a Field Day site. I had had done this when traveling before, in 2013. Field Day is an annual exercise in the ham radio community that tests the ability of hams to work under emergency conditions. The site I visited was in Kodak, Tennessee; the station was W4D, which operated as a 5A station (5 transceivers running on emergency power). When I opened my car door, the muffled roar of the generators told me I was in the right spot. That, was well as the big sign and the big antennas. The operating environment was a park, which was very comfortable. The chair I sat in while talking to some of the hams was very comfortable, too; in fact, I started yawning like mad. That didn’t bode well for operating., so I decided I wouldn’t.  The CW operator was doing well, but the one voice station I saw was receiving extensive noise from a generator, so it wasn’t that useful.  After an hour, perhaps less, I left.

When I left, I was hungry. I thought I had seen a sign for a Cracker Barrel restaurant. I had; it was north of I-40. I was in the mood for Cracker Barrel, so I drove there. Being a Saturday evening, I feared the place would be very busy with a long wait. That proved not to be the case, though; I was seated right away.  And since I didn’t have lunch today (the occasional potato chip does not count0, I was in the mood for a hearty dinner. A meatloaf dinner with mashed potatoes, corn and okra filled the bill. The meal was ready in hardly any time at all, which surprised me. It tasted good.

I got back on I-40 and drove through Knoxville to the Holiday Inn Express Knoxville Farragut. There wasn’t much around it, but I was just interested in resting and sleeping., so I didn’t care. I had room 101, and it was nothing like the Room 101 of “1984” — although my inability to connect my MacBook Pro to the hotel’s WiFi could have been. I could connect to the network of the hotel across the parking lot, but not my own hotel’s. My iPad could connect, but not by MacBook. So I used the iPad most of the night, and if I needed a connection on the MBP, I tethered it to my iPhone.

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Sunday June24

I woke up at 6:45 this morning, later than on previous days. Perhaps I was starting to get into vacation mode. I was certainly getting into hotel breakfast mode again, now that I was staying at places where it was included in the room rate. Yes, I had the hotel breakfast today, and because it was a Holiday  Inn Express, it included its famous cinnamon buns. Yummy!

I left the hotel shortly after 8 and stopped almost immediately at the shell station near the freeway. I had problems using the pump I had first pulled up at, though; the sun was shining right on the display, so I couldn’t really see what it was directing me to do. So I moved around to the other side of the pump and had no problem reading that display. And so, with a full gas tank, I set off down I-75 toward Chattanooga. An hour or so later, I was on i-24 in Chattanooga continuing to the southwest. I-59 split off from I-24, and I took that into Georgia and then to Alabama.

As had been the case the last few days, I was listening to World Cup action. The first game saw England thrash Panama by a 6-1 score, ensuring that the Three Lions would advance to the Round of 16. I don’t remember the other games or scores, but I could look them up. Later, I listened to the 60s on 6’s Satellite Music Survey from this week in 1963. Those were the songs that were topping the charts shortly after I was born. Number 2 that week was “It’s My Party” by Lesley Gore, which had been number 1 the week I was born. Number 1 was “Sukiyaki” by Kyu Sakamoto.

The weather was sunny and warm today, a definite change from yesterday. construction zones were also widespread, hindering my ability to make the best time. Once again, I hose not to stop for lunch. Now I had yet to make hotel reservations for this evening, as I wasn’t quite sure where I would stop for the night. It would be in Louisiana, to be sure, but where? Slidell — Hammond — Mandeville — all were valid options. It would depend on how my driving progressed. After stopping for gas in Laurel, MS, I decided: I would stop in Slidell.

When I checked in to the Holiday Inn Express in Slidell, I found that my MacBook would still not connect to the hotel network. Doing a search with my iPad, I found a possible solution involving deleting old preference lists. I did that, and it worked. I could make a proper connection to the network. One question was settled, but now another one loomed: where to have supper? There didn’t seem to be many restaurants near the hotel. I figured I could get something from the nearby Walmart. It turned out I was more right than I thought: the Walmart had a Subway restaurant. And so I got a foot-long Italian BMT sandwich to take back to the room. While I ate, I listened to the latest installment of the History of Africana Philosophy, a spinoff from the podcast “The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps.”

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Monday Junet 25

I got up around 6 AM. No, I wasn’t falling out of vacation mode. Remember, this was 6 AM Central time (thus 7 AM Eastern). I was still waking up later. i had been listening to a stream of Music Through The Night, an overnight program of classical music originating at Minnesota Public Radio. Breakfast in the hobby was mostly the same as I’d had yesterday in Knoxville, although I skipped one sausage patty.  A little after 8, I was on the road.

I was looking for one of the truck service centers (Pilot, Love’s, Petro, etc.) to get a fountain drink. I didn’t find any of those, but I did stop at a regular Marathon gas station east of Baton Rouge and got ash fountain drink of Coke Zero. I sipped that cup through Baton Rouge, over the Mississippi, over the long Atchafalaya bridge, through Lafayette and nearly to Lake Charles. I got some gas there (and made a bathroom break) before heading through Lake Charles. i had seen reports that the I-10 bridge in Lake Charles had poor safety ratings, so I took the I-210 bypass. Its bridge was in better shape. and not more than an hour later, I was in Texas.

My first stop was the Welcome Center and Rest Area just over the Sabine. Unfortunately, the bathrooms were out of order due to no water pressure. Fortunately, having just used the restroom on the other side of Lake Charles, I didn’t have to go that badly. I walked on the boardwalk behind the rest area, which wandered through a swampy area. The sun was beating down, and I was wearing a dark blue shirt. Not a good combination! Back in the rest area, I picked up some literature and set off on my way. There was a lot of construction on the freeway between Orange and Beaumont, making for some difficult driving.

By the time I saw the sign for the next rest area, I was ready for a rest. This was not a state-run rest area, though; it was operated by Chambers County. But I would say their rest area was just as good as a state-run rest area; indeed, I’d say it was better run than some. After my rest, I got back on the freeway and looked for the exit for Highway 146. This was how I would get to League City. The sites were mostly familiar, although I was sad when I passed by the closed Laredo’s in Seabrook. It had been my favorite Mexican restaurant in the area (since 1982), but it was losing its building to highway widening and expansion. They had yet to find a new location. The fate of Tookie’s was better; it had also been forced to move from its Seabrook location for the same reason, but it was now operating in its new location in Kemah. I would have to go there this week. For now, though, I continued down 146 past 2094 and past 518 down to Highway 96. Here, I drove across town towards the Hampton Inn.

