This is my first day driving alone. It went smoothly once I settled in and listened to Ms. Garmin (there was a faulty start in Austin when I didn’t listen to Ms. Garmin and traveled in the wrong direction for a couple of miles). Nice to hit the open road away from city traffic. For the most part I traveled on divided roads, two lanes, with little traffic and enough pit stops to delay my progression by at least an hour. At each one, of course, I had to buy a soda or a bag of chips or a candy bar or a cup of coffee to show my appreciation for the use of the restroom, so I’m not sure how healthy this pilgrimage is turning out to be.
I stopped for lunch at a gas station and ate another of John’s lunches (peanut butter sandwich and an apple from the Austin hotel) at an outside table. John has instructed me to call such a lunch a good, nutritious meal (rather than “cheap,” as previously described). As I sat there, a family from Oklahoma drove up. The father got out, looked at his two small daughters in the back seat, and started laughing. “We’ve traveled one hour, and already you’re covered in jam,” he said. Been there, done that, only in my case I, not Sam, would be covered in the flavor of the day, either coffee, soda, chocolate, or popcorn kernels, or sometimes all of the above. After several incidents, Sam barred me from eating or drinking in the car while driving him to school.
I’ll be traveling in Texas longer than in any other state on this journey (if you don’t count Louisiana, where we stayed for a week, but in one spot, New Orleans). It’s a BIG place. This is my fourth day in the state, and it will take one more day to reach the New Mexico border. Of course, I’m not driving all day every day, thank heavens.
Interesting country. The Texas landscape is mostly scrub pines, farm land, oil rigs, or wind farms. Texas produces more wind power than any other state. Its giant wind turbines provided 8.3 percent of the state’s electricity in 2013. The state’s nearly 8,000 turbines have a capacity to produce 12,755 megawatts. The huge wind machines dotted the landscape as I traveled farther north toward Lubbock. On the road leading to Sweetwater, huge turbines fill the horizon. Everywhere I looked windmills waved their giant white arms, like a clan of extraterrestrial beings surrounding me. A bit eerie.
Oil rigs began to appear, too. At one point I could smell oil in the air. In other areas along the way, fluffy cotton balls grew in red dirt, row after row waiting to be picked. Spanish missionaries first grew the crop in Texas in the mid-1700s. I saw other farms with horses, cows, lamas, donkeys, goats, and Dorper sheep with their black heads. Callie would have loved to see all the animals, and Alex would have enjoyed all the farm equipment. The farmlands stretch for miles, with fences running along the road and big iron gates marking the territory.
Turkey vultures kept me company, soaring above the roadways searching for roadkill. They had good pickings: deer, raccoons, skunks, and an occasional armadillo.
My Air BNB resting place in Lubbock far exceeded my expectations. It’s located in a large brick building once used to house unwed mothers. Each suite has a bedroom and private bath. My room is clean and spacious. The kitchen, dining room, and living room are open concept and available to the guests. Fruit, cereal, pastries, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate are the breakfast offerings (free to guests). We can use the refrigerator and stove to cook our own meals or eat out in nearby restaurants along the boulevard leading to town. A flock of chickens in the front yard keeps the place stocked in green- and white-shelled eggs (though the eggs may be for the owner only). Shawn, who owns the place and lives here himself, had hoped to provide housing for visiting missionaries but opened it up to Air BNB renters as well to help support the place. He once served as a missionary in Indonesia and Australia. I’ve chatted with Shawn but have yet to meet any of the other guests (though I’ve heard a couple people coming and going).
Time to pack it in for the night. Another drive—this time only about four hours—to Albuquerque tomorrow.