PHOTOS
Great Britain
1996
Great Britain
and Finland
1998
TRAVELOGUE HOME PAGE
RREINI.ORG HOME PAGE
|
|
Travelogue:
Texas (mostly)
April 2004
By Roger W. Reini
WORK IN PROGRESS
By date:
Intro | 9th
| 10th | 11th |
12th | 13th | 14th | 15th
16th
| 17th | April 18 to
27 (Part 2)
Introduction: Sunday April 4
My vacation was not scheduled to begin until Friday. However, I wanted to
drive a portion of the route I planned to take on Friday, for this portion
would be out of my way and would have added some undesired time to my time
on the road. Also, with today being Sunday, it would not have been as busy
as it might have been during the week.
As with my previous travels down Route 66, I wanted to spend part of my
vacation driving a historic roadway – in this case, the Dixie Highway. It
ran from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan to Miami. It's been replaced by I-75,
for the most part, but the road still exists for much of its length. The
portion I was interested in went from downtown Detroit to northern Kentucky.
The closest place for me to pick up the highway route was in Monroe, and I
planned to do that on Friday. Today, I would travel downtown, then take the
highway to Monroe.
It was a nice day for traveling today, a bit cool but partly sunny. I
went downtown via Ford Road and Michigan Avenue. While traveling on Ford
Road near Evergreen, I noticed that my odometer had hit a milestone – 5
1's, meaning I had 11,111 miles on my wagon. When I arrived downtown, I
turned down Griswold Street to Fort Street, then took that out of downtown.
I drove through at least one cloud of steam upwelling from underground steam
tubes. That confirmed what I already knew, that it was rather cool outside.
I passed the main post office, where all of the mail entering or leaving
Detroit and Wayne County passes before moving to its ultimate destination. I
went underneath the Ambassador Bridge – no delays going to Canada or
returning to America that I could see. Then I took Clark Street to Jefferson
Avenue and drove that for several miles. I had never been on this portion of
Jefferson in Detroit before; I saw several factories and passed by Historic
Fort Wayne. Naturally, I took some video, too. I drove through Detroit,
River Rouge, Wyandotte, Riverview, Trenton, Rockwood and Monroe, and
probably a few other towns that I've forgotten. I was listening to various
programming on the radio – several channels on XM, and a call-in program
on the Tigers on WXYT. The host thought there would be some improvement over
last year's debacle of 119 losses, perhaps 20 to 25 games.
There is a Dix Highway in Detroit, which becomes Dix-Toledo Highway, but
this version of the Dixie Highway didn't use that highway at all. The
directions I had retrieved via the Net were pretty good, but I encountered
some difficulties when certain roads I needed to turn on didn't have any
signs. Fortunately, I didn't get lost. Eventually, I made my way to I-75 and
Dixie, where I decided to stop for lunch at Wendy's. Then I drove into town
until I came to M-125. If I turned left, I would be continuing down Dixie
towards Toledo. But I didn't want to do that today. Well, actually, I did,
for that would have meant my vacation had started, but it hadn't, so I
couldn't. Instead, I turned right, which took me back towards Detroit and
back home. This drive had taken 90 minutes; heading directly to Monroe from
my house normally took 25 to 30 minutes, so I would have spent at least an
hour longer on the road Friday had I traveled downtown.
Top
Friday April 9
At last, it was time for my vacation! I had just wrapped up a major
assignment at work, and I felt worn out by it. I was in dire need of a
vacation. When I woke up at 5:40 this morning, it would have normally meant
I'd really have to hurry to get to work on time. But not this morning! I
could check my e-mail and prepare for my trip with ease. I took my medicine,
brushed my teeth, made sure I'd packed my medicine, then put my carry-on bag
into the car, along with my XM SkyFi boombox. Then I packed up the laptop,
took out what garbage I had, and locked up the house. It was a sunny morning
but a cool morning, so I wore my Red Wings suede jacket that I'd bought in
2002, the most recent year they won the Stanley Cup. I also made sure to
bring a light windbreaker; I wouldn't need the heavier jacket for most of
the trip. I set up the laptop on the passenger seat, hooked up the GPS
sensor and told it to start guiding me down the routes I'd defined for the
Dixie Highway.
At 7:25, I backed out of the driveway and started my trip. The first
portion had me taking I-275 down to Monroe, where I picked up M-125 and
drove that through downtown, past the statue of General Custer, and on to
Toledo. In Toledo, the roadway became Detroit Avenue and US-24, and I took
that across town. The route was mainly industrial in the northern part,
though it became nicer farther south. Then I picked up Highway 25 in Maumee
and followed that down south. I passed a Waffle House near I-475; to the
best of my knowledge, that's the farthest-north Waffle House. The road was
4-lane divided south of Toledo; it reminded me of similar stretches of Route
66 south of Joliet, Illinois. Unlike 66, there were no Historic Route
markers for the Dixie Highway. But I did have voice commands coming from my
laptop, and they made sure I took the right (and left) turns. I went through
downtown Bowling Green and Findlay for the first time in memory; the same
was true with other cities such as Lima, Wapokaneta (hometown of Neil
Armstrong), Sidney, Troy and Dayton. There was one stretch north of Findlay
where the roads were very narrow; I doubt that it was officially part of the
highway for any substantial length of time. Between Findlay and Lima, the
road was closed; a bridge was out. There weren't any official detours
identified, but my laptop's mapping program helped me find a detour. It
wasn't too long before I was back on the highway and back on track.
As I said, there were no historic markers saying that this was the Dixie
Highway. There should be. I did, though, encounter a historic marker for the
Lincoln Highway between Findlay and Lima. The Lincoln Highway ran
east-to-west from New York City to San Francisco. That would be a worthy
road trip someday.
For quite some time, I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. But I
didn't see any suitable stopping locations until I found a Wendy's in Troy.
