On the Road Again - to Texas

majspud

majspud

NES Life Member
NES Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2008
Messages
7,912
Likes
3,173
Location
South Shore, MA
Feedback: 61 / 0 / 0
My wife and I just left the house for our road trip to Texas; and Glory Be, without the kid. Miracle of miracles, after more than two years of fighting the State, we got him placed in a full Residential care location starting this week. Finally he can begin to get the care and treatment he needs, which the State has denied for so long.

This is a real vacation for the first time since 2010 - we'll be back Saturday after next. As with the Vermont trip, I'll post any interesting militaria I come across. Besides her 35th high school anniversary, I wanted to and finally get to see the Alamo and the U.S.S. Texas, which I heard suffered some flooding recently - she is 103 years old, and our first Super Dreadnaught mounting 14" guns, and the only WW1 BB in existence.

I should probably ask for well wishes that no redneck plows into us and gives me a 12th concussion. We're driving the '16 Passat which can give us more than 600 miles per tank.

Bon Voyage

T
 
Last edited:
First stop is Roanoke, VA, 662 miles, eta 6:25 plus fuel, food, and potty breaks. We're both over 50 and our bladders aren't what they used to be.

T
 
95 around Richmond, then to TN to visit some elderly friends in TN who moved out of MA nearly 10 years ago. We're using the VW nav system to pick the fastest route; is also recalculated to avoid traffic as much as possible.

PePe is in charge of the navigation.

T
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2932.jpg
    IMG_2932.jpg
    195.3 KB · Views: 73
Last edited:
SWEET! Some day i will do something like that and have some fun money to burn and really put my C&R to use!
 
Stopped for our first fill up since leaving MA. 615 on the tank, a little over a gallon left (of 18) gave us an average of 36.5 mpg. We're in a '16 Passat; this is our first long trip in it. Our first trip to TX was in a '02 (in June of '03 when we were engaged to meet her mom) PT Cruiser with a 5-speed. Not as comfortable as this VW is.

104 miles until we stop for the night in Roanoke.

T

"It's a 104 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."

"Hit it."
[rofl]
 
Last edited:
Do NOT get caught speeding in Virginia. Most particularly do NOT get caught doing 80 MPH in Virginia. It's revenue for them and they treat it very seriously. Trust me on this, we hired an attorney for my wife's ticket.
 
If you're going to be in the Fort Worth area, check out Military Gun Supply. They have a large number of MilSurps. Or did the last time I was there which was a few years ago. Their website doesn't show nearly as much as they had in the store.

I did a road trip to Austin with my daughter three years ago, following pretty much the same route that you took only we avoided NY, NJ, and Maryland (as much as we could avoid Maryland) Stayed outside of Roanoke the first night, outside of Pearl, MS the second, and were in Austin on the third night. It's a nice ride, but it is long.

Enjoy that trip.
 
Enjoy the trip, I drove down to Texas a few years back, moving my daughter there. Real nice trip. My bike is temporarily garaged in Florida and I'm planning on flying to FL and riding to Texas and back maybe next month

I love Texas, hope you get some good BBQ. If you make it up around the greater Dallas area there are a few Hard Eight BBQ locations. Real good (huge shrimp stuck inside a chili pepper then wrapped in bacon and smoked over mesquite, plus the usual brisket and ribs, etc.).

Travel safe.
 
My wife would love it; it would kill me. She grew up on the stuff while I'm a MA native. I once had a whole habanero pepper disguised as general tsao's chicken. I thought I was dying.

I'm a spice wimp; best I can do is Tostitos medium.

T
 
mannydog said:
Enjoy the trip, I drove down to Texas a few years back, moving my daughter there. Real nice trip. My bike is temporarily garaged in Florida and I'm planning on flying to FL and riding to Texas and back maybe next month

I love Texas, hope you get some good BBQ. If you make it up around the greater Dallas area there are a few Hard Eight BBQ locations. Real good (huge shrimp stuck inside a chili pepper then wrapped in bacon and smoked over mesquite, plus the usual brisket and ribs, etc.).

