This is more of a
picture record of the drive I took to go from Glens Falls
to Austin
DAY ONE – LEAVING GLENS FALLS
Even though the lease was
technically up at the beginning of August, Heritage Apartment let us go on a
“month by month” basis, as I was leaving the area and John’s house wouldn’t be
ready for move-in until October. All my stuff had been boxed up, and
“Vampire Kids” (the Wednesday night high-school kids I gamed with) had loaded
it up in the moving truck. While John’s things were still scattered about
the place, the only items I had left here was a bedroll, and the clothes I’d be
wearing the next couple days.
The day of my departure to Texas , I’d driven down to Albany to pick up Brian, because he was going
to ride down with me (as he’d done this the previous year). Brian had
taken a red-eye flight the previous night, so he was coming in first thing in
the morning. The time it took to do that, plus then loading the car on
the tow dolly, would eat up some of the day’s travel time.
Thanks to AAA, I had the TripTicks
all set for the journey. I knew what was the basic route I wanted to
take, so the TripTicks would provide me with the information to get from one
highway to another while bypassing the major cities I’d be passing by.
More than one person had asked me
if I was going to stop and see the sights along the way. I really liked
the idea of doing the classic “road trip” here, but when I’m towing my car
(“Bete Noire”) behind the truck with all my worldly possessions inside, that
really wasn’t the time to leave things unattended for too long. None of
the phone interviews I done before this hadn’t secured employment yet, I was
moving to Texas
on limited funds. I needed to stretch the money I had for as long as
possible, so frivolous expenses (which included interesting stops along the
way) unfortunately weren’t practical.
We’d left Glens Falls behind, and then picked up the
New York Thruway going west. I’d driven this way on the many times going
to Syracuse and Rochester ,
and the few instances to Buffalo ,
so that was the extent of familiar territory for me. I blinked as we cross
through the only section of Pennsylvania to
border on Lake Erie . One of my earliest
memories (which dealt with that aforementioned lake) was asking Mum how does a
body of water catch on fire?
Brian and I shared the driving
chores. When it was time to stop for gas, food, or whatever, that was the
time we swapped. My portable radio had music playing in the background
(mostly the current radio shows I’d just done on WGFR), but we talked a lot on
the way. Staying on Interstate 90, the first major city we were then
coming up on was Cleveland ,
OH Middle America air.
After we picked up 71, and started
in a south-westerly direction towards Columbus .
When I was sitting in the passenger seat, I could see a sliver of my
right rear part of my car in the rearview mirror. Brian commented that it
was just probably how the dolly was riding behind the truck. I kept
watching it, and saw that Bete Noire wasn’t swaying back and forth with the
motion of the road, but I was seeing the same portion consistently. I
became greatly concerned that my car wasn’t secured properly. At the
first available rest-stop we pulled in and examined it. Now, it wasn’t
sitting quite right, but the only thing we could do tighten what was there, and
add on some additional straps.
It was nearing dark when we reached
the beltway around Columbus .
Even though we were awake enough, I didn’t want to be driven along
potentially dark roads if there was a chance the car could escape. On the
southwest side of the city, we pulled into a Red Roof Inn for the night.
At that point I got one the phone to Hertz (where the rental was from) to
find a location who could check into the situation. Arrangements were
made to take it over to a place on the northeast portion of the city, which was
fine with me. That wasn’t too far out of my way to go for peace of mind.
After all that, it was nice to be able to have a cooling shower and sleep
in a bed that night.
DAY TWO – A PROBLEM RESOLVED
The place we went to had a large
fleet of trucks, and were competent enough to recognize the dolly we’d been
given had faulty straps on the left side. Most of the weight holding the
car on was wrapped around the right tire, as well as the center support hook on
the frame. It was very possible that Bete Noire would need to have an
alignment done. I’d had Pete’s dad do a full work-up on the car before
leaving in order to keep having any automotive expenses on my immediate
arrival. Oh, well. It easily could’ve been worse.
Once the straps on both sides of
the dolly were replaced, the truck company mounted the car on, and tightened
the straps more securely (with power tools) than we could do by hand.
Bete Noire wasn’t going anywhere now, and at this point, I was content to
leave him right where he was. Any thoughts I might’ve had about unhooking
him to make a side trip were abandoned. At this point, I just wanted to
get to Austin .