That was one disadvantage of using the older roadways: no freeway rest
areas. I pulled into the parking lot, put away the laptop, and got out of
the car. This was after 5 hours of driving without a break. Did my right leg
hurt! I think I limped a bit when I went into the restaurant. While I ate my
chicken sandwich, the leg cramps subsided somewhat. After lunch, I decided
that it would be best if I resumed driving on the freeway so that I could
use speed control, take my foot off the gas pedal, move my leg around and
work out the kinks. It would also help if I took more frequent breaks. Now I
had gone some 200 miles down the highway before I got onto the freeway. But
when I traveled through Dayton on I-75, there was a traffic jam, and I was
able to avoid it by picking up the highway again downtown. That was a nice
diversion, driving through Dayton; I got to see their minor league ballpark
and got to drive through some nice parkway regions. South of town, I got
back on I-75. It was getting later in the day, and I feared being stuck in
Cincinnati rush hour if I stayed with the Dixie Highway plan. Traffic was
heavier in Cincinnati, as expected. There was a warning about heavy backups
starting at Exit 7 and continuing all the way to Kentucky; thru traffic was
advised to take a detour that would use I-71 into downtown and then
Kentucky. I took the detour and had no problems. I got to see the Reds' new
ballpark and the Bengal's new stadium before crossing the Ohio River into
Kentucky.
Down south I went, past the hotel where I stayed in 1997 when meeting my
sister and her family during an airport layover (they were flying from
Bulgaria to Houston and were making connections in Cincinnati), past the
mall and restaurant where we ate supper that day (the Morrison's Cafeteria).
Then I had to determine which way to go: take I-75 to Lexington or I-71 to
Louisville? I chose I-71. I stopped for gas at a station across the street
from the Kentucky Speedway. But several minutes later, as I neared
Louisville, "speedway" was a completely inaccurate description of
what I faced. I had hit Louisville's rush hour, and it was compounded by
several accidents that slowed my travel significantly. I avoided one by
taking the inner loop I-264, but I ran into a humdinger of an accident that
closed the freeway completely. My frustration level was rising – what to
do? Exit the freeway and compute a new route from where I was to where I
needed to go, that's what! And that's what I did. The laptop saved me
several minutes of being stalled in traffic, I'm sure. And I didn't
encounter any other problems.
Tonight, I would be staying at the Microtel in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Oddly enough, I'd driven through Bowling Green, Ohio, earlier today. Both
cities have large universities. The one in Kentucky has the Corvette plant.
But I digress.... I had attempted to stay at this Microtel in 2001, but it
was full. That was not a problem today; besides, I had a confirmed
reservation. Microtel rooms are identical no matter where you go; they also
tend to be small. For a short stay, that would not be a problem. The room
faced north, so there was no point in bringing in the SkyFi boombox. It
wouldn't be able to see the satellites, and there were no terrestrial
repeaters in the area. But the hotel offered free wireless Internet access,
which was a plus. It worked, though it was somewhat slow and prone to
disconnects. But I could retrieve my e-mail, after a fashion. For supper, I
walked to the Denny's across and slightly down the street and had a sirloin
steak and shrimp scampi dinner which was pretty good.
While driving today, I was listening to satellite radio. I hardly listen
to regular radio any more. It had been nearly two years since I'd first
gotten satellite radio in preparation for a cross-country trip. This year,
two things were different. First, I'd replaced my original XM radio with a
newer model, the XM Roady. Second, I had bought a Sirius satellite radio
(the Kenwood PNP), so I was a subscriber to both services. Each has services
the other doesn't, so they complement each other quite well. Sirius has NBA
and NHL play-by-play; XM has CNN and MSNBC news in addition to Fox News,
which both share. I started out listening to Sirius, then switched to XM at
midday.
Later in the day, I started thinking about what I would talk about when I
visited Webster Intermediate School next week. One of the current
mini-courses offered to students in the gifted and talented program was on
the internal combustion engine and the automobile. Now my background is
electrical and wiring, not engine engineering, although I used to design
engine wiring. Still, I could certainly contribute something worthwhile.
It's not every day that an engineer from one of the Big Three would visit a
school outside of Detroit. Then again, I went to this school in the mid-'70s
(from 1974 to 1977, to be exact), so it would make perfect sense for me to
give something back to the school.
Top
Saturday April 10
I had an OK sleep; I woke up around 5 AM, which would have been 6 AM by
my body clock, which was still on Eastern time. Breakfast was available
after 6, so I waited until then to have some. Many hotels offer a breakfast
bar these days; Microtel's was a decent one, with cereal, bagels and danish,
along with coffee and juices to drink. After breakfast, I checked e-mail
again. The wireless connection was behaving much better this morning than
yesterday evening, so I had few problems. Then it was time to pack up and
check out. I stopped at the Shell station next door for a gas tank top-off,
and then at 6:50, I hit the road.
I would not take the scenic route today; I had to travel over 600 miles
to reach that night's stop, Baton Rouge. I knew I could do it; I'd done it
many times before. But it would be a long day of driving, no way around it.
I encountered rain in Tennessee and Alabama, but it didn't slow me that
much. Nashville was my first major city today. Here, I could take I-40 west
towards Memphis and Arkansas, or I could stay on I-65 and head to
Birmingham. The last time I went this way, I took the Memphis route; today,
I took the Birmingham route. I saw signs for Opryland but didn't see
Opryland itself. I saw road signs for Charlotte Street and Church street,
which struck me as funny because that reminded me of Charlotte Church, the
singer. South of Nashville, I passed a shopping mall that had a Hecht's
department store; Hecht's home base is Washington DC, so that store has gone
pretty far from its base.
I didn't have any repeats of my leg cramps, though my rear end got pretty
sore today. The GPS sensor acted up several times today, frequently losing
the signals. Whether that was due to the rain or the inherent problems with
Windows computers, I don't know. The only way to consistently get the sensor
to behave was to reboot the laptop. Perhaps I should have gotten a handheld
GPS unit. I stopped for gas once in Alabama then stopped for lunch in
Meridian, Mississippi. I could have gone to Krystal burger (the South's
answer to White Castle), but I chose to go to Applebee's instead, where I
had a decent salad and some French onion soup. I needed to take an extended
break from the road. Then it was time for more hard driving through
Mississippi and Louisiana. I could have taken the I-12 bypass of New
Orleans, but I thought that taking I-10 through town would put me in better
position to get to the hotel in Baton Rouge. The last hour or two got to be
very long. It would have been better to take the I-12 bypass. My satellite
radios kept me company – XM in the morning, and Sirius in the afternoon.
With Sirius, I was able to listen to the Detroit Red Wings beat the
Nashville Predators to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.
After 11 ˝ hours on the road, I arrived at the Microtel in Baton Rouge
on I-10 (as opposed to the one on I-12). I had a confirmed reservation, but
the desk clerk had no record of it. I was not happy. They did have rooms
available, and they were for the same rate I would have been paying. But I
was concerned that I would be double-billed, once for the room and once for
a no-show somewhere. I'll have to check my statement closely when it
arrives.