It was too early to check in at the hotel, so I decided to have either a late lunch or an early supper at Jimmy Changa’s, my favorite currently-operating Mexican restaurant in the area. I was hungry, so I got one of their big combination meals. I’m not quite sure if I finished it, but I came very close if I didn’t. Then it was a short drive to the hotel. Room 312 would be my home for the next four nights. It was pretty close to the elevator, close enough that I could hear the frequent electronic chimes (“ding-dog!”) that an elevator was stopping at the floor.. But it wasn’t super annoying. I got a baggage cart and was able to unload the car in one go I did have difficulties with two of the bags wanting to stay on the cart, but I got them to cooperate. I unpacked, and then I could relax. My heavy-duty traveling was done for a few days. It was also done for this evening, too, as I didn’t go out that night. My late lunch was large enough that I was not in the mood for supper. I got a bottle of Diet Coke from the vending machine down the hall, but that was it..

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Tuesday June 26

Once again, I woke up around 6 in the morning. This morning, I showered. Unfortunately, there weren’t any natural footrests on the edges or corners of the bathtub for me to use in washing my feet. There wasn’t enough room to put up a foot and give it a good wash. I did as best as I could, though. Then I went down to the lobby and had breakfast from the breakfast bar. Since this was a Hampton Inn, there would be no cinnamon buns on the buffet, but there were other items like little scones that were all right. I did not go hungry.

For my first excursion of the day, I went to Kroger’s to get some food and drink for my stay. This was the fairly new Kroger Marketplace on the League City Parkway and the extended Hobbs Road, the successor to the original Kroger’s in town on Main Street and its subsequent location on the freeway. I had a little bit of difficulty getting there, though, thanks to road construction; I wasn’t able to get into the left lane to turn, so I had to make a right turn and then do a U-turn (that’s common enough in Michigan that it’s known as a Michigan left). But I eventually got there and found a few items for the stay, the most important being some pop I got some Caffeine-Free Diet Dr Pepper, which I have never seen outside of Texas. There was a time when I used to avoid caffeine in my drinks, but I’ve started increasing my consumption of them again, but for home, I try to stay caffeine-free. I also got some Fiber One bars and another bag of Prime Rib & Horseradish potato chips, not to mention two bottles of Top Chico mineral water.

With today being a sunny and warm day, i didn’t want my foot to get roasted or steamed in the trunk, so I went back to the hotel to drop off the groceries. When I got to my room, I found it had already been cleaned and made up; that was good, quick service! How I could go to my second destination of the day, the Buc-ee’s in Texas City. Thanks to the ongoing road construction (the freeway is being rebuilt so that instead of FM 646 going over it, it will go over FM 646), I ended up staying on the feeder all the way there. That wasn’t much of a problem, and I was soon at the big Buc-ee’s travel center. I looked around the whole place, spending some time in the sunglasses section, where I was looking for a spare pair of clip-on sunglasses in case my current ones became damaged. I did find a pair, and they worked, although they were too big for the frames I had. I found some cute cat pillows that my aunt, sister or younger niece would have enjoyed. Eventually, I found something I would like: lunch! I got a chopped beef barbecue sandwich and a cup of banana pudding, along with a medium fountain drink of Coke Zero (I still think of it with the shorter name, rather than “Coke Zero Sugar”), all of which I consumed in the car. The A?C was running at the time; there was no way I would have done that otherwise. Then it was back inside for a bathroom break. Buc-ee’s is known for their clean bathrooms, and I saw why.

Now I drove up to Fry’s in Webster. This took me right through some major construction on the freeway and the feeder roads; I had to pay very close attention to everything, more so than usual because any built-in memory of the way lanes were was out the window. Exits were not where they should have been, although the one for Nasa 1 was (it wasn’t in the place I would historically expect it, though, and it hadn’t been there for years). Fry’s was still Fry’s, although its merchandise mix had changed over the years. The CD and DVD sections had really shrunk in the last few years, although the electronics component section and the computer sections were as large as ever. They also carried a decent amount of “As Seen On TV” items. I didn’t get anything today. No, I left and drove back to the hotel by way of Highway 3 and Walker Street.

Back at the hotel, there was a big crowd of people being served lunch in the lobby/breakfast area. This had been catered in; this was not supplied by the hotel. It was a meeting of Aaron’s representatives (Aaron’s Rents/Sells). When I got to my room, I tried to tune in the Nigeria-Argentina soccer game, but I had a hard time doing so. The game was on Fox, and the list of TV channels in the room said it was on channel 6. Well, I don’t remember what was on channel 6, but it wasn’t the soccer game! It turned out that the listing on the card was outdated; the electronic program guide on channel 2 said the game was on channel 9, and indeed it was. I knew my older niece Candice would be rooting for Nigeria, but her hopes were dashed as Nigeria fell to Argentina..

For supper that evening, I drove across the freeway to MOD Pizza, one of those places that specialize in making a pizza, then cooking it at extremely high heat for a short period so that you received a fully-cooked pizza in minutes. There was a MOD pizza near me in Michigan (Canton Township, maybe 3-4 miles away from the house), and it was OK, although I preferred a different chain, 1000 Degrees Pizza (but the one closest to me had closed a year earlier)..The pizza here seemed greasier than the ones in Michigan, although I wasn’t sure about that. I used several napkins to blot the excessive grease. Then I went over to the nearby HEB grocery store to see what they had. They had plenty of Whataburger condiments, but they didn’t have the Whataburger potato straws I’d had before. Were they no longer available? Then it was back to the hotel to listen to some music on iTunes and to start listening to the latest episode of The Thomas Jefferson Hour.

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Wednesday June 27

After waking up, doing my normal web and e-mail checks, and having breakfast in the lobby, I did something important: I set up my nieces and nephew as beneficiaries for key benefits at work: my 401(k), my unused pension contributions, and insurance policies. With retirement looming, I thought this was something I should take care of.

My day’s travels started with a drive through Newport — the old neighborhood. I drove past our old house; it was still there, and there was a truck in the driveway. I drove to the back of Newport and then out on Newport Boulevard. The part of the boulevard north of the houses was becoming tree-covered, almost like East Main in town. Fifty years of growth will do that. Then I drove through town, not seeing too much that was obviously different from my last visit. I stopped at the Target store in Kemah, looking around for a bit but not getting anything.

