Thanks to the impending global apocalypse, Daughter’s college is extending Spring Break (which starts Monday) by a week or two, and then moving to all-online classes “until further notice”. Which meant that instead of having a nice, relaxing weekend at home, I had to drive up to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, and bring her and all of her stuff back home. Yes, it is in-State, but the State being Texas, it is 500+ miles away, which makes it a weekend trip.
Usually, this would irritate the pants off me, especially as it was only decided on Thursday, and I like at least a couple of week’s notice for pretty much anything (my spontaneity having spontaneously evaporated right about the time I had kids…), but I figured that I may as well make the most of it, adopting the “you don’t have to do it, you get to do it” approach. So I decided that I’d pay attention to what I could see along the route, instead of just staring at the road in front of me with grim determination.
And it actually wasn’t too bad. Once you get past the edge of Houston things start opening up a bit, and although you probably wouldn’t go so far as to call it pretty, there’s at least a few hills, and trees, and ranches and stuff to look at. One of the things that surprised me was the number of properties that had just a mass of rusted cars, or farm equipment, or heavy machinery just sat there. I can see that there’s probably some market for this stuff, but honestly they must realize that there is no way in hell they are ever going to sell this stuff in their lifetime – or even in their kids’ lifetimes, so you have to wonder what their plan is. Wait for rust to go up in value then cash in?
I also passed a tractor dealership that mush have had 50 or 60 identical John Deere tractors lined up (and nothing else) – way out in the middle of nowhere. Again, although I’m sure there is a need for tractors out in farming country, is there really enough trade to sell 50-60 each year? One place had nothing but old store/restaurant/hotel signs, which was an odd thing to see. Is someone really going to drive past, see a full-size Family Dollar sign and think “You know what, that’s what I should be doing with my life running a Family Dollar! Let me just pick up that sign first, to show my commitment!”
I drove over the delightfully-named Stink River, but it really didn’t seem to, and as the next one was called Jones River I wondered if maybe it was named after a person, not the river’s characteristics, which made me feel sorry for the poor Mr. Stink, and wondered what led to him being so called. Maybe he should have just bathed more often in his namesake…
Just before College Station is Santa’s Wonderland, which intriguingly features a ‘Roasting Pit’ (not sure if they’re serving reindeer meat…). the Wonderland is obviously empty this time of year, and looking very forlorn in the bright sunshine, but honestly I can’t see it looking festive, with snow, any time of year here in Texas. I also passed through Abilene, which announces itself as the “Storybook Capital of America”, but from what I saw of it from the safety of the highway, it sure didn’t look storybook-ish. But I guess it depends on what kind of stories you read are about ‘Frontiering’ and cattle ranching… I guess at least they were careful not to say “Fairytale…”.
But there’s also some other interesting sights to be seen just a little further off the main highway. I passed a sign for Noodle Dome, which I was so tempted to go see. Is it a big dome made of noodles, or a ramen museum, or what? No less intriguing is the National WASP Museum. Just when I got my hopes up that it would be some kind of insect-themed thing showing the evolution of those nasty ones with the huge dangly legs, Daughter pointed out that it was all-caps W.A.S.P. so I’m thinking either a museum honoring White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (which is disconcertingly feasible in the middle of Texas), or a celebration of Blackie Lawless’s ’80s heavy metal band (which is less likely, but who knows…maybe they had a big following in Sweetwater, TX…). Either way, I thought it was probably not worth the detour.
But aside from the official ‘attractions’, and the unofficial hovel-gazing you can do from the comfort of an air-conditioned car, there are always other interesting things to note. Planned Parenthood have a large building just set back from the highway, but it is surrounded by 6ft high fencing and a gate – which I’m sure is to prevent protesters / fire-bombers. It’s kind of sad that they have to do this, but women’s health clinics elsewhere in the country have been bombed, so… And then half a mile up the road from there is a huge billboard proclaiming “Abortion Hurts!” with a number to call for ‘free help’ – presumably positioned to catch people heading to PP for actual help, so it’s clear where this part of the State’s collective conscience lies.
A couple of hours out from Lubbock you know you have left civilization far behind, when the cows in the fields are replaced by nodding donkeys. It seems every one of the scant houses had one in their yard, and the vast expanses of empty scenery often featured several, all nodding quietly away. I do wonder how much oil they manage to leech out of the groups, and how they sell the oil, but I guess it’s enough to make a living.
But then a little further on, just past the stench of oil and sulfur, progress rears its head, with the nodding donkeys being replaced by windmills. Hundreds and hundreds of them, turning with about as much enthusiasm as the nodding donkeys, but hopefully less detrimental effects on the environment – although they are a damn sight more intrusive. But this area is pretty sparsely populated and no-one will ever see it apart from through a car window on their way to somewhere else, so maybe no loss?
I made it to Lubbock in just under 7 hours, spent 30 minutes there (which honestly is about as much time as I would recommend spending in Lubbock) packing up the car, and then headed back. We were going to stop for the night somewhere, but again made pretty good time and decided to just plow on and spend the night in our own beds. Much of this was in the dark so less opportunity to take in the sights, but thankfully the roads were relatively clear during the middle third, so although it was one-lane highway I managed to maintain a steady 100mph for most of it. The radar detector kept me out of trouble (and saved me a ticket on a couple of occasions) and I had Waze to let me know when there were corners coming up, so my biggest fear was hitting a deer or a boar or something. Thankfully, though. the only live wildlife I saw was a lone coyote darting across the road. Plenty of dead skunk and raccoons, though.
Overall, not a journey I thought I’d enjoy (and certainly not as a day trip) but on balance it was alright! By staying in the moment and being aware of my surroundings, I found it more than bearable. Maybe that’s a method I should take into the rest of my life…
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