Now I wanted to go to a grocery store tonight, for I didn't know if any
would be open when I got in tomorrow, and I didn't want to be caught without
anything to eat in the house (or the hotel room). I had noticed a Wal-Mart
supercenter (the kind with a full-line grocery store) across the freeway, so
I drove there later on. But first, I wanted some supper. Where to eat? There
was a Joe's Crab Shack there, but it looked busy. Then there was Sicily's,
an Italian buffet restaurant, on the order of a Golden Corral but
specializing in Italian food instead of steak. It didn't look too busy, so I
went there. The food was OK but not top-line. Then again, the cost wasn't
top-line.
Then it was down the street to the Wal-Mart. It was a bit busy with
people doing their last-minute Saturday night shopping. I couldn't get any
perishable items, so I concentrated on non-perishables. I also tried to get
some Louisiana food items, too. Why not? When in Rome, blah blah blah. I was
impressed with Elmer's Chee-Wees, said to have been the first of their kind
in the US. And they were baked, too, so they were lower in fat than others
that weren't baked. After I left the store, I drove over to the nearby
Books-A-Million store, but I didn't get anything there.
When I got back to the hotel, I had to ask at the front desk for a TV
remote control that worked. I had to try 3 or 4 different ones before I got
one that worked. Then when I put the TV on, I could see that it was in dire
need of adjustment. "Leave It To Beaver" was in blue and white,
that's how bad it was. I didn't watch much TV except for the news and
weather radar channels. I could see bad thunderstorms in southeast Texas,
which didn't bode well for tomorrow's trip.
Top
Sunday April 11
Today was Easter Sunday. I woke up around 5 again, but then I was jarred
awake by the alarm clock going off at 5:30, the alarm clock that I didn't
set. I didn't sleep anymore after that. I didn't have far to travel today
– only 300 miles or so, so I took my time getting started. I spent some
time reading Holy Scripture – the New Testament and Bahá'u'lláh's
"Prayers and Meditations." I took a shower, then went down the
hall for breakfast. I think I disrupted the mopping plans of the cleaning
lady on duty by eating when I did.
I didn't set off on the final leg of my trip until 8:50 AM. I did set up
the laptop again to track my progress, but I had several problems today with
dropouts and forced reboots. The drive down I-10 through Louisiana was
uneventful, though there were two tall (Baton Rouge and Lake Charles) and
one very long (the Atchafalaya swamp) bridge to contend with. I listened to
KLVI out of Beaumont for some Cajun music for a while (it was more talk and
commercials than music, one reason why I generally listen to satellite radio
now), then put on the XM radio again.
By 11:30, I was back in Texas. I stopped for gas and lunch in Orange –
gas at Shell, lunch at Jack In The Box. Then I decided to take a different
route into town: Highway 73, which would take me through Port Arthur, a city
I'd never visited before. The same road was also Highway 87, which I could
have taken all the way to Galveston via Bolivar if the road hadn't been
washed out 20 years ago east of High Island. As I drove down the road, I
could see two huge bridges in the distance, the Rainbow Bridge and the
Veteran's Memorial Bridge. These bridges were among the highest I'd ever
seen. I have a 1938 map of Texas that calls the older bridge, the Rainbow
Bridge, the tallest in the South at that time, a distinction it still holds.
And I had to go up it. Frankly, this one gave me the willies. Two lanes, a
rather steep grade – I wanted to straddle the lane divider, but traffic
would not permit it. Neither would the law, for that matter. I made it,
though I was getting really tense at the top. Going down was better, though
I wasn't completely happy until I was completely off of it. I'm not too
thrilled about the Mackinac Bridge either, but I never got as nervous going
over that bridge as I had going over this one. If that had had a third lane,
I might have been less agitated. If this had been one lane each way, like in
the old days, it would have been worse. Still, I made it. Then came
twenty-five miles of very straight, boring coastal plains.
The road ran into I-10 at Winnie. I'd taken this before back in 2001. By
this time, I was listening to the Astros play the Brewers on KTRH radio. I'd
heard that a severe thunderstorm was dead ahead, and I'd heard correctly,
for I ran into a downpour that was so hard, I considered pulling over to the
side of the road. Several cars did pull off, but I stuck it out. Eventually,
I reached Highway 146 and turned to head off toward home. The
"new" (1995-6) Baytown Bridge was also pretty high, but it was
much wider, so I wasn't affected by it like the one in Port Arthur. Baytown
hadn't changed that much; neither had La Porte or Seabrook, though I noticed
that the Chevrolet dealership in La Porte no longer was in the Marks family
(first Jay Marks, then Les Marks, now Champion). I also noticed several more
hotels in Seabrook – first a Holiday Inn Express, now a Best Western and a
Hampton Inn, and soon a La Quinta. At last, I arrived at Nassau Bay and the
Extended Stay America. This would be the fourth time I'd stayed there. My
room this time was room 212, which faced north-northwest. I could see the
main entrance, the parking lot, and Nasa Road 1 from my window.
Unfortunately, this made XM radio reception rather difficult, as the
satellites were blocked by the building, and repeater reception was a bit
iffy, although it would come in fine if I oriented the antenna to the north.
Sirius performed better, though, which allowed me to listen to the Wings
play the Predators in game 3 of their series. The Wings lost, unfortunately.
I went to Kroger's for perishables and some other items; they were open
today, fortunately. But the old Kroger at Nasa 1 and El Camino had closed
within the last year. I called relatives in Michigan to let them know I'd
arrived safely. My aunt Marie said they'd seen weather reports and knew I'd
be going through rough weather, so they were gratified to know I'd arrived
safely. Then I checked e-mail and had supper. The hot topic on e-mail came
from the 1981CCHS mailing list: it seems an unofficial time capsule hidden
in the rafters of the auditorium had disappeared sometime in the last 23
years.
Top
Monday April 12
I woke up before 6 o'clock and watched the morning news on three
channels. Channel 13 still had Doug Brown doing weather and Don Nelson doing
traffic; they've been there at least 30 years. Some things are still right
with the world. I had breakfast; the cereal I had brought from home (Trader
Joe's Honey Nut O's) because it was not available in Texas.