In order to leave Columbus ,
we had to loop back around the belt-way (so we’d now technically driven around
the whole city), so we could pick up Interstate 70 west towards Indianapolis .
Knowing that my car was now in no danger of getting away, we put the
pedal to the metal to make up some lost time. Since I didn’t need to
watch the car like a hawk any more, I was able to spend some time taking
pictures as we passed by places. Because I was wearing my Bart Simpson
t-shirt, I had to give a laugh as we whizzed past the small city of Springfield .
Soon we’d crossed the state line,
and officially entered the Central Time Zone. There were basically two
routes I could’ve taken to get to Texas :
Going west and then south, or going south and then west. Going
south first would’ve had us trying to navigate the Appalachian
Mountains around the areas where Deliverance could’ve been
set in. While the terrain would be
beautiful to see, it made more sense to take the path of least resistance and
go across the flat American heartland. Besides, I could avoid the worst
of the Confederate lands, as I’d be dealing with being a “Yankee” on a regular
basis soon enough.
One thing I did notice once we’d
left western New York
was how flat everything was. Without the terrain to interfere with you
city planning, the urban areas could expand outwards instead of upwards.
I expected there to be more tall buildings than what I’d been seeing on
the trip. I took a picture of the stadium that the Indianapolis Colts
played in for Pete.
We made good time across Indiana , and across the very southern tip of Illinois , so soon were coming upon St. Louis . Technically St.
Louis exists on both sides of the Mississippi
River . Since the river is the state boundary between
Illinois and Missouri, there are technically two cities called St. Louis next
to each other (and from my understanding, they treat themselves as a single
municipal entity for the most part).
The Mississippi was a pretty
wide river, so I could understand why this had been the lifeline of the central
part of the country for so long. I tried to picture the river flowing
backwards, which happened once in recorded history (during the New Madrid
earthquakes of 1811-1812). We were kind of looking northward in the shot
above as we cross the Mississippi .
I’d really hoped to be able to stop
in St. Louis and
see the Gateway Arch, as that was the most major landmark which I knew I’d be
passing. (I’m sure had I done a bunch of research beforehand, I would’ve
seen some other potentially interesting items.) We ended up taking a
bypass around the city, so we didn’t get anywhere near it. Brian tried to
snap a picture of it as we went over the Mississippi ,
but a truck just happened to pass by at that time, so the picture turned out to
more about my nose than an architectural wonder.
It wasn’t until a short distance
after we’d crossed the river that we actually encountered a sign to show we’d
entered Missouri .
I wonder if there was a reason for that. If the state line was the
river, I’d think the sign would be as close to shore as possible. People
could really have their heads played with if as they start across the Mississippi passing a sign “Leaving Illinois,” and not
see the “Welcome to Missouri ”
sign until the other side. That’s make it appear like the Mississippi was a “no
man’s land” (like the area between the former Berlin Walls).
From St. Louis , we picked up Interstate 44, which
would continue our south-west compass heading. I found Missouri to be some of the prettiest country
we’d driven through the entire trip, with the large number of rolling hills and
small mountains. There weren’t too many big cities we passed through in
this section of the state, so it was certainly someplace I found inviting.
(We passed another place called Springfield ,
which earned another laugh from me.) Since I was on my way to Texas (and I’d give Austin
at least five years before looking at moving somewhere else), I wasn’t going to
start looking to see what the job market was in Missouri . But I would put it on a
potential relocation list if I had to go to another part of the country.
We were making great time, and
while on the road we got to watch the sunset.
Brian had taken a couple days off from work, so he was in a hurry to get
to Austin .
I needed to look for a job once I got there, but if this trip took an
extra day, so be it as far as I was concerned. Jeff and I had always
talked about doing a two-week road trip from Glens Falls
to the Grand Canyon and back, as part of
research for the novel I was writing. I’d
completed the thing a couple years ago, but if I saw other things which could
be worked in for sequel portions, here was my opportunity to make notes.
I was also marking off states as we
passed through them, so I could say “I’d been there.” Taking a look at
the road map (which had accompanied my TripTicks), I started plotting a slight
detour. We’d been on Route 44 since St. Louis ,
and this would cross into Oklahoma right near
the tri-state boundary of Missouri , Oklahoma , and Kansas .