Next stop, after a short drive around Kemah: Tookie’s in its new location.  It had moved from its old location in Seabrook due to pending highway widening. I got there somewhat before 11 o’clock , so I had to sit in the car for a little while until they opened.  Once they opened and I went inside, the decor was reminiscent of the old location. The menu was the same as I remembered. I ordered a #198 burger (a double #99). However, I’d forgotten how big it was; I couldn’t finish it. It ended up being more of a #170 for me, I guess.  Then I went up to Nasa 1 and drove towards Clear Lake City. Again, there were no major differences that I noticed. I stopped at the HEB on El Camino Real to see if they had the Whataburger potato straws; they didn’t. The store wasn’t as nice as the ones in League City, which probably comes from its originally being an Albertson’s.

Next, I drove over to Baybrook, parking in the traditional spot by Macy’s (which started out as a traditional spot near Joske’s). There had been some changes here; Sears had closed down several months earlier. But the rest of the mall appeared to be thriving, including the newer outside portion with the theater and all of the restaurants. I didn’t visit any of those places today. I did go to the Apple Store, though, and debated whether I should get a new Lightning cable for charging my iPad. My current one had a connection that was beginning to become intermittent and out not be easy to repair. I held off on getting it; I would wait until the condition of the old cable became intolerable. When I left, I took Bay Area westbound to reach 518, then took Hobbs Road down to League City Parkway (I don’t think the part west of the freeway is considered Highway 96) and then back to the hotel. And then I watched Brazil win its final group game in the World Cup.

What did I do for supper? Well, I waited for a while. I was still pretty full from that burger at Tookie’s. When I did feel hungry enough, keeping in mind that I ‘d had pizza last night, I went to — CiCi’s Pizza. It was either that or Denny’s, and I wasn’t in the mood for Denny’s. The pizza was a little bit different tonight (some of it was flatbread pizza). I think I was the oldest adult there who didn’t have a child with him. So it was no culinary masterpiece this evening.. Then it was back to the room do so some reading and to finish listening to the current podcast of The Thomas Jefferson Hour. This week’s topic: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.”

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 Thursday June 28

Once I got up this morning, I went to the lobby for breakfast. Today, I had a small omelet, a sausage patty, a muffin (not sure of the berry in it; it wasn’t clearly blueberry), some yogurt, and some orange juice. It was good.

For today’s travels, I started with a drive to Pearland Town Center, taking 518 all of the way there. That was a pretty good drive; it took me around an hour to get there. I parked by the Barnes & Noble and waited for it to open up. Once it did, I used the restroom (that orange juice was making its presence known), and then I looked around for a bit. Then went out and walked around the rest of the town center. There was a Mongolian restaurant there; would I be interested in lunch there? Perhaps, but not today. I visited the Macy’s and walked through there but didn’t get anything. I walked elsewhere, but the only things I got were hot and thirsty. Buying a Coke Zero and sitting in a covered area took care of those conditions..  Back at the Barnes ^ Noble, I did see two books on retirement planning that appealed to me. But I wanted to get them in e-book format, so I didn’t get either book.

Next stop: Joe’s Barbecue in Alvin. On the way there, some raindrops were falling. This was the first rain I had experienced in Texas on this trip. I thought I had better take an umbrella inside when I got to Joe’s. And as I pulled in, it started to rain more heavily. Once inside, the noise from the roof told me it was raining even harder. I was here for one thing: a barbecue baked potato, topped all the way. That potato was big, but I was hungry; by the time I was done, there were only a few small portions of potato left. All of the barbecue and other toppings had been eaten. It was GOOD.

Next stop: Buc-ee’s in Texas City for some gas. Now in getting there, I passed another Buc-ee’s at the corner of Highway 35 and FM 517, but that was a smaller, local-scale Buc-ee’s. No, I wanted to go to the full-fledged travel center Buc-ee’s.  After getting gas and using the bathroom, I didn’t get anything else. It was back to the hotel to watch the second half of the England-Belgium game. Belgium won, 2-1.

Now it was time to look for e-book versions of those two books on retirement planning I’d seen earlier. One of them was easy to find, and I got it. I got the Nook version at B&N, not the Kindle version of Amazon, for I wanted B&N to get the benefit. But I could not find an e-book version of the second book, even though I recalled a statement on the cover that it was available in e-book format. I sent a note to B&N via their website; they replied that it was not available in Nook format If I wanted it, I’d have to get the physical book. And so I drove up to the store in Webster to buy it. And I wasn’t remembering things incorrectly; that book did say it was available in e-book format. That did not necessarily mean it was available in Nook format, though. Now before I’d gone to B&N, I visited to League City Walmart for some glue/cement/adhesive. One of the rubber pads had come off the bottom of my laptop stand.. When I got back to the room, I glued the pad back onto the stand and let it sit for several hours.

I would have a late supper this evening; the potato from Joe’s guaranteed that. When I did feel like eating, there was no way I was going to have pizza. No, this evening, I did feel like Denny’s. No, I didn’t order from the senior menu tonight; I had one of their skillets instead. I believe it had egg, sausage, potatoes and peppers. I’d had it before, and it was pretty good, then and now.

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Friday June 29

Today marked the end of one  phase of my vacation and the start another. I would be leaving the Hampton Inn today and heading to my residence for the next seven nights, The Crowne Plaza  Houston River Oaks. Contrary to its name, it was not actually in River Oaks, although it was somewhat close to it. It was actually on the Southwest Freeway west of Kirby Drive. Why was I going there? That had been the option I chose when redeeming my certificate for a stay at a “resort”. The certificate had some from joining Holland America Privileges during my Panama Canal cruise last year.

I got up, took a shower, packed up most of my things and brought them out to the car before I had breakfast It wasn’t much (some oatmeal, a muffin, a scone, and some yogurt), but it filled me up, and it was good. Back to my room I went for a few minutes, as I didn’t want to leave too early. I couldn’t check in at the Crowne Plaza until 3. I ended up leaving around 9:3-.

My first stop wasn’t very far away. It was the Walmart down the street, where I bought a pack of wasabi ranch flavor Harvest Snaps. Then I got onto the freeway — with some difficulty, thanks to the road construction — and headed into town. I exited at Airport Boulevard, with my destination being the 1940 Air Terminal Museum. I had heard about the place for some time — I had even liked its Facebook page — but I had never been there. It was the original passenger terminal for what was then Houston Municipal Airport. It had been replaced in 1954 with the current terminal building (since remodeled and expanded), at which point it became Houston International Airport and is now William P. Hobby International Airport.  The building had been abandoned and was in sad shape before restoration began in the 1990s. The main waiting area had been restored to its Art Deco glory. There was a second-floor balcony, but it was closed to the public.

