Day 22, June 23, 2012, Saturday
As is normally the case when I have somewhere to go, I didn’t sleep very well. I was up at 0400 and on the road by 0445. I backtracked from Leakey to Concan and got on Hwy127 which took me to the rest area at Sabinal, TX on Hwy 90 to wait for it to get light enough to proceed at normal speed. At 0600 I made my way east and headed for San Antonio. By 0745 I was blasting through the city at 75 mph on an almost perfectly straight piece Hwy. 90 until it changed to I-10 with minimal traffic. By 1050, it was a different proposition going through Houston. Tons of traffic, plenty of maniacs and enough road signs to confuse someone from Skinquarter, VA. Fortunately there was some inspirational music on the radio. I got in the fast lane and 45 minutes later cleared most of the urban sprawl. Not a relaxing day on the road, but I had accomplished all I had set out to do in Texas and wanted to get a little further east. I saw a sign for Cowboy Harley Davidson in Beaumont, TX and pulled off the interstate for a look. Beautiful dealership with easy on and off access. I spoke to the General Manager, Joey Hardy; he couldn’t have been any nicer and it was a pleasure to chat with him. We swapped facebook pages and I told him I would give him favorable mention. After 463.2 miles in brutal heat at interstate speeds I had reached the point of diminishing returns and quit for the day in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I went for some chow at a place called Steamboat Bill’s and told the young fella I wanted some local cuisine. I got some crawfish etoufee. Undoubtedly some of the best unknown chow I have ever eaten. No telling what was in it other than crawfish and shrimp, but it was delicious. After a shower and some golden throat dust remover, I feel a lot better. I want to go by Waveland, MS and see how it looks compared to when I saw it right after Katrina when I was sent down there in ‘05. I haven’t even broken the map out yet, but I’ll figure it out later.
As is normally the case when I have somewhere to go, I didn’t sleep very well. I was up at 0400 and on the road by 0445. I backtracked from Leakey to Concan and got on Hwy127 which took me to the rest area at Sabinal, TX on Hwy 90 to wait for it to get light enough to proceed at normal speed. At 0600 I made my way east and headed for San Antonio. By 0745 I was blasting through the city at 75 mph on an almost perfectly straight piece Hwy. 90 until it changed to I-10 with minimal traffic. By 1050, it was a different proposition going through Houston. Tons of traffic, plenty of maniacs and enough road signs to confuse someone from Skinquarter, VA. Fortunately there was some inspirational music on the radio. I got in the fast lane and 45 minutes later cleared most of the urban sprawl. Not a relaxing day on the road, but I had accomplished all I had set out to do in Texas and wanted to get a little further east. I saw a sign for Cowboy Harley Davidson in Beaumont, TX and pulled off the interstate for a look. Beautiful dealership with easy on and off access. I spoke to the General Manager, Joey Hardy; he couldn’t have been any nicer and it was a pleasure to chat with him. We swapped facebook pages and I told him I would give him favorable mention. After 463.2 miles in brutal heat at interstate speeds I had reached the point of diminishing returns and quit for the day in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I went for some chow at a place called Steamboat Bill’s and told the young fella I wanted some local cuisine. I got some crawfish etoufee. Undoubtedly some of the best unknown chow I have ever eaten. No telling what was in it other than crawfish and shrimp, but it was delicious. After a shower and some golden throat dust remover, I feel a lot better. I want to go by Waveland, MS and see how it looks compared to when I saw it right after Katrina when I was sent down there in ‘05. I haven’t even broken the map out yet, but I’ll figure it out later.