I briefly considered could be slip off the highway, and make a short loop
into Superman’s home state, and pick up 44 again. I wanted to do that
just to say I’d been to Kansas ,
but considering the lateness of the hour, that was not the time to leave the
well-marked highways for some country road just for a whim.
Once we crossed the Oklahoma border, that
was a good place to stop for the night. We were starting to get tired,
and needed to be refreshed for the rest of the drive. According to the map, we were still miles
from the next town, so we just pulled off into the first highway rest area
there was. The rest area was nothing more than an extended shoulder area
with a few picnic tables, which bordered on an endless field. Trying to
sleep inside the truck was too stuffy for me, so I told Brian I was going to
sleep outside. He expressed concern that
I’d get attacked by some animal if I was out there. I had my car keys
with me, and could crawl in there if the weather got bad, and there were no
garbage cans here to attach animals. And because I laid out my sleeping
bag in the area between the truck and the field, there was no chance of someone
else pulling in and running me over.
It was a beautiful night, and the
weather comfortable. Because this was such a remote area, there was
hardly any light pollution. There was one light near the highway, and I
positioned myself so the truck would block that. I had a clear few of the
stars, much like I had in the field behind my parents’ old place. During
the drive I had a bag of stones I’d gotten from Tim’s store to provide me good
energy and a safe trip, but laying there gazing up at the stars was another
type of good energy for me. Yeah, I was still tired, but I still took a
moment to appreciate those twinkling points of light above me.
DAY THREE – ARRIVAL IN THE LONE STAR STATE
A nice breeze kept me cool all
night, and I didn’t even need to crawl inside my bag. When I awoke, it
was just before dawn. The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky was just getting
light. It was a nice compliment to the starry night I just had an
enjoyable sleep under. For a moment I felt like I was camping again, and
then I heard the sound of traffic whizzing past me. I saw that a truck
had pulled in behind us sometime during the night. Apparently I’d been so dead asleep I didn’t
notice it.
Breakfast was some of the granola
bars and Cliff Bars New York , all the roads
we’d been travelling on were free. That was nice, as it showed what was
available to any one. Now that we’d cross into Oklahoma , the highways became tollways.
It was the most direct route, and no where as bad as travelling through New Jersey (where you
paid a toll every couple miles). Oklahoma
was pretty flat terrain, and I could see for miles in all directions.
I tried to keep the camera handy to
document things which were potentially interesting to me, or would make good
stories. I got a chuckle that as we were driving through Tulsa we passed a place for Scottish
Freemasons. No matter where you go in America , the signs of the
Illuminati are everywhere (including the back of our money). But if there was a shadow organization which
was going to take over the government, I felt much more comfortable know it
would Scots. I’ll all for the Kilted New World Order.
As we left Tulsa , I noticed that Route 66 paralleled the
highway we were on. That reinforced that
thoughts of how people used to travel the country to see what interesting
things were there. For the most part, the road trip along the American
highways became a thing of the past when the Oil Embargo of the 1970s happened,
as much as it resulted from the creation of the interstate freeway system.
Old style Route 66 was designed with attractions to get you to stop and
stay a bit, while the new highways were designed to get you to your destination
sooner. I like road side distractions when the point of the trip is the
drive, otherwise I want to get to my destination so I can enjoy it as soon as
possible.
The tollway we were on (and thereby
Route 66) brought us to Oklahoma City ,
where we picked up Interstate 35 to go south. This would take us directly
to Austin .
I knew there was a Route 66 Park in the area, which was one of the places
I would’ve liked to have seen, had the time and financial opportunities been
available. It seemed like a long time, but I knew I was getting close to
the end of the drive once we saw the “Welcome to Texas ” sign. Austin was still many hours away.
Interstate 35 runs the length of Texas on the north-south
axis. The first major city we’d be nearing was the Dallas -Fort Worth metroplex.
Dallas and Fort Worth are two cities that grew huge at
the same time, and now have pretty much become one large place (otherwise one
would’ve annexed the other). Interstate 35 split into two junctions north
of the area, and rejoined again on the south side. It’s not really as odd
as it sounds, as it was designed to have a section of 35 go to each of the
cities proper.
I was driving during this stage.