I started reviewing the exhibits, most of which dealt with airlines having a strong Houston Connection, like Braniff, TTA (later Texas International) and Pan Am, with a little bit of Southwest, too. I saw several years’ worth of timetables for TTA, which I can remember being called “Tinker-Toy Airlines” (it was really Trans-Texas Airways). I saw collections of china from the airlines, back when it was china, not the plastic of today. I even saw a model of what looked to be a Concorde painted in Continental’s colors (Continental never flew the Concorde). I watched a video of the history of the museum and started talking with one of the volunteers (I never got his name, unfortunately). He took me onto the ramp adjacent to the museum and let me board a 1940s-vintage Lockheed Lodestar, originally built for the military but converted into an 8-seat executive aircraft. It was currently not airworthy, having been damaged in hurricane Ike. Wing damage had been repaired, but propeller damage would require much more money to repair. I got to see and take pictures of one private jet and two Southwest 737’s take off.

There was a hangar associated with the museum, but it was open only on Wednesdays and the third Saturday of every month, so I missed out on that. Looks like I have reason for a return visit sometime. I had a good time at the museum. Now it was time to leave. I went north on Telephone Road (I have to resist typing “Telegraph Road”, which is in Detroit). and then I turned onto Long Drive.That was the way we used to get to the South Loop before the interchange with the Gulf Freeway was completed. It looked vaguely familiar to how it did many years ago. Was there still a Target store on the other side of the freeway? I couldn’t see. That was the first Target in the area the I can remember. I got onto the freeway and headed west There was a lot of construction at the South Freeway interchange, and lanes narrowed for a while, but I got through. I exited at Kirby Drive and started north. There were quite a few other cars heading north, too, and traffic was stop-and-go for several miles.

It was still too early to check in at the hotel, but it was the right time for lunch. And the right place for lunch today, for me, was the Chuy’s on Westheimer. I cam still remember that being the location of Boardman’s Seafood Restaurant in the ‘70s. The parking lot was quite full, and I had to wait a while for a parking space to open up. However, the restaurant was not as full as the parking lot; I was able  to get a table right away. Oddly enough, it was in the same area that I had a table the last time I’d visited. I don’t know if it was the very same table, but it was close. Naturally, I ordered the Comida Deluxe, my favorite meal there. I’m not sure, but it may be the only meal I’ve ever ordered there. And why not? I like it. It was large enough that it took some time for me to finish it, which wasn’t a problem because I was seeking to kill some time.

After leaving Chuy’s, I drove over to the Central Market a few miles away. I didn’t plan on getting anything from here, not just yet. Perhaps i would do so on a later visit. This store was pretty close to the hotel, after all. When the time came, I made my way over to the hotel. I had to go back to Kirby and go down to the freeway, then take the feeder a short distance to the hotel. I checked in, paid for my parking for the next seven days, then parked in the garage next to the hotel. I was on the second floor of the garage. In order to enter the hotel,  I had to go to the lowest level *by elevator or stairs), and there was the entrance. To the right, the gift shop. To the left, the pool and spa area. And the bank of elevators was a short distance down the hall. I went up the 14th floor to find my room, room 1409.

I found a luggage cart on the floor and retrieved it for ease in bringing up the rest of my belongings. The room had a microwave and a small refrigerator; I could get drinks and some other things. It was a good-sized room with a king-sized bed and a sofa that was really a sofa bed. The room had a single window looking to the southeast. And what could I see? The Southwest Freeway, mainly. In the distance were Hermann Park and the Texas Medical Center. To the left, downtown Houston. And if I hadn’t been able to see the Southwest Freeway, I sure could, and did, hear the traffic on it!

After settling in, I downloaded and identified the pictures I had taken today at the museum. That took a while. Then it was time to decide what to do for supper. I had noticed an Elevation Burger on Kirby not too far from the hotel, but it was not easy to reach from the hotel. So I need up eating at the hotel restaurant. Thinking I was getting something light, I ordered a Caesar salad with grilled chicken. It ended up being a large salad, too large for me to finish. If I’d not eaten aa big, late lunch today, I might have been able to finish it.  As I left, I inspected the menus for the breakfast buffets: the full buffet and the continental buffet. I also inspected the prices, and then I determined that I needed to go grocery shopping and get something for breakfast for the week.

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Saturday June 30

The room tended to be dark, so I left the bathroom light on overnight with the door partially closed so I would be able to see if/when I had to use the restroom in the middle of the night..I also left the curtains open a crack to let some light in, but that proved to be a mistake in the mornings. It let too much light in, awakening me when I didn’t want to be awakened. I might want that if I were working, but not while on vacation. And then there was the air conditioning. It worked fine; in fact, it almost worked too well. The room was configured so that the main vent blew right onto the bed. This would prove to be a problem over the next few days; more on that later.

When I left the hotel, my first destination was the Kroger store at the River Oaks shopping center. Here, I got some snacks and drinks for the next week: some Caffeine-Free Diet Dr Pepper (which I’ve never seen outside of Texas), some Pop Tarts (for breakfast), some other snacks that I won’t mention here, and a bottle of Topo Chico mineral water. That water is hard to find in Michigan, which is a shame because it’s so good. Then i went two blocks over to the Barnes & Noble store. This location had a good collection of Texas-related books, as well as a decent collection of space-related books (although the Webster store has a slightly more expansive selection, in my opinion). I bought two Texas-related books today — Houston-related, in fact: one was on Houston aviation history (influenced by my visit to the 1940 Air Terminal Museum), and the other on hiking/biking trails in the area. That book would be more useful at cooler times of the year.

When I left and got onto Shepherd, I turned right, to the north. I'm not sure I was able to turn left. Going north, I was heading towards I-10:the Katy Freeway. That would allow me to go to the Katy Mills outlet shopping center. But before I reached the freeway, I was inspired to go to the Galleria instead. I was inclined to visit a Tommy Bahama store to get me or more Hawaiian (or should that be Bahamian?) shirts. So I made a U-turn of sorts, got onto Durham (which became southbound Shepherd), turned onto Westheimer, and made my way to the Galleria. I drove into one of the underground parking areas,  it wasn’t easy finding a parking spot; I had to go farther down to find one.

In many ways, the Galleria wasn't that different from when I had last visited. It still had the upscale shopping and high-end stores it was and is famous for. The ice rink was still there, as were the restaurants that surrounded it. I ate my lunch at Sbarro, that prominent purveyor of mall pizza. It was decent enough. Later, I visited the Microsoft and Apple stores (located very close to each other, like a Home Depot and Lowe's. I looked for the Tommy Bahama store using the touchscreen displays that also held the store directories. Those were a bit confusing to me, but I eventually figured it out and found the store. I also found a shirt I liked (one that had a breast pocket). By then, I was ready to leave.