I needed to firm up my plans for visiting WIS, so I called and spoke to
Candy Silcott, head of the gifted program, as well as my English teacher
during portions of 6th, 7th and 8th grades. We agreed that Wednesday would
be best for me to visit and give my talk.
It was a cold and wet day today. I had to go out and get some things I
needed during my stay, such as laundry detergent and adapter plugs. I
decided to go to Target on Bay Area Boulevard; when I was here last year, I
saw signs announcing the building of a new Super Target down the street, and
I figured the store would be open by now. Sure enough, it was. I found the
detergent, and I got a power strip instead of a 3-to-1 adapter plug. Now I
could plug in my radio and the Sirius radio at the same time. My trip had
not been in vain. When I left, I saw that the old Marie Callender's
restaurant had become Rico's Mexican Restaurant. I also noticed that the
original Dillard's at Baybrook, which had originally been a Joske's store,
was all torn up and being renovated for some unknown purpose. The Dillard's
store had moved to the old Macy's location. Actually, it had been there for
some time; there had in fact been two Dillard's stores, but no longer. I
crossed the freeway and visited the Barnes & Noble bookstore. I didn't
get anything there, but I got several ideas for things to get. Then I went
back to the hotel, passing by the drugstores on the corner of Bay Area and
El Camino. One was a CVS, and the other was an Eckerd store under
construction. But I don't think that store will ever be finished, for the
Eckerd stores in Texas were just sold to CVS.
Back at the hotel, I called Stacie Barnett Bemis, a former classmate of
mine, and we had a nice talk. I told her that several classmates would be
meeting at Tookie's this Saturday, and she said she'd try to be there,
although she would be late. She told me more about the plans I'd heard to
abolish Webster Intermediate, send its students elsewhere and use the
building for the alternative high school for at-risk students. The regular
attendance zone for Webster has shrunk over the years, and it now consists
mainly of poorer families with at-risk children. Would sending them to
schools farther away help their attendance? It seems doubtful. Moving the
WAVE program (the gifted program) to a newer facility would seem to be a
good move, however. That would depend on where the facility was, though.
It was nearly noon. It was time for me to go to the Kemah Boardwalk to
meet the Coneys. And the weather was absolutely lousy! I parked in the
parking garage and went towards the shops – specifically, the toy store,
for we had agreed to meet there. But as I approached the Boardwalk Inn, I
saw them coming up the stairs. We had to select which restaurant to visit
– would it be the Cadillac Bar, or perhaps the Flying Dutchman? Landry's
or Joe's Crab Shack? Perhaps one of the newer restaurants? In fact, we
decided on the Saltgrass Steakhouse, one of the newer restaurants? They
drove over there, while I decided to tough it out and walk over. I could
have used the exercise, and I was used to the cooler weather. I ended up
beating them over there. There weren't many people at the restaurant, no
doubt due to the weather. We had a nice conversation and meal. Because of
their late schedules, they would have been eating dinner after 8 PM, which
is too late for my liking, so we agreed on lunch. Steve was serving as
chairman of a city development corporation that was overseeing key
developments such as the Big League Dreams facility and a new swimming pool.
I mentioned reading about Wal-Mart's plans to put a store in southern League
City, and that prompted some strong stories about Wal-Mart's business
practices. Suffice it to say that they have a low opinion of the chain. I
learned that son David will soon be a father for the second time. I also
learned the proper ways to pronounce "Baton Rouge" (it's "Ba-TON",
not "Batten") and LSU ("Ellis Shoe"). Steve knew these
things because daughter Diana went to LSU. My lunch was nearly identical to
Friday's dinner: a sirloin steak and shrimp scampi plate. Today's was
better, though. Certainly, the view was better, even with the gray mist.
After lunch, I decided to drive through League City and Newport. I wanted
to see how the hometown and home had changed in the last year. Not much had
changed, though some things had. MaximBank was now Southwest Bank of Texas
(the name reminded me of the long-departed Bank of the Southwest), and the
big sign out front was gone. The Perkins Station development near the
railroad tracks had its first tenant, a steakhouse. The Texaco station at
Highway 3 and 518 was gone; a new CVS drugstore stood in its place. I
remember when there were four gas stations on that corner – Texaco,
Sinclair/Arco/Shell, Enco/Exxon, and Gulf – but now there are none. The
Exxon station at the freeway was now a Chevron station; that had been an
Exxon station, and before that an Enco station and probably a Humble station
before that, for as long as I could remember, and probably longer than that.
I bet it was there in some form ever since the freeway opened in 1952. I
turned down Hobbs Road and drove past our old house; there was some serious
remodeling taking place there. I would undoubtedly learn more about it
whenever I saw George Mallios, our former next-door-neighbor. Then it was
back to the hotel for a short break.
I had been considering vacationing in Florida this spring. One of the
reasons why I didn't was the Central Market and its wasabi-coated peas, the
best I've ever had. They were the first I ever had, and I've never found any
that can top them. Whenever I've come to town, I've bought as many peas as I
could and brought them back to Michigan. When my uncle went to Texas on a
business trip, I asked him to visit the closest Central Market and get some
peas for me; unfortunately, he couldn't find the store while here. I wanted
some peas, and tonight was my first opportunity to get some. It was time to
go on a quest. Destination: the Central Market on Westheimer. Goal: wasabi
peas. Even though it was the height of rush hour, I set off on my quest. I
wasn't too concerned, for I was going against the traffic trend. I took the
freeway up to the South Loop and took that over to Kirby. Nothing was going
on at Reliant Park (formerly Astrodomain). I passed by Goode Company
Barbecue, but I wasn't hungry, so I didn't stop. I passed by the Borders on
Alabama, and I did stop, for I was looking for some things. I wasn't
specifically looking for Analog and Asimov's science fiction magazines, but
I found the latest issues, so I got them. I was specifically looking for Eats,
Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, and I found it. That was a book on
proper punctuation that had become a best-seller in England. Then it was off
to Central Market. I didn't get any perishable goods, for I didn't know my
plans and didn't want to risk the goods perishing on the way back to the
hotel. I was there mainly for peas, and peas were what I got. Some of them,
I packed myself; some had already been packed. They must certainly be
popular if they're selling them pre-packaged now. I looked for St. Arnold
root beer but didn't see any; that was another Texas product that I wanted
to bring back with me, and this was the only retail store where it was sold.
