Texas is huge. A driver can make a thousand mile round trip without going anywhere near a state line. Anyway, I've just returned from a road trip, and I want to share a few things.
Texas hill country blue bonnets - The blue bonnet flowers bloom for a couple of weeks a year, and they are doing it right now. Some years are better than others, and a couple of years ago the conditions must have been absolutely perfect, because the flowers were so abundant that locals were saying it was the best they had seen in their life times. That year raised the bar, but an average year can still be quite spectacular.
Willow City is a tiny little community on Highway 16 about 20 miles Northeast of Fredricksburg. And, there's a private road that originates there called the "Willow City Loop" which has almost become a tourist attraction because it's always a nice place to see lots of blue bonnets. And, they were nice this year. However, at least along the highways I traveled, the roadside bluebonnets appeared to be most plentiful alongside Highway 71 on the stretch between Brady and Llano.
Thank you Lady Bird.
Movies in Austin - On screen one we have Mel Gibson's biblical rendition titled "The Passion of the Christ". And, on screen two we have another movie with a resurrection theme: "Dawn of the Dead." And on screen three we have a movie partly and loosely based on a religious reference: "Hellboy." Well, let me tell you about "Hellboy." The target audience seemed to be males aged 18 to 18-1/2. And the volume was so loud that it would make a rifle range seem like the inside of a public library. So, here's a prediction: Audiologists are going to make out like bandits in a few years when those kids start to experience the effects of all of that noise.
Traffic in Austin - Traffic in Austin is simply horrendous. Ranch Road 620 in Northwest Austin is a very busy roadway with speed limits ranging from 50 to 60 mph. But, what is so astonishing to me is to see bicyclists along the paved shoulder just a couple of feet from the traffic. There weren't as many there this time as there were last December - perhaps there's a high fatality rate.
Then there is I-35. That stretch between Austin and San Marcos is a driver's nightmare. That interstate is very popular with drivers of large trucks, and it isn't unusual to find yourself surrounded by 18 wheelers. It's a six lane road, and with three lanes going in one direction, the truckers seemed to like driving in the middle lane. I had to think about that a minute, but it actually makes a little bit of sense for them to do it that way.
Someone told me that there are more traffic deaths on I-35 between San Antonio and Austin - a distance of roughly 75 miles - than there are between Austin and Kansas City - a distance of roughly 700 miles.
I'm sure Nascar drivers have to devote more concentration to their driving in a race than the everyday drivers on I-35 do, but not by much.
South Texas - Off the Interstate and on the smaller highways from San Marcos to Beeville was a little less stressful. On the day we traversed that stretch of highway there were several cars going South each of which was towing two other cars. The cars in tow looked like clunkers, and one has to wonder what's going on. But they say dealers buy them at the car auctions in Dallas, tow them to the Rio Grande Valley, and sell them. Go figure.
the Greatest Generation - If you are still reading this, thanks for hanging in there, because we've finally reached our destination - a visit to relatives in Beeville. My aunt and uncle are of the World War II generation, the greatest generation, and it was a thrill to be able to visit with them. They regaled us with hilarious stories from the old days, including one about some old guy who simply would not use the indoor toilet - he had grown up using a privy, and by golly was going to keep on using it!
And, here's something I didn't realize. For a woman in the 1940s and 50s to have a well kept house she must iron the bed sheets. Huh? That's right. The sheets must be ironed.
And, the men's shirts needed starch, so what you did was cook up some starch, dunk the shirts in it while it's hot, wring the starch out of the shirts then roll all of the shirts up into a ball and let them sit awhile so that the starch will penetrate the entire shirt. That's gotta be good on the hands, right?
Anyway, it was a wonderful time. Thank you Uncle Marshall and Aunt Billie. It was a pleasure seeing you again, and I hope you've got many years ahead of you.
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