It took a while for traffic to move on Westheimer, and during most of that time, I didn't have the satellite radio available. This frustrated me to no end; was it a hardware malfunction or a bad reception problem? I turned off the car a couple of times I was stuck in traffic, but it made no difference. That told me it was a reception problem. When traffic moved sufficiently and i got service back, that confirmed it.  I turned onto Post Oak, thinking I was in a lane that had to turn (I’m not sure I was. I figured I could head back to the hotel via Richmond, but I missed that turn and had to U-turn at Westpark to get back to Richmond. Then I had to contend with construction on Richmond while navigating back to Kirby and the hotel.

Back at the hotel, I brought all of my acquisitions to the room (the food, the books and the shirt). I glanced at the books for a while. I also worked on this travelogue for a while. When the time came for supper, I decided to go to the Cleburne Cafeteria. I knew I didn’t want to eat at the hotel tonight. I wondered if the cafeteria was going to be busy; it was, but not excessively so. There were a number of things on the menu that sounded appealing and appetizing to me. I ordered the chicken fried steak, figuring I couldn’t go wrong with that. It wasn’t available immediately, so I got a number for later delivery. I paid and found a seat, starting on my Jello while waiting for the entree. When it came, I was surprised by how huge it was; it was spilling off of the plate! I knew I wouldn’t finish it, so I concentrated on finishing half of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t really care for it. The meat was pressed very thin and was overwhelmed by the breading. I don’t think I will have their chicken fried steak again. Then it was back to the hotel for night. On the way, I noticed a Kroger store at Westpark and Buffalo Speedway, definitely closer to the hotel than the River Oaks location.

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Sunday July 1

That air conditioning vent that was blowing on the bed became too much to endure. Turning up the temperature didn’t help, for it would still be cold when it was working. Turning it off completely was not an option. Fortunately, I had the hoodie that I received at the SAE leadership workshop. I wore it to sleep, and it really helped. I didn’t think the hoodie would get much use before fall, but I was mistaken. I’m glad I had it; I’m glad I got it.

I took my time getting going this morning. I had a Pop Tart (really a 2-pack) for breakfast this morning; I would do that for every breakfast at the hotel, it turned out. aI went down to the lobby for a while. to allow housekeeping to do their thing. In the lobby,I did some reading and installed updates on my iPhone and iPad.. And then I set off on my travels for the day.

My first destination was the Buc-ee’s travel plaza in Katy. This one was fairly new, I understood. It had a slightly different configuration than the locations in Texas City or Baytown, but otherwise it was a typical Buc-ee’s. I didn’t need gas, but I did get a phone case that can handle larger phones than my current iPhone 6s (thinking my next phone may be one might be a plus-size) and a cat-themed pillow. I wasn’t sure if it should go to my sister or to my younger niece.

Next, I drove to Katy Mills by way of going through Katy proper on old Katy Road. I’m pretty sure I’d never driven it, not that portion of it. It was typical  suburbia. At the freeway, I went straight (south), and that took me to the outer ring road of Katy Mills. I drove all of the way around it, looking for the Fuddrucker’s I remembered eating at several years ago. But I didn’t see it. Oh, there was a Fuddrucker’s, all right, but it wasn’t on that ring road,,it was on another access road, which I soon discovered. It had been a while since I’d been to any Fuddrucker’s, and I enjoyed my visit here. They even had a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, so I was able to get my preferred drink

Then I drove over to the mall. I parked and went inside; it turned out I’d entered near the Rainforest Cafe. I decided to do a loop around the shopping center, seeing what stores were there without stopping at any of them; that would wait for the second circuit. I didn’t keep that promise, though, as I entered the Sun and Ski Sports store and the Bass Pro Shops store. That one was for a bathroom break. And then I visited the stores I’d need the first time around. First, the Books-A-Million; I didn’t get anything there. Next came the Tommy Bahama outlet store, where I saw the very same shirt I’d bought yesterday (and which I was wearing today) for half the price. They had some other designs, one of which I bought. One of the clerks at the counter commented that she liked my shirt. When I told her where I’d gotten it, she said “Naturally:.. Next came a visit to the Nautical outlet, where I saw the shirt that I had bought on board the cruise ship on my Panama Canal cruise.  But that shirt was not a tall-length shirt, nor did there seem to be any tall-length shirts here. Also, I couldn’t find my size. One size smaller or one size larger, yes, those were available, but not my size. So the only thing I got was the Tommy Bahama shirt.

Now it was time to head back into town on the Katy Freeway, making my way to the West Loop and the Westheimer exit. I paid another visit to the Central Market, picking up a few things for the next few days, and then it was back to the hotel.

For supper this evening, I would stay in and eat at the hotel restaurant. From my table, I could hear the occasional sound from a Lutheran group meeting in one of the conference rooms. And what was I having while hearing those occasional sounds? Steak and Stout Sliders with chips. That may have seemed a bit strange in light of my eating at Fuddrucker’s for lunch, , but it was different enough. Then it was back to the room for the evening, where I read the latest edition of New Scientist magazine on my iPad.

Up to this point, I had not turned on the TV in the room, but I did so tonight. It turned ut that the only channels I could find were over-the-air digital TV channels, and sometimes I couldn’t find those. I couldn’t get anything on channel 8, the PBS station. So the TV went off, and I continued reading until I went to sleep. Now that would have been something had I been able to continue reading while asleep!

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Monday July 2

This was the week of Jul 4. It was also the week that Ford Product Development was shut down, with everyone having to take four days of vacation (the 4th was counted as a holiday). I would be off of work today, no matter if I was down here back home, or wherever. So I would be getting up late, no matter what. And that¡s what I did. I got up at 7 and had another 2-pack of Pop-Tarts for breakfast. Later, II listened to two BBC radio dramas (actually, one drama and one comedy) via the BBCiPlayer. Both of them had aired earlier in the morning on Radio 4. One was a 5-episode drama called “Ground Control”, which I lost interest in halfway through the run, and the other was part 2 of a 6-part science fiction comedy called “The Quanderhorn Xperimentations“.  Later, I took a shower and watched the Brazil-Mexico game, which Brazil ended up winning.

My big trip today was a journey to Rosenberg. I was going to have lunch at the Holy Roast Coffee House, owned and operated y a schoolmate of mine, Camille Shaw Rodriquez, and her husband Frankie. It took som time getting out there; Rosenberg was farther away than I thought or remembered. And then I had to contend with road construction that disrupted the exits and signs. I saw a sign for what I thought was Highway 36: but by the time it had registered that it was, I was past the exit and had to drive several miles out of my way to the next chance to turn around. But I eventually got there. I had some difficulty in figuring out the proper parking for the place for there was a parking lot for some apartments that immediately adjoined the coffee house and other shops, and after going there first, I moved to a different lot.