I also saw wasabi-coated soy nuts and decided to get a small container, just
to try it out. Then it was time to head back home. The Southwest Freeway was
under construction, so I took Westheimer east to Elgin and the UH campus,
where I picked up I-45. I got to see one of Metro's new light rail trains in
operation on Main Street.
By this time, I was hungry for supper. Where to go? How about Laredo's in
Seabrook? I made my annual visit and got my usual dinner. I noticed that
this combination plate did not fill me up as much as a similar plate at a
Mexican restaurant in Westland. This was not a complaint, for the other
combination plate was too large. Laredo's dinner didn't set in your stomach
as heavily as the other one. Then it was back to the hotel, where I listened
to the ballgame, read for a while, and called it a night.
Top
Tuesday April 13
I got up around 6:30 this morning, had breakfast and took a shower. I had
to pay two bills and mail them today to make sure they'd arrive on time. As
I was low on stamps, I decided to go to the post office, mail the letters
and get some more stamps. The weather had cleared out overnight, so I
decided to get some exercise and walk to the Nassau Bay post office. It was
one major street over from the hotel. There were no sidewalks along Space
Park Boulevard, so I walked in the road close to the curb. It was a bit
farther away than I thought it would be; still, I got there in 15 minutes.
Then back to the hotel I went, stopping for a Chronicle en route.
I didn't have any definite plans for today, at least not until I called
George Mallios. I was going to ask if it would be convenient for me to
visit, and not only did he say yes, he said that his son Jeff would be
coming over later, that they'd be going to Waffle House, and would I like to
come along. I couldn't turn that down, so over I went. George showed me the
work that he'd had done on the house, getting it in tip-top shape no matter
what his future plans, whether he continued to live there or he sold the
place. Later, Jeff drove up. I hadn't seen him for several years. He'd been
laid off from Compaq in the wake of the merger with Hewlett-Packard and was
doing consulting jobs. Before we went to the Waffle House, some contractors
drove up. They were the contractors who had done some previous work on the
house and wanted to inspect their handiwork to see how it was holding up. It
may also have been part of a plan to obtain more business, for they were now
suggesting that some roof work needed to be done. The outer roof was in good
shape, but the original wood shingle roof was still in place, and it was
beginning to rot away in places. Before the house could be sold, the roof
would need to be replaced, said Jeff, who ought to know, for he used to be
on the city council. No commitments were made at that time. With the wind
blowing like it was, I got chilled standing around. I actually went and got
my Wings jacket out of the car and put that on.
After that, we all went to the Waffle House on 518, which used to be a
Toddle House. They must have been regulars there, for they knew some of the
waitresses. When we got back home, we talked about what was going on over at
my former house. The oak trees in the back yard were still going strong;
many of the lower branches had been cut off because they were encroaching on
the house. The trees in front were doing quite well, too; I couldn't
remember if Dad had planted those or not. Our pecan trees were gone;
apparently, they'd succumbed to some disease. I believe the pine trees were
also gone; they may have been removed in preparation for an add-on to the
house. Jeff remembered the neighbors telling him the add-ons would take the
house to 2400 square feet; as I recall, our house had 1600 square feet, so
that would be a major addition – one-third additional space.
I didn't do much the rest of the day. I had an early supper: a chicken
and turkey sandwich. I walked over to The Space Store, looked around briefly
and then came home. I did some work on this travelogue. Then I watched
Detroit play Nashville in game 4 of their playoff series. Nashville easily
beat Detroit, 3-0. The playoff series was tied at 2 games each. Was Detroit
looking at another first-round fiasco? I hoped not. If it were to happen,
though, then perhaps I should consider not visiting Texas in April in the
future. Perhaps I was cursing the Red Wings in some way. In their most
recent Stanley Cup year of 2002, I took my vacation in May. In their prior
cup years of 1997 and 1998, I vacationed in May and June, respectively.
Top
Wednesday April 14
When I awoke at 5:30 this morning, I wanted to check e-mail, but I
couldn't. The phone was not working. It didn't start working until 7
o'clock, after the front office opened for the day. Now was this a one-time
failure or something more regular? If the latter, then that would be a
safety or security hazard, for how could emergencies be reported? I would
have to remember to check the next morning, if I got up early enough. I was
interested in finding out information about a recall announced yesterday on
Ford Escapes. It seems that under certain conditions, cars were stalling out
while decelerating below 40 mph. The cause was faulty software, and the fix
was to load new software into the powertrain control module. I wanted this
information for my talk at Webster this morning.
When I gave my first talk here in 1997, I was suffering from a cold. It
was not a pleasant experience. This time, the cold viruses kept their
distance. I arrived at the school around 8, beating Candy Silcott there, as
it turned out. Fortunately, the secretary (whom, I would learn later, was
originally from Mt. Clemens, MI) told me where the classroom I was to visit
was located. It was in the shop area, an area I'd never visited while I was
a student there. The teacher, Tony Garcia, thought I'd be speaking on
Friday, but he adapted his plans and introduced me to the students. They
were studying the operation of the internal combustion engine, but my
background was electrical, so I gave them a crash course in automotive
wiring – how and where you package modules, how you design harnesses,
where you locate grounds, etc. The students asked some interesting questions
– one asked if the individual parts of the harnesses were replaceable like
engine parts were (in theory, yes, but not really in practice), how much
does it cost to design a car, what was a recall, is the frame wiring
installed before or after a body gets decked to the frame. I even talked
about terminal crimps. During the early part of my talk, Candy arrived in
the classroom; I was on a roll at that point, so I briefly turned to her,
said hello, then continued with the point I was making. After saying a few
things to the students and to Mr. Garcia, she gave me a hug, then headed
back to her office or who knows where. I continued with my talk for most of
the rest of the hour. I did well enough to be invited back sometime in the
future. Then it was back to the office to meet with Candy for a while. This
proved to be very difficult, for while I had no time or work pressures, she
did. We could hardly get started talking about things when there would be
another interruption.
We did get to have some uninterrupted time when we we went to lunch at La
Madeleine on Bay Area. I drove and got to expose Candy to '60s on 6 on XM.