Brian asked if I had a preference of which of the two junctions I wanted
to take, as the travel time wouldn’t make any difference which one we were on.
I used my common phrase of “Right. Can’t go wrong if you go right.” There was another reason, as taking 35W would
bring us past Argyle, Texas .
As I grew up in Argyle, New
York , it would give me a few moments of amusement to
cruise past it.
I asked Brian to snap a shot of a
road sign or some other landmark to show we’d passed Argyle. Without
pulling over and stopping, the only available shot was a water tower. (I
found it interesting that many Texas
communities apparently put their names on the water tower. Is the area so
badly marked that you don’t know where you are at any given time? For all
I knew, it might be the only point of reference on a place that rolls on for
miles.) Brian was able to get a decent shot of the water tower, although
my nose was once again prominently featured in the picture. If I’d
thought about it, we would’ve done a series of shot of famous locations with my
snout present. It’d be like the garden gnome photos Leon did when he spent at school year in Europe .
After the DFW area, we eventually
passed through Waco
(I name I knew from the news a few years back). Brian commented that when
he moved here from New York ,
he had to change his person license plate because people confused it with the
college located here. That place was “Baylor.” Brian’s plate was
“Balor,” which was major demon types in Dungeons & Dragons (and it was
Brian’s favorite). The Balor itself was a nod to the Balrog from Lord
of the Rings, and the two were similar in their nastiness. As “Balor”
was pronounced like you call someone “Al,” and “Baylor” was pronounced like a
body of water, I told Brian the reason people were confused was because they
were retarded.
Past Waco
was the exit for the route which headed towards Killeen , and area I knew well due to my visit
the last time here. We were now getting close to the area where I’d be
living. We entered Round Rock, and passed a water tower with a really
interesting picture on it. We passed it before I could get a picture of
the dragon which was there. Brian said it wasn’t that big of a deal, as
it was close enough that I could come over at any time to get it.
We got off Interstate 35 at Round
Rock, and picked up Route 620. I’m used to driving an hour from Glens Falls to get on the
New York State Thruway, so I had this misconception that we’d be still on the
road for a bit. Brian reminded me that we’d be at the house within a
half-hour. 620 was a main road which connected the northern side of Austin to the Interstate
(and the Round Rock area), and we breezed over that pretty fast. We’d swapped driving, so Brian could do the
remainder of the trip, as he knew the specifics of where he was going.
It’d also give me an opportunity to start committing the area to memory
(which I didn’t do last time I was here, as it was just a visit).
It was only a couple of quick turns
off of 620, and we’d arrived at Bristle Oak Trail. This section of the
housing community had a lot of trees were, but the house I’d be living in had
far more trees than any place on the street. If I hadn’t known any
better, I would’ve thought I was moving into a grove. Bete Noire was
unhooked from the dolly, and parked out front. The truck was then backed
into the driveway, so all my stuff could be unloaded. As he was pulling
boxes off, Chaz started bringing stuff to my room. I told him just to
stack everything in the garage, as I’d simply unpack from there, and organize
my living space later. It made sense to drop the truck off at the nearest
Hertz associate (and report the incident we had the first day) as soon as
possible. They knocked off some of the rental cost, but not enough to my
satisfaction. I didn’t spend any more time fighting it, because at this
point, I other more pressing things to deal with.
A new chapter of my life was now
beginning, with untold possibilities that hadn’t existed in Glens Falls . Sure there were places to
explore, and I’d do that as I went to job interviews. There were people
in Austin who in the future would be my new friends. I said I’d give Austin five years before
considering going anywhere else. That’s a reasonable amount of time to
either be in a job that I enjoy or have met someone I want to share my life
with (or both). I’m looking forward to see this place has to offer.
For current information on the places mentioned:
WGFR Radio (Glens Falls , NY
Drew Carey Show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drew_Carey_Show
New Madrid Earthquakes: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1811-1812.php
Gateway Arch (St. Louis ):
http://www.gatewayarch.com/
Route 66: http://www.historic66.com/
Argyle, TX: http://www.argyletx.com/town/Town-of-Argyle.html
Argyle, NY: http://www.argyleny.com/
Balor (Demon): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balor_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)
Baylor (University): http://www.baylor.edu/
Round Rock, TX: http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/
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