Travel safe.
Click to expand...
BBQ Brisket is a tune we can all dance to....
 
Just got back from TX and if you're in the Dallas area, try "Bone Daddy's Smoke House" for ribs. The food takes a bit but it's worth the wait. Went to the Dallas Zoo and enjoyed seeing the animals up close. The Alamo in San Antonio is definitely worth the visit as you can see where the "don't mess with Texas" mentality comes from. The only thing I didn't like while staying there was the Border Patrol "citizenship" checkpoint on Route 59 coming from Laredo to Corpus Christi.

Texas is a "duty to inform" state and I declared I was carrying at the checkpoint and the guy was "thank you, you're all set, have a nice day with the lady." (I was with my gf)
 
Last edited:
"Only one man would dare give me the raspberry; Lone Star!"

96F

T
[grin]
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2938.jpg
    IMG_2938.jpg
    160.2 KB · Views: 62
Last edited:
1. Sleep in
2. Lunch with friends of hers
3. Massage for me
4. Pedicure for her
5. Wash off 2000 miles of bugs and grime for the car
6. 35th H.S. Reunion for her tonight

98F

T
 
Primary reading material is 7. Volumes of the Time/Life WW2 series I picked up at the Fort Tabor reenactment for $1 each. Reading China/Burma now.

The pic fascinated me.

T
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2939.jpg
    IMG_2939.jpg
    235.2 KB · Views: 52
majspud said:
Primary reading material is 7. Volumes of the Time/Life WW2 series I picked up at the Fort Tabor reenactment for $1 each. Reading China/Burma now.

The pic fascinated me.

T
Click to expand...

Glad your road trip is going well. That's something you don't see every day!

Here's an elephant story for you:

Year before last my local team and I hosted a technical forum for all of our Thai accounts. We booked accommodations and meeting space at a nice resort on the edge of Khao Yai, the first national park in Thailand. The entire resort property including a large golf course was enclosed by a very tall and thick wall. Apparently it kept out the wild elephants and helped to reduce the number of cobras and pit vipers entering the resort.

After dinner on our first night, I heard a long series of shots in the distance. Bang bang bang, bang, bang... bang! Living in or near the woods for much of my life, such noise is common here. However, in Thailand your typical mountain bubba does not have a gun, so I was wondering what the hell was going on. Next day I learned that a small herd of wild elephants had raided a campground and that an older lady had been trampled to death. The shots were the park rangers responding to the problem.
 
Lockharts in Dallas is excellent. They are also pro 2A except that they don't allow open carry. Food is delicious, people are friendly. Concealed carry is fine.

MachineHead said:
Just got back from TX and if you're in the Dallas area, try "Bone Daddy's Smoke House" for ribs. The food takes a bit but it's worth the wait. Went to the Dallas Zoo and enjoyed seeing the animals up close. The Alamo in San Antonio is definitely worth the visit as you can see where the "don't mess with Texas" mentality comes from. The only thing I didn't like while staying there was the Border Patrol "citizenship" checkpoint on Route 59 coming from Laredo to Corpus Christi.

Texas is a "duty to inform" state and I declared I was carrying at the checkpoint and the guy was "thank you, you're all set, have a nice day with the lady." (I was with my gf)
Click to expand...
 
Nacogdoches is in the pine hills region of TX; 100 miles south of Arkansas and 100 miles west of Louisiana.

One of the three original empressario settlements of Americans in Texas, under Steven Tyler.

t
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Got Some Soviet Sweetness Coming From Texas
Replies
2
Views
276
mac1911
M
Thought this was cool for the milsurps and guitar players.
Replies
0
Views
120
mac1911
M
C&R questions on renewal?
Replies
4
Views
432
mac1911
M
This is for the mosin folks…..
Replies
6
Views
297
mac1911
M
OK, Which One of You Bought This Vintage Sniper?
Replies
7
Views
363
Mountain
Mountain
Back
Top Bottom