She was quite impressed. She was telling me of an upcoming mini-course on
the '60s, which would include a Vietnam veteran coming in and telling of his
experiences, some of the relevant music, etc. I even suggested a few songs
to include. We talked about the DVD set of The Concert For George. After
lunch, we visited the jeweler's next door (Candy was looking for a charm for
her daughter) and a cake shop in Friendswood (the cake was for a birthday
party that afternoon)
Back at the office, the interruptions were fewer. We worked on a proposal
nominating Richard Garriott for a CCISD Outstanding Alumnus award, based on
his successful career in the computer gaming world. But would he want such
an award? We needed contact information for him, but that was difficult to
find. I thought my friend Keith Zabalaoui would know, so we sent an e-mail
off to him; he promised to do what he could. I met the school's assistant
principal, Jammie Fricke Ridenour, who also had had Candy as a teacher. I
didn't know her that well in school, for she was a year behind me.
The only thing that would have made this better – other than the many
interruptions, of course – would have been to have more of my classmates
show up. But that reunion would have to wait for another time.
As I left the school, who should drive up but Stacie Barnett Bemis? She
was indeed doing carpool duty this afternoon. We talked as best we could for
a few minutes – we confirmed the Tookie's get-together this Saturday; she
introduced me to her son, who was a WAVE student, and who had apparently
heard a few things about me courtesy of his mother; and we talked of Carl
Guderian and Chris Kemmerer and wondered what they were doing now. Then it
was time to stop holding up traffic and leave. I took the back streets to
the Cinemark theaters, where I saw The Alamo. Reviews had been mixed
for the film; I thought it was decent but a bit long. This film had Davy
Crockett surviving the battle and being brought before Santa Anna to beg for
mercy. But he didn't beg, so Santa Anna had him run through, so he still met
with an honorable death.
I had planned to eat lunch at Fuddrucker's today. This was because, were
I back in Detroit, I would have eaten at the Fuddrucker's in Taylor with
co-workers and retired co-workers, including one of my former bosses.
Because I didn't have lunch there, I thought I'd go there for dinner and try
one of their turkey burgers. It wasn't bad. I heartily recommend turkey
burgers topped with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo and relish – or any
kind of burgers topped with those toppings, for that matter. Then it was
back to the hotel via back roads. When passing by the fire station, I
noticed that it had been named for Michie Coldwell. Was he the father of
classmates Cory and Kim Coldwell, whom I knew were from Nassau Bay? I
suspected so.
Top
Thursday April 15
I got up, showered, and had a couple of cookies for breakfast this
morning. The phone was working, so yesterday's problems must have been out
of the ordinary. I logged into my credit union account to verify that
today's payday deposit had been made; it had. Now I could write out some
bills. One bill posed a problem, though: the phone bill had not arrived
before I left, but I knew it would come due before I returned home. Not only
did I need to know the amount I owed, I also needed to know where to send
the check. The World Wide Web to the rescue! The phone company's Website
told me what I needed to know, so off the check went to its destination. I
also got a paper this morning and was reading the local section that came
every Thursday. It seems that Foley's is planning to move into the old
Dillard's/Joske's location (they are in the old Wards store now) and is
renovating it as a flagship store. While I was writing out the bills, the
maid came by for the weekly towel exchange (as distinguished from full
housekeeping and cleaning). With that done, I could head off on my
adventures for the day.
My first stop: the post office, this time by car rather than by foot. The
weather was nice enough for another walk, but I had other places to go.
Unfortunately, I had left off a stamp on one bill, so my plans to use the
drive-up mailbox were foiled. I went in, got a stamp, and sent all the bills
on their merry way. Then I went over to Taylor Lake Village for some gas and
a chance to visit the Seaside Gallery, operated by a photographer who's
taken many photos of the area over the years. Of special interest to me were
the pictures of Kemah and Seabrook before and after the Boardwalk went in
and before and after the new bridge went in. I even saw a picture of the
bridge that preceded the old drawbridge. I found three prints that I liked
and bought them.
My next destination: Fry's Electronics on the north side of town. There
will eventually be a Fry's in Webster, but construction has yet to be begin.
I traveled there via Red Bluff, passing the Fieldstone Apartments where I
lived for the first 2 years of my life – the apartments have seen better
days – and the remains of the Red Bluff Drive-In Theater, notorious for
showing X-rated movies at one time (at a drive-in?!). Then it was down and
up the Washburn Tunnel under the ship channel, then up to the East Freeway
and the East and North Loops and the North Freeway. Before going to Fry's, I
visited a Bank of America branch near Greenspoint for some money. I wanted
to find a Washington Mutual branch, for their ATM's were surcharge-free.
Other than one in a Fiesta store, one where I couldn't return to it easily,
I saw none. So I made a large withdrawal, which blunted the surcharge
somewhat; the amount is the same whether you take $20 or $200 out. Then I
went to a Best Buy up the feeder a ways, but I didn't get anything there. I
yielded at an exit ramp because several cars were exiting; a truck behind me
honked his horn in protest, but I did nothing. I was perfectly in the right
to have stopped. I didn't want to get rear-ended by freeway exiters.
Finally, I arrived at Fry's. I found my goal: the season-5 set of Babylon 5
for $70. I spent a good bit of time checking out what else was there at Geek
Central, but the only additional thing I got was a DVD with two classic
versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Now where would I go, and what would I do? I had yet to eat lunch, but I
wasn't desperately hungry for anything. Candy had recommended I visit the
traveling exhibit on chocolate at the Museum of Natural Science; as I was in
the area, I decided to go. I found a parking spot and went inside the
museum, which I don't believe I'd visited since 1973. The chocolate exhibit
took up the entire second floor and showed its history from the cacao trees
and beans, to the tools used by the Mayans and Aztecs, to its use as money
by the Aztecs, to the processing methods of today, to samples of cocoa
products from the 1900's to the 1950's (the 1958 can of Quik is very
recognizable, though smaller than today's version). I think my sister Sharon
and my nieces and nephews would have liked the exhibit. Then I went through
the exhibits on the other floors before heading off. As I proceeded towards
my next destination, I think I might have traveled past the apartments where
Mom and Dad used to live before I was born – I know I was in the right
part of town, and the apartments were of the right vintage. I drove up
Cullen Boulevard through the UH campus, past the old facilities for channel
8, Robertson Stadium and Hofheinz Pavilion before stopping at Finger's. I
wasn't shopping for furniture; I wanted to visit the Houston Baseball
Museum. I had a hard time finding it, but I eventually did. Now why would a
baseball museum be in a furniture store? Because the store was built on the
site of Buff Stadium, the original home for baseball in town. The Houston
Buffs Texas League team played there from 1928 until 1961, after which the
team became the major-league Colt .45's and eventually the Astros.
