Confessions of a Hit and Run Tourist - Day Five

[Riverbrian]

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. 

Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. 

Day Five - August 2 - Arlington to Houston

I left the hotel about an hour ahead of schedule because I was up and I didn't feel like just hanging around watching Sportscenter. Today was supposed to my easiest drive day so far with a mere 270 or so miles to accomplish. Let's just say that this part of the journey was a break from scenery, I'm back in flatlands driving southward down I-35, the only thing to look at are the Vultures circling the sky, It is either they have a lot of Vultures in Texas or Texas has a lot of carrion but these creatures were constantly doing what they do. 

Did I say easiest drive day? There were challenges so not so easy after all. When I wasn't watching the vultures, I was looking at the road ahead, there was an old pickup truck with a bunch stuff in the back of it. I watched a plastic pail fly out of the back end, I watched it bounce off the highway high into the air and land directly on my windshield, this produces a loud fwap sound that I just can't experience in my living room. Around Waco, I noticed that there was absolutely no traffic in the North bound lanes and a bunch of flashing lights, followed by the sight of a tractor/trailer off to the side and a car sideways in the road with the top completely taken off to the windows, whoever was driving must have ended up under the trailer and I was hoping that somehow this person or persons managed to duck. It stuck with me so I checked the Waco news later that night and a 23 year old died in that accident, I was already prepared to read something like that. 

Not far out of Waco, I was in the the far left lane and passing a cattle hauler, that chose to drift into my lane as I was passing. The interstate traffic had lessened considerably and there was no reason for this large vehicle to change lane, this was a full on driver not paying attention drift... at least half way into my lane, if not more. I saw it right away because I was looking to see if there were more cows in the road and I used the shoulder to safety along side a concrete barrier, hitting a fairly intact dead tire that made my Kia hop at 80 mph. Yes... I cursed and Yes,.. I flipped the driver off as I longed for the simpler time of plastic pails. 

For lunch I pulled into Lockhart which calls itself the BBQ capitol of Texas. I stopped at Kreutz Market and I won't argue with that designation. I ordered a half pound of Brisket and a half pound Chicken with a side of slaw. The meal was served on parchment paper just like God intended and it was wonderful... I'm pretty sure my recommendations carry no weight but I strongly recommend this place, if you ever find yourself near Lockhart, Texas (Not far from Austin). 

The next stop was Katy, Texas where I stopped at the World's Longest Car Wash certified by either the Guinness book of World Records or Guinness beer. I did plan this stop because it is the world's longest but I didn't plan on the need to get Kansas dirt and mud off the Kia so it's was like a bonus because I actually needed a wash. For those wondering, it did have some interesting flashing lights that you can see in between the multiple colored soaping's blocking your view, it took exactly 4 minutes and 11 seconds to complete. 

With a clean Kia I stopped at the Beer Can House on the way to the hotel. It is a house that is completed decorated from top to bottom with beer cans, located in the middle of a street, it's a house surrounded by fairly large apartment buildings. Legend has it that the guy (who is no longer with us) drank every single one of those beers. I admit, I wanted a beer but there was no gift shop at this tourist trap. 

It was 100 degrees downtown Houston when I pulled into the hotel, due to the heat, I elected to relax a little at the hotel before hitting the ball park for the Astros and Red Sox. I chose this Holiday Inn because they advertised a shuttle to Minute Maid. They did not advertise that the shuttle would get me to the game very close to first pitch. I was supposed to get an MLB Network tote bag but that didn't happen because of the shuttle, I was also informed by the driver that the last shuttle back was at 10:00PM so I ended up leaving the game early to adapt to the shuttle schedule. 

Minute Maid is better than Globe life just because it has some character to it, but it belongs in the retractable roof group of Texas, Milwaukee and Arizona. I'll rank Milwaukee and Houston above the other two for what its worth. The ball park sits in a nice clean area of the city, however, at least where I got dropped off, there wasn't any baseball party business to add to the atmosphere. I sat in the top row of the Crawford Boxes with my back against one the walls. Houston, like Texas does a nice job with alternate food choices, I intended to choose from the alternate choices for something interesting but it was dollar dog night so I bought 4 and only ate 2.5 because I was still well nourished from Lockhart. Once again, I was grateful to be indoors with the 100 degree Texas Temps but I do have one serious complaint. I bought 4 hot dogs and there was no condiment dispensers, just packets! Trying to open up the 2nd packet of mustard after getting mustard on your fingers from the 1st packet is beyond frustrating and about impossible without a weapon that won't get through the metal detectors. The Red Sox won a pitchers duel. 

Honestly, I didn't mind getting back to the hotel a little early. I will be departing at 7:30AM. 

   

[Squirrel]

Just an fyi for future excursions and preparedness, plastic kids scissors get through detectors and work fine. I use them on airplanes when I take needlework projects to do

[Riverbrian]

31 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Just an fyi for future excursions and preparedness, plastic kids scissors get through detectors and work fine. I use them on airplanes when I take needlework projects to do

That's a good idea but next time, I'm going directly to the very source of the problem.

I'm bringing my own mustard dispenser with me to the game. 

[Squirrel]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

That's a good idea but next time, I'm going directly to the very source of the problem.

I'm bringing my own mustard dispenser with me to the game. 

they probably won't let you bring that in, either ... but test it out sometime

[MMMordabito]

Can't wait to find out if you went east or west from Houston.

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, MMMordabito said:

Can't wait to find out if you went east or west from Houston.

Let me take some of the suspense out of it for you:

 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I have had the pail from the back of a pickup experience too. My pail was lined in either sheet rock mud or concrete and it managed to get wedged under my bumper when I slammed on the brakes, then tumble up the hood and smash off my windshield. It was like hitting a deer without all the hair and guts…