The coffee house very nice, very clean and very welcoming inside. I went to the counter to place my order. The micas plate looked most appealing to me, so I officered that  along with a bottle of Topo Chico to drink. Now I’d told Camille I would likely be visiting today; she popped out of the kitchen just as I was asking if she was available. It turned out that the man who took my order was her husband Frankie. I’d met him at a reunion a few years ago but didn’t recognize him. Camille sat with me while I ate and enjoyed my meal, and we talked about a number of things, including the recent funeral of Alan Bean (she had been a neighbor of his and knew his daughter Amy well, better than I did), trips and vacations (including Alaska and Panama Canal cruises), and retirement (how her father retired from NASA at age 55, a situation that was about to face me, but something my father was never able to do).  It was a nice visit, and it was also an excellent meal. Then it was time to hit the road.

Because of the construction on the freeway, I decided to drive back on US 90A. It was highly developed for most of the way, although there were some empty areas. How long would they remain empty, I wondered. I saw Constellation Field, the home of the independent Sugar Land Skeeters; I’d considered going to a game there, but the schedule wasn’t favorable. Eventually, I made it to the Southwest Freeway and drove back to the hotel. Housekeeping had not been by while I was out, which irked me a bit. I turned on the TV to watch most of the Belgium-Japan match; Japan had taken an early lead, but Belgium tied it up and  eventually won it in stoppage time. That would please a friend and classmate of mine, Frederic Lambert, who was from Belgium.

For supper, I went to the nearby Olive Garden on the other side of the freeway, where I had shrimp scampi with asparagus, tomatoes and angel hair pasta. It was good. Then it was back to the hotel, where I took some pictures from my window with my DSLR and zoom lenses. I discovered that I could see the top bowl of Rice Stadium through my camera. Then I listened to some of my iTunes music and did a little bit of reading before turning in.

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Tuesday July 3

Once again, that air conditioning vent blowing right onto the bed became too much to take. I finally moved the thermostat to 78. That definitely reduced the amount of time it was on. If the room got too warm or too humid, I would move it lower until it became comfortable.

When I got up, I did my normal e-mail checks and Web checks and what-not. I also confirmed where Thursday’s lunch meeting would be: the El Tiempo Cantina in Webster, right on the freeway just north of the Nasa 1 interchange (meaning the redone old one, not the bypass). And then my travels for the day began. My first destination: the Barnes & Noble on Holcombe. It was easy of Buffalo Speedway, which I took down to Holcombe.I saw some things there that interested me, but not enough for me to buy them.

When I left the store, I proceeded west on Holcombe. This became Bellaire Boulevard as Continued driving. . I drove under one freeway; that would have been the West Loop. I came up on another freeway, eventually; that would have been the Southwest Freeway. I got onto the southbound feeder road and started keeping an eye out for the Fry’s store I knew was out here. I went quite a ways down but made a U-turn at Beltway 9, thinking I had to have passed it. I stopped at a strip mall and checked Apple Maps. No, I hadn’t passed it, I should have kept going. So it was time for another turn, then back onto the feeder. I had the destination programmed in this time, so I just listened for the directions on when and where to turn. And what do you know, the directions worked. I was there. I walked around the store and saw some interesting things. There was an aluminum laptop stand that looked really appealing to me until I double-checked the price tag. What was really appealing at $19.99 became much less so at $79.99. I also saw a device for converting Super 8 and regular 8mm films to files on an SD card; again, very appealing, but with no price tag, I wasn’t about to get it. I noted the information about the model for later checking.

It was too early to go back to the hotel, so I decided to to travel east to Baytown and the third of four Buc-ee’s in the area, the fourth being in Waller. Yes, I like Buc-ee’s and wish they weren’t just in Texas. This time, I did refuel my car, and then I went inside to look around, use the restroom, and get some lunch while I listened to World Cup action. I got another chopped beef sandwich and some more banana pudding. In fact, it was the same lunch I’d had at Texas City Buc-ee’s last week. And it was still good.

I decided to head back to the hotel. Traffic on the East Freeway was moderate as I drove in past the Beltway and past the loop. When I reached downtown, I stayed on I-10, planning to exit at Shepherd/Durham and head to the hotel that way. That took me past the northern edge of downtown, allowing me to see it in a perspective I rarely saw. I couldn’t remember driving that way before, in fact. Unfortunately, I missed the Shepherd/Durham exit, had to get off at TC Jester and make a U-turn to backtrack. Once I reached Durham, the trip back to the hotel was pretty easy.

When I returned to my room, I aw that it had yet to be cleaned. I wasn’t about to go out again, so I left my camera bag in the closet while I went to the lobby. I was hoping that the game would be on in the lobby, but it wasn’t. Hw would I follow the match? Just as penalty kicks were about to begin, I remembered that I could listen to the game via the SiriusXM app. Time to get out the headphones and plug them into my iPad. I turned on the game and heard a thrilling shootout — and then it was over: England had prevailed! They were in the quarterfinals!

When I went back to my room, it had been serviced. I went to get a Diet Dr Pepper to drink and found I was running low; I’d have to go to the store to get some. I could do that after supper. And what to do for supper? I looked for the nearest Genghis Grill because I was in the mood for Mongolian barbecue, and I found one close by, on the eastbound feeder road east of Weslayan. This location was in a strip mall. The meal was all right; after all, since you’re the one who selects the ingredients and seasonings, the only person to blame if it turns out poorly is you. Well, if the cook burns the food, you could blame him or her, but that wasn’t the case here. And my meal tasted pretty good, I must say. However, I’m more accustomed to the way that BD’s Mongolian BBQ in the Detroit area operates, and I prefer the experience there as opposed to Genghis Grill.

Next, I drove to the Kroger store at Westpark and Buffalo Speedway.  As I walked up to the store, I saw someone pushing their cart in the middle of the main traffic way in front of the store; the driver behind that person was not happy about that. Inside, I looked at the prepared foods selection. I might want to have something on hand for tomorrow, the Fourth. I did find something: a po-boy sandwich from Antone’s. I also found the caffeine-free Diet Dr Pepper I was looking for. Then it was back to the hotel for the night Before turning in, I listened to the latest episode of the BBC World Service’s Stumped podcast, which covers the world of international cricket. I started listening to the newest Thomas Jefferson Hour podcast, but I found myself getting sleepy, so I turned it off after the first segment.

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Wednesday July 4

I didn’t do much today; the weather saw to that. . When I checked the conditions outside after it became light enough to see, I could see that it was a very cloudy day. Clouds were thick and laying low in the sky. It looked like it would rain. And later on, that’s what it did.