Now I was getting hungry, and I knew where I wanted to go: Joe's BBQ in
Alvin. A BBQ baked potato with my name on it was waiting for me
(figuratively speaking; I didn't call in my order). I drove down Highway 35
to Alvin and enjoyed half of the potato. The other half went into a
take-home box; either the potatoes are getting bigger, or my stomach is
getting smaller. As I put the potato into the box, I couldn't help but think
of the time that Helen Vandervort had accidentally eaten my leftover potato
several years ago when I was staying with them. This was a poignant memory,
though, for she had passed away several months ago. Then it was back to the
hotel for a rest and an e-mail check.
Among my e-mails was a note from my sister: expect to hear news that
non-essential personnel were being sent out of Saudi Arabia. As they were
scheduled to leave Arabia in a week anyway, she didn't expect the order to
have any practical impact. But if they were leaving, then I might have had
some unexpected company when I returned home (unlikely, she said later; they
would have gone to DC). As I did some PC work, I turned on the hockey game
on ESPN. Detroit needed to win this game, and they had turned up the heat
and beat Nashville soundly, 4-1. They can wrap up the series Saturday
afternoon in Nashville.
Top
Friday April 16
Today's breakfast was yesterday's lunch, or what was left of it. I
finished off more of the potato this morning, but I still had some left
over. Back into the refrigerator it went for more possible eating. I was
listening to Sirius's Outlaw Country stream this morning. It had recently
changed format from The Border, which tended to play out-of-the-mainstream
acts like Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, etc. Now this stream went all over the
place – the Mavericks to Willie Nelson to Ernest Tubb to the Beatles (!)
and Moby Grape (?!) and David Allen Coe. An interesting mix of artists
there.
I decided to visit the Barnes and Noble again today. Although I spent a
lot of time there, the only thing I got was a book on cheap eats in Houston,
second edition. I may find it useful in the future. I stopped in the CompUSA
for a bit, then went over to Baybrook. Due to the construction at the old
Joske's, I could not park in my usual location (which also happened to be
the normal location Dad would park when we all went there), so I parked
closer to Sears. As it was lunchtime, I decided to eat at Luby's, where I
got a chicken fried steak. It was HUGE! It started off tasting OK, but
finally I decided that I had just had enough. The portion was way too large
to begin with. So I ate what I felt like and left the rest. The same went
for the rest of the meal. After I left, I visited the Franklin Covey store
and got some more blank paper for my planner, as well as a new divider, for
the old one had broken. There was a special on paper, buy 3 and get one
free, but I only needed the one package. Then it was off on my next trip of
the day.
I had always wondered where FM 2004 went south of the city. I knew from
maps that it went from Texas City to Brazosport (Freeport, Lake Jackson,
etc.), but I'd never traveled it before – until today. I got on the
freeway and headed towards Texas City, fighting an urge to exit at 518 and
head to what used to be home. I noticed that the Pancho's restaurant in
League City had closed (the one by Almeda was still open, to my knowledge).
An HEB store was under construction at FM 646. Then I arrived in Texas City
and took FM 2004 to the south and southwest. I saw the greyhound race track
up close; nothing was happening there today. I passed by Hitchcock High
School, which struck me as being quite small compared to Creek or Lake or
Brook. Since Hitchcock was a much smaller community, that was to be
expected, I guess. Then came several miles of barely broken coastal
prairies. The only major sights were the BP Amoco plant, the Equistar
chemical plant and a bridge over a canal. Then I arrived in the Brazosport
area, which is composed of several small towns. I passed through Richwood,
which I'd never heard of before, and I passed through Lake Jackson, which I
had. In fact, I'd been through the area once before, in 1995.
I wandered through the Brazos Mall, which looked as though its last
renovation was 20 or more years ago. It was of a decent size for its
surrounding area, but it would be small compared to other ones in Houston. I
noticed a Hasting's and a Rex, both of which were geared to mid-sized
communities not big enough for a Borders, Barnes and Noble, Circuit City or
Best Buy. The Waldenbooks store had former Astro pitcher/manager/broadcaster
Larry Dierker's book, so I picked up a copy. I also bought the latest issue
of Texas Monthly, even though I already had the electronic version of it.
This one, I could send over to Sharon and family, for this issue had a story
on Beyonce Knowles, and my nieces are fans of hers. After I left the mall, I
got slightly disoriented and began to head west out of town. However, I
quickly caught my mistake and headed into town (thank you, compass in the
rearview mirror). My goal: to find the intersection of This Way and That
Way. Yes, there were two streets in Lake Jackson named This Way and That
Way! It took me a few minutes, but I found them and took two pictures. Then
it was time to head back home, but not before stopping for some more money.
I went to the Washington Mutual branch across from Baybrook.
Back at the hotel, I looked at the books I had bought today and checked
e-mail. I even checked e-mail at work and attempted to purge some of the
junk e-mail that had piled up. Unfortunately, it was painful to do so over a
dial-up connection. I saw nothing that appeared to be of dire emergency
status, so I gave up. Now suppertime was approaching, and what would I do? I
flipped through the Cheap Eats book for ideas, but few of the restaurants
mentioned were in this area. Then I suddenly got the idea to return to
Laredo's. With its location in jeopardy due to possible Highway 146
expansion, I hoped this wouldn't be the last time I'd ever eat there. But
they were doing a well-enough business that I'm sure they'd build in a new
location. The place was crowded tonight. I had no problem finding a table,
but those who came after me did have to wait. There were several small signs
stuck next to their parking lot advertising their fare; this was something I
hadn't seen before. They were aimed at the 146 traffic, and they did their
job tonight. I had the Deluxe Dinner again; the tostada shell was a bit
soggier than last time, but it was still good. Then I drove back to the
hotel listening to the Astros battle and eventually beat the Brewers, 2-0,
with ace Roy Oswalt pitching a 3-hitter.
Top
Saturday April 17
Well, today was the day for what could be called Un-reunion 2004. Who
would be showing up today? I'd learn later on. But first, I had a morning to
get through. After waking around 6, I read for a while, then turned on XM
'60s on 6 to listen to Dave The Rave's Relics and Rarities show, in which he
plays the songs from the '60s that never made it to the top of the charts
but were good enough to have done so. I checked e-mail a few times that
morning, but nothing was appearing. I thought that very odd, for I knew my
mailbox would be guaranteed to at least have some junk mail in it every time
I checked. But this morning, there was absolutely nothing. I later learned
that my provider was dealing with a massive spam attack and that e-mail
deliveries were suffering as a result. I hoped that nothing important was
being delayed. I also showered and read the paper, and I played guitar for a
while.
By that time, it was 11:45. It was time for me to head to Tookie's in
Seabrook, a favorite gathering spot for many, although this would only have
been my second visit there. It was also the site for Un-reunion 2004. I
arrived shortly after noon, found a parking spot in the overflow lot, and
went inside. Not seeing anyone else there (anyone from our group, that is;
the place was fairly full already), I went out front to wait. A few minutes
later, Rob Wohrer arrived with his girlfriend Sara (not a classmate of ours;
in fact, she appeared to be somewhat younger than us). We decided to wait
for at least one more classmate to show up; that turned out to be Skip
Hartley, who was delayed by baseball practice. There were four of us at that
point, so we decided to get a table. Stacie would likely be joining us later
after her son's soccer practice, and that's exactly what happened. We all
ordered #99 burgers – well, I was a bit hungrier, so I ordered a #198,
which was a double #99 – and got caught up on things. Skip told me he
wanted zero-percent auto financing to end soon, for that would mean people
would keep their old cars longer and his engine rebuilding business would
get more business.
When we left, I asked Sara to take a picture of us four classmates, which
she did. Then we planned to meet at Skip's boat for a cruise on the lake.
Stacie had prior commitments and could not join us, so we said our goodbyes.
When I'd mentioned that I was going up to Austin tomorrow, she said she
wanted to join me there. But what would your husband say to that, I replied
("Go ahead!" Sure....). I went back to my car and pulled up behind
Skip and waved to say "I'm here." Unfortunately, Skip took my wave
to mean "We're all here, lead us on", and he took off. It was
difficult turning onto south 146 from Tookie's, but we eventually made it.
Skip's boat was berthed at South Shore Harbour, right next to the hotel.
When we arrived, we looked around in vain for Rob and Sara. Would they know
where to go? Skip left a message for Rob, and then we waited some more.
Finally, we agreed that we should return to Tookie's in the hopes that
they'd waited there. As Skip had the more distinctive vehicle (a 1962 dune
buggy), I got into his buggy and we set off. Now this dune buggy had seat
belts, but they didn't adjust very well. In fact, this belt was too small
for me. So I positioned the ends as best I could, slouched down so that my
head was below the windshield top edge, took off my Hard Rock Cafe –
Detroit hat to keep it from blowing away, and held onto the side. What an
experience – natural air conditioning! Back at Tookie's, there were no
signs of Rob and Sara. The girl at the counter had no messages for us, so
back to the marina we went. Were we glad to see Rob and Sara waiting for us
there!
After that delay, it was sure nice to board Skip's boat and set off on a
short lake cruise. No Gilligan's Island-type "three-hour tour" for
us, no sir! The winds were up, and the bay was rather choppy, so we decided
to stay in the lake. I was taking a lot of video and some still photos as we
cruised down to the channel to enter the bay. We passed by a Coast Guard
vessel but did not see another of our classmates, Brian Moore. At the Kemah
Boardwalk, Skip turned around, and we headed back up the lake. Then we took
a tour of the waters of Nassau Bay, where both Skip and Rob had lived. They
were remembering who used to live where, where they used to play, where they
took the canal to get to the high school on time on at least one occasion,
etc. I missed out on the Nassau Bay experiences, for I grew up in Newport.
Then again, they missed out on the Newport experiences, such as our baseball
field on the street, our back trails for bikes or motorcycles, etc. Then it
was time to head back to the marina, where Rob and I helped Skip berth and
button up his craft. We must do this again at future reunions and
un-reunions, I said.
When we pulled in and berthed, it was after 4. I still had plenty of time
to go back to the hotel for a water and/or bathroom break and an e-mail
check before Chris Mallios arrived to take me to the ballgame downtown.
E-mail was finally working, and the vast majority of the messages were junk.
I left for the lobby at 4:45, and Chris was waiting for me. We set off for
the game, which was starting an hour earlier than normal. As we drove there,
he was telling me about League City politics and the latest controversies
– the mayor losing a vote of confidence by the city council, cost overruns
affecting the Big League Dreams project, etc. Such fun! We didn't have much
problem getting downtown, and we found a parking spot at Incarnate Word
Academy, located next to the park. The security screening lines for those
bringing bags into the facility were long, but for those who had nothing
(like us), there were no problems. Once inside, we obtained our free
calendars and took our seats. I got dinner (a hot dog and a pop – I was
still fairly full from Tookie's, so I didn't want anything more) and settled
in to enjoy the game. And an enjoyable game it was, too! It started off on a
dubious note when Milwaukee's leadoff hitter blasted the second pitch out of
the park (he'd hit another homer later on), but the Astros got that run back
and more in the bottom of the inning. From our vantage point behind home
plate, roughly in line with third base, we had a good view of the action,
although it would have been nice to have been closer. I heard someone says
they saw former president Bush (the elder) there; while I looked for him, I
never saw him. We did see Craig Biggio achieve two hitting milestones, his
525th double, tying him with Ted Williams on the all-time list, and his
944th RBI, passing Jose Cruz for 2nd place on the Astro's all-time list;
only Jeff Bagwell has more.
It seemed as if the Astros could do no wrong and Milwaukee no right. They
made four errors and two wild pitches. They even brought in the third
baseman to pitch to a batter! The final score: Astros 14, Brewers 5. It's
always more fun to see your team win. Even though I no longer live in
Houston, the Astros will always be my team in some form. On the way back to
the hotel, Chris told me that one of his nephews is getting involved with
debate. He (Chris) helps the Channelview program out and judges rounds for
them. The mass quantities of evidence files that teams used to have to
intimidate the other teams have been replaced with laptops and CD's, but the
techniques are still the same.
Back at the hotel, I couldn't get to sleep. My body was tired, but my
mind was racing with thoughts about what a good week I'd had, what a good
day I'd had, and what tomorrow would bring.
Top
Move on to Part 2...
Back to Travels
page
©2003 R. W. Reini.
All rights reserved.
Written by Roger Reini
Revised April 20, 2008 |