It wasn’t obvious how heavily it was raining outside, but as the morning went on, I could see traffic slowing on the feeder road in front of the hotel. There must have been some flooding up ahead, I figured. And then it got worse; vehicles were now starting to go the wrong way up the exit ramp and get onto the freeway.. I don’t think they had any alternative, unless they wanted to sit there until the waters receded. News reports relayed on Facebook suggested there was widespread flooding in the area. my iPhone and iPad were regularly going off with the sounds of weather warnings passed along via the Accuweather app.

I didn’t go anywhere today. For much of it, I wouldn’t have been able to leave the hotel except on foot/. I probably needed a day of rest , anyway. And so I stayed in the room, having half of  the po-boy from Antone’s; the rest if it would be saved for supper.. I listened to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, which was a special edition for July 4.I also listened live to BBC OS on the BBC World Service via the BBC iPlayer. It (the show and the World Service) gives a good international perspective on the news without the hyper partisanship too common in some US media.

It turned out that flooding had been widespread throughout the area. A big festival planned for west of downtown was cancelled because the site had been flooded out.  The fireworks for that festival would still go forward, but people would have to view them from alternate locations. I did see some fireworks that evening, although this was from a different show. The one I could see was in the Hermann Park area.

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Thursday July 5

My vacation would soon be ending, but it hadn’t ended yet. I could still get up late or take my time getting started in the morning. I didn’t wake up particularly late, but I did take my time getting going.

Normally, when I’m in town, I’m  staying in the League City-Clear Lake area and would make a trip into town. Today, I was doing that in reverse. I started out around 9:30 by taking Buffalo Speedway down to the South Loop. but I had to deal with construction and narrow lanes at the intersection with 288, and then there was more construction at the intersection with the Gulf Freeway. I stayed on the Gulf Freeway until I reached the intersection with FM 2351, where I decided to exit and continue heading down on Highway 3. I took that down to Webster and went to Fry’s again.

When I’d been here last week, I had seen Tac-Glasses in the As Seen On TV section. I’d seen those on TV (naturally), where they were touted as significantly reducing glare. I wondered how true that was, so I decided to get a pair to try them out. I would have preferred a clip-on version, but there wasn’t one available there. I wasn’t required to have prescription glasses to drive, so I could use these sunglasses. And I got a chance to try them out right away when I drove the short distance to El Tiempo Cantina.

The restaurant had a wide porch for waiting customers. It looked like it would be comfortable, but the low sun might cause problems in the evenings. I hadn’t been there long before I saw three friends and classmates walk up: Rob Wohrer, Jon Hall, and Darwin Gilmore. Now I’d seen Rob and Jon fairly recently (in the last two years, I’m sure),  but I hadn’t seen Darwin since graduation. We got a table for eight, but ultimately, there were only five of us. Shawn Merrell had to drive from Angleton and thus was delayed; while Lee Hart had to cancel because he was waiting for the air conditioning repairman (an excellent reason to cancel).  I ordered the Las Vegas Plate: a taco, a cheese enchilada, and a small sampling of chicken fajitas. It wasn’t a large meal, but it was a good one. I’d go back again. There are several El Tiempo Cantinas around town, including one very close to the hotel where I was staying.

We talked about a number of things, such as the changes in the area since our youth, retirement and post-retirement work (sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it doesn’t have to be), etc. I’d mentioned my retirement plans, while Darwin spoke of his second career as a “professional parent”, living in a home with seven boys in his charge, a foster home situation of sorts (I don’t recall all of the details). And regarding the changes in the area, I mentioned that I still want to see the nearby intersection of Nasa Road 1/FM 528 with the freeway in its old configuration, where the road went over the freeway as opposed to the freeway  going over the road.

When our meal ended, I went on to my next visit. My original plan to visit the Ivens had fallen through. Instead, I was visiting one of my teachers from my intermediate school years, Candy Silcott.  It was another good visit (they always are). Her granddaughter Aviana was staying with Grandma and Grandpa for the next several weeks to give her mother a vacation of sorts. She was playing educational games on her iPad, and Grandma, ever the teacher, was helping her out at times.  A discussion of DNA ancestry results turned into a search for the history of vests, or waistcoats, as they are known in Britain. How is that? Well, I’d mentioned that I had some English ancestry (I have great-great-grandparents from Cornwall), and I also mentioned that when I got a three-piece suit for participating in debate tournaments, she called the vest a “weskit”, which I later learned was one pronunciation of “waistcoat.” Later, when I mentioned my upcoming cruise that would be sailing from Boston, Candy suggested I contact classmates living in/near Boston before I set sail (a good idea, if time permits). And then, it was time to leave.

And so, with cup and can of Diet Coke in the cup holders, I set off back to the hotel. Nasa 1 traffic was moderate through Nassau Bay, then light on the bypass. Traffic on the freeway was moderate but got heavier as I approached downtown. I was able to get onto the Southwest freeway successfully and return to the hotel. The Tac-Glasses really seemed to improve glare better than the clip-ons I’d been wearing. When I returned to the room, I found it had not been made. Now I had put out the Do Not Disturb sign in the morning but took it down when I left for the day. They should have checked later on in the day.

I wanted to take some Topo Chico bottles home with me, as it was hard to find in Michigan. So I went to Kroger this evening to get five bottles, along with another Antone’s sandwich. That would be my supper this evening as I began to prepare for my trip home.

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Friday July 6

Once again, I woke up around 6 o’clock and took my time getting going this morning. I started my final pack-up around 8. I got a luggage cart (conveniently available in the parking garage), brought it back to the room, loaded my luggage, brought it down and loaded it into the car. IAnd then I set off back to Michigan a little after 9.

I didn’t want to get caught in the rush hour, which is why I delayed my departure. Then again, there hadn’t been much congestion on the Southwest Freeway, not on the portion I could see from my window. I drove down to Buffalo Speedway, did a U-turn, and got onto the northbound freeway.. Unfortunately, I got into the wrong lane, and before I could do anything about it, I was on my way to getting onto I-45, which I didn’t want to do. I knew that if I went north, I could get over to the Eastex Freeway, which is where I wanted to be. And so, I had an unplanned ride on the Pierce Elevated the freeway that forms a southern and western loop around downtown. Rob Wohrer had mentioned that his parents had been the first to drive on the newly opened freeway (they were the first ones after the ribbon was cut). But it was slated to be torn down in a few years as I-45 was rerouted to the other sides of downtown. So perhaps I was driving it for the last time this morning. I took it up to I-10, took that east  to where I could get back onto 59/69, and then headed north in earnest.

I was wearing the new Tac-Glasses this morning, and they sure seemed to help in dealing with any glare. I kept driving to the northeast and driving through all of the small and medium-sized towns familiar from many trips between Texas and Michigan. I stopped for a bathroom break at a convenience store south of Lufkin and then continued on to Marshall for a gasoline and bathroom break. I was listening to 60s on 6 most of the way up, and it was there that I heard that one of the boats that used to transport Detroiters to and from the Boblo Island amusement park had caught fire and been destroyed. I had never been to Boblo Island, nor had I ever been on any of the Boblo boats.

The skies were cloudier in northeast Texas than they had been further south, so I swapped the Tac-Glasses for clip-ons for my regular glasses. Then I had to contend with the occasional rain shower. That had stopped by the time I’d reached Texarkana, which I bypassed to the east by getting into its loop, which eventually became I-49. Then I got onto I-30 and took that to the rest area and welcome center for a bathroom break and a chance to make a hotel reservation. How far did I want to go tonight? I did want to get on the other side of Little Rock, but I didn’t want to be driving too late, so I decided to reserve a room in Lonoke. I tried reserving at the Hampton Inn, but the app wouldn’t let me, so I reserved one at the Holiday Inn Express.

As I drove up I-30, I continued listening to 60s on 6. When the DJ’s shift ended, I changed to 50s on 5 for an hour, and then I went to channel 4 and listened to the temporary Beach Boys channel, which was similar to the Beatles channel and other single-artist channels in playing a mix of hits, obscurities and special programs devoted to the artist.

As I approached Little Rock, it started to rain, at times rather heavily.  Visibility dropped, , so I had to pay very close attention to where I was going. But I made the right exits to get over to I-40 without going through downtown. Too I was heading east, past the Maybelline and Remington facilities familiar from many previous trips. And then I saw the exit for Lonoke and took it. Except it wasn’t THE exit for Lonoke. There was another one farther down the freeway, the one I should have taken. I didn’t think Lonoke was big enough to warrant two exits, but it had them, and I’d taken the wrong one. I got back onto the freeway, went to the correct exit, took that, made my way to the hotel and checked in.

While driving to the hotel, I passed by a Waffle House.  That was where I would go for supper, after having checked in. It was fairly busy when I arrived; in fact, every counter seat had been taken. And since I recalled seeing signs that booths were reserved for two or more people, I had to wait for a counter spot to open up.. It took 15 minutes or so for a counter spot to open up. One of the waitresses did say I could go to a booth, but I chose to wait for the counter spot. When it did eventually open up (several opened up at the same time; most of those at the counter were children from a single family), I was really hungry for supper. I hadn’t had lunch; I’d just nibbled on thing in the car. So I got  a fairly large meal (was it called the All-American Meal) and enjoyed it. Then it was back to the room for the night.

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Saturday July 7

I got up a little after 6 this morning and did my normal e-mail and web checks. I kept listening to Classical MPR on iPad for a while (I’d had it on overnight to help soothe me). Then I packed up, had breakfast in the lobby, and was on the road around 8.  I listened to the Ko Melina show on the Underground Garage on SiriusXM; I hadn’t done that for a few weeks, thanks to World Cup games being on at the same time.

It was a bright sunny morning, so I started out wearing the Tac-Glasses, changing to the clip-ons later in the day. The trip was uneventful as I drove along I-40 and then turned north onto I-55. I stopped for a restroom break at a gas station south of Blytheville and then got gas in Blytheville itself. But there was a problem there: I distinctly remember pushing the button to have regular gas dispensed, but I noticed that the price did not correspond to the regular gallon price. It turned out I was actually pumping premium gas, which was $3.09 a gallon, 50 cents higher than regular. I wasn’t happy, but there was nothing I could do about it. But that tank of gas lasted me to the other side of Indianapolis.

I didn’t stop for lunch as I drove northward through Missouri and then Illinois. At the first rest area along I-57 in Illinois, I spoke with a couple from Dearborn Heights; they were traveling to Chicago for the evening and had seen the Michigan license plate on my car. Back ini the car, I continued northward, then started heading northeasterly as I got onto I-70. I was starting to think about where to stop for the night. Terre Haute was too close, but Indianapolis would do. So at the first rest area in Indiana, I made a reservation for the Hampton Inn near the Indianapolis airport.

That hotel turned out to be south of the airport in a fairly desolate area. I didn’t see any restaurants around the hotel. The desk clerk said the closest restaurants were actually in hotels. I went to the closest one, the Hilton Garden Inn, where I had a burger and some tomato bisque. Back at the Hampton, I got a bottle of Coke Zero and watched the Dodgers and Angels play a Saturday night baseball game on Fox. I also started getting used to Eastern time once again.

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Sunday July 8

I woke up a little after 7 o’clock, did my normal  e-mail and web checks, and went to the lobby for breakfast. I got a little omelet, some yogurt, and some small Danish. I also got something that I thought was redskin potatoes; it turned out they were thin slices of sausage. I ate a couple of them.

When I got on the road after 9, I took the loop around town and took it to I-69, which I then took to the northeast. Now I was beginning to think I should stop for gas, and I did so shortly after getting onto 69. The first gas station I saw, I could not reach; I didn’t take the right exit from the traffic circle I was in. So I went to the other side of the freeway and made sure I could get to that gas station. I noticed that the price for regular gas was $3.09, the same price as premium gas in Blytheville yesterday. Bummer! But I was still getting great mileage with the hybrid. After a stop inside to use the restroom and to get a fountain cup of Diet Pepsi, , I was on the road.

As I drove north on I-69, I was listening to the 60s Satellite Survey, which was counting down songs from this week in 1966; an enjoyable survey, I thought The freeway was free of road construction, something that couldn’t be said about I-469, the bypass around Fort Wayne. That was one narrow lane for most of its length, but the roadway opened up as I reached the exit for US 24. No construction there, fortunately. Traffic was light  as I headed towards Toledo. I stopped at the Kroger store southwest of Maumee for a bathroom break, then got back on the road for the home stretch.

After the survey had ended, I tuned in the Radio Classics channel and listened to programs from the series Mystery is My Hobby, Suspense, and The Lineup. The last episode of The Lineup was finishing as I pulled into my garage just before 3 o’clock. Now it was time to unload the car and turn on the air conditioning (not necessarily in that order).  Laundry would wait until tomorrow; work would follow the next day. My vacation was over.

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THE END

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© 2017 R. W. Reini.    All rights reserved.

Written by Roger ReiniJuly July